Byron, California

Contra Costa County

06-09346

Byron is a census -designated place in Contra Costa County in the U.S. state of California, United States, which was founded in 1876. It has a size of 6.6 km ² and has 916 inhabitants (as of 2000). Byron is primarily characterized by agriculture of the surrounding Central Valley. Beginning of the 20th century was Byron a renowned health resort and was called " the West Carlsbad " also.

Location

Byron is located about 70 kilometers east of San Francisco, at the southern end of the Sacramento - San Joaquin River Delta. Large parts of the Central Valley as well as supplies Los Angeles with drinking water - - as well as the South Bay Aqueduct - which in the Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area leads - At the south end of Byron both the California Aqueduct is the Clifton Forebay, are of fed here.

The airfield of Byron ( C83 ) is home to Bay Area Skydiving - the largest parachute club of the San Francisco Bay Area - and the Patriots Jet Demonstration Team, the only private jet aerobatic team of the United States.

History

Byron was founded in 1876 as a station on the Southern Pacific Railroad along the route San Jose - New Orleans. The station offered for the surrounding farms an alternative to the trains running in the Delta steamers for the transportation of agricultural products - mostly tropical fruits, fruit, asparagus, olives, and therefore quickly developed into an envelope point. 1902, came here at a railway accident in which 28 people died.

Byron Hot Springs

Already in 1863 John Risdon had acquired from Saline (Michigan) a plot of land in the vicinity of ( the not yet established at the time) Byron, on which there were mineral and sulphurous thermal springs. Originally, these sources should be used for salt production, but this was uneconomical due to the high cost of transportation by land. However, since more and more squatters settled in the area around the sources, some buildings were built on the site, which was then expanded gradually to the spa. Among other bath houses were built for the various sources, a swimming pool of 15 meters in length - called the gas Plunge - was dug, and the first overnight accommodation were created.

In 1878 the first hotel, a three-story building, built along with several cottages. The largest part of the plant was destroyed by fire in 1901. 1902 opened the new building, the architect James W. Reid (who had collaborated on projects at the Fairmont Hotel) had designed. In addition to the hotel facilities it had a doctor's office, post and telegraph and telephone stations. This building burned in July 1912 completely.

1914 a new building was opened, which was built of brick in existence today. The level of awareness of the resort soared, Byron Hot Spring became famous as the Carlsbad of the West. In the "Roaring Twenties" were many Hollywood stars, athletes and other celebrities regulars at the hotel, including Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable, Jack London, Rudolph Valentino, Mae West, President James Garfield, and the baseball team San Francisco Seals.

Due to the world economic crisis in 1929, the visitor traffic fell sharply in the 1930s, the resort also declined slowly due to inheritance disputes until 1939 was practically deserted.

Camp Tracy

1942 rented the forerunner of the CIA, the Office of Strategic Services commissioned by the U.S. Army the terrain as " Interrogation Center" - as a top secret device that German and Japanese prisoners of war should interrogate the Second World War. The plant was called "Camp Tracy ," she was one of two of such services in the United States, the other was Fort Hunt in Alexandria ( Virginia) on the east coast.

Since the purpose of the camp of the Geneva Conventions violated, it was declared as a " transit camp " ( Processing Station ) in which the prisoners were housed only temporarily before their introduction into their POW camp.

The prisoners were treated fairly generous at Camp Tracy, had good food, plenty of entertainment and leisure walk in the surrounding villages. However, the whole area was bugged and it was working for the OSS spies infiltrated the prisoners as well as create "secret " contact opportunities between the prisoners. This should serve the prisoners the " tongue to loosen up", a technique which has been taken over by British intelligence. This was recorded and used in intelligence through the entire monitoring. 1944 921 Japanese and 645 German prisoners were interrogated here. There are still references to the listening devices, such as Microphone wires into sockets and sockets, which lead through the elevator shaft in a basement room.

After Camp Tracy in 1945 no longer needed by the U.S. Army, it was returned to its original owners, which it then sold to the Greek Orthodox Church. This would use the area as a monastery, it was consecrated in 1948 as a mission of St. Paul. However, the plans were never fully realized, and the site was sold again in 1956. Since then, there have been efforts over and over again which will help the site to its former glory, which will also run again in the sand.

On July 25, 2005, a historical annex burned down completely, and the main building suffered some damage.