TOUR MY HOMETOWN: BENICIA, CALIFORNIA

Hello, this video is a quick view of downtown Benicia, mostly through a moving bicycle perspective. I apologize for the poor video quality. I recorded it years ago and could not afford solid equipment.

Benicia is a real historic city: in 1846, Robert Semple and Thomas Larkin originally agreed with General Mariano Vallejo to name it after Vallejo's wife, Francisca. People, however, found the name too easily confused with the city San Francisco, which is just northeast from Benicia, so the former name changed to be called by one of her middle-names instead, "Benicia." The city was established in 1847, right before the Gold Rush.

Most do not know that Benicia is famous for the word of gold (discovered at Sutter's Mill in Coloma) leaking out in Von Pfister's Saloon by Bennett on First Street. James Marshall and Sutter swore Bennett to secrecy to go to San Francisco to assay the gold; however, while waiting in the saloon for the ship to California, Bennett was drunk and let the word out in 1848. A plaque on First Street commemorates this moment in history.

Some historic fun facts are: Benicia contains a neat Pre-Civil War army fort that was built in 1849; it also served as the state capital for nine months (1853-1854); also, the camels from the army camel experiment (from Saudi Arabia) ended up here and were stored and auctioned off in what is now called the Camel Barns.

Works Cited
http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/pages/1054/fi...