The Brief
- Unable to settle a dispute over what to name this East Contra Costa County town, two settlers did what any reasonable person might: they played cribbage.
- Oakley’s identity would later be shaped by something else entirely: asparagus.
- The marshy, peat-rich Delta soil stretching from the Antioch Bridge east to Bethel Island proved ideal for growing the crop, and for a time the area dominated asparagus production in the state.
OAKLEY, Calif. – The name of this East Contra Costa County city traces back not to a city council vote or a founder’s decree, but to a friendly game of cards.
Carol Jensen, a historian with the East Contra Costa Historical Society and author of “Oakley Through Time,” recounts how one of the town’s founders, Randolph Marsh, purchased roughly 20 acres in what is now Oakley and set about building a new township, recruiting settlers to the area.
Marsh, who would later become a county supervisor – and a fellow settler named Joel Wightman – couldn’t agree on what to call the new community. Wightman wanted to name it after Admiral George Dewey, hero of the Spanish-American War. Marsh had his heart set on Oakley.
Town’s name decided in a card game
The backstory:…