Benicia Refinery

The Benicia Arsenal (1851–1964) and Benicia Barracks (1852–66) were part of a large military reservation located next to Suisun Bay in Benicia, California. For over 100 years, the arsenal was the primary US Army Ordnance facility for the West Coast of the United States. In 1847 a 252-acre (102 ha) parcel of land adjoining the Benicia city limits on the east was acquired for a military reserve. First occupation of the post was on April 9, 1849, when two companies of the 2nd Infantry Regiment set up camp to establish Benicia Barracks, which also housed the 3rd Artillery Regiment. In 1851, after the urging of General Persifor F. Smith, the first Ordnance Supply Depot in the West was established in Benicia. In 1852 it was designated Benicia Arsenal. Notable military personnel who were stationed there during this time include Ulysses Grant, Edward Ord, and Joseph Hooker, among others. The grounds of the Benicia Arsenal are also famous for stabling one of the elements of the Army's Camel Corps. The short-lived Camel Corps was disbanded in 1863, but the Camel Barns, built in 1855, remain and are now the Benicia Historical Museum. The Benicia Arsenal was a staging area during the Civil War for Union troops from the West, and the installation remained a garrisoned post until 1898 when troops were assigned to duty in the Philippines during the Spanish–American War. From 1911 to 1913, the arsenal was commanded by Colden Ruggles, who later served as the Army's Chief of Ordnance. During World War I, the Benicia Arsenal gave ordnance support to all large Army installations in the Western States as well as supplying Ordnance material to American expeditionary forces in Siberia. Italian Service Units of the 4th, 4th and 50th Italian Quartermaster Service Company worked at the Arsenal during World War 2. In the 24 hours following the Pearl Harbor bombing, 125 separate truck convoys were loaded and dispatched from the Benicia Arsenal, leaving its stock of ammunition, small arms, and high explosives completely exhausted. Throughout the war, the arsenal supplied ports with weapons, artillery, parts, supplies, and tools. In addition, the arsenal overhauled 14,343 pairs of binoculars, manufactured 180,000 small items for tanks and weapons, and repaired approximately 70,000 watches. However, the arsenal is most famous for supplying munitions to Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle for the first bombing raid on Tokyo on April 18, 1942, launched from the USS Hornet. Prior to 1940, the arsenal employed 85 civilian employees; by October 1942, the payroll had reached 4,545. The labor shortage in 1944 forced the arsenal commander to put 250 Italian and 400 German prisoners of war to work, alongside 150 juveniles from the California Youth Authority. Women comprised nearly half the civilian employee force. During the Korean War, the number of civilians reached an all-time high of 6,700 workers. The Benicia Arsenal was deactivated in 1963, and the facility was closed in 1964. The arsenal has been redeveloped as work and sales space for artists and artisans. Medal of Honor recipient John H. Foley is buried in the arsenal's cemetery.

Benicia ( bə-NEE-shə, Spanish: [beˈnisja]) is a waterside city in Solano County, California, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It served as the capital of California for nearly thirteen months from 1853 to 1854. The population was 26,997 at the 2010 United States Census. The city is located along the north bank of the Carquinez Strait. Benicia is just east of Vallejo and across the strait from Martinez.

Benicia Seminary was founded by a Board of Trustees in June 1852, as the Young Ladies' Seminary of Benicia in Solano County, California in the city of Benicia, California. The Benicia Seminary site is a California Historical Landmark No. 795 listed on September 6, 1964. At is peak the Young Ladies' Seminary of Beniciain had 149 students from all over Northern California. Young Ladies' Seminary of Beniciain was the Protestant Christian Junior college of its day. This was the first of this type of school in California. Mrs. S. A. Lord was the first School Principal in 1852, in 1853 Miss J. M. Hudson became Principal. In 1854, Atkins purchased the school. The Young Ladies' Seminary of Beniciain was sold to Cyrus Mills and Susan Mills in 1865 for $5,000, by Mary Atkins. Thus Benicia Seminary became Mills College. Mills College moved to Oakland, California in July 1871 by train, students, teacher and supplies. Mills College is still a private college. Mills College was granted a charter as a college by the State of california in 1885. Mary Atkins Lynch was born July 7, 1819, in Jefferson, Ohio. Mary Atkins married John Lynch (1824–1900) in 1869. Mary Lynch died September 14, 1882, at aged 63 in Benicia, California. Mary Lynch is buried at Benicia City Cemetery.After the Mills College moved to Oakland, Mills sold the Benicia Seminary building to Rev. Chas. H. Pope. Pope was the pastor of First Congregational Church, now Community Congregational Church. The Rev. and Mrs. C.T. Mills were founding members of Community Congregational Church. Pope improved the building and continued the Young Ladies' Seminary at the site, becoming the Principal. In 1873, Miss Mary Snell became the manager of the school, running it with here sister. In October, 1871, head a re-union meeting for all of graduates and honored Mary Atkins-Lynch and her husband, the Honorable John Lynch, at the time a US Surveyor general for the State of Louisiana. John Lynch was also the Louisiana Centennial Commissioner. The Lynchs later moved to back to California. In June 1877, the Young Ladies' Seminary celebrated held its 25th anniversary.A historical marker is at the site of the former Benicia Seminary on 110 West J Street, Benicia, California. The marker was placed there by Benicia Old Timers Committee in 1937.

City Park is a public park in Benicia, California, that features a bus station served by SolTrans. It is the site of the first Protestant church in California: a Presbyterian church which stood between 1849 and 1875. It was also home to a seminary.

First Presbyterian Church of Benicia was founded on April 15, 1849, at a building in Benicia, California in Solano County, California. The Presbyterian Church of Benicia site is a California Historical Landmark No. 175 listed on March 6, 1935. The First Presbyterian Church of Benicia was the first Protestant church founded in California with a staff pastor. The pastor was Reverend Sylvester Woodbridge Jr., who founded the church in 1849 using a school house. Woodbridge came to California in 1848. First Presbyterian Church built a building that was dedicated on March 9, 1851. Woodbridge was the pastor till 1869, when he moved to San Francisco. The Presbyterian California Gold Rush church ended in 1875. The Church became a One-room school and most the members moved to the First Congregational Church of Benicia founded in 1865. Later the church-school building became an Episcopal Church. The Episcopal Church soon built a larger church. The 1851 church was remove and the land became Benicia City Park.A historical marker is at the site of the former First Presbyterian Church of Benicia in is Benicia City Park, on K Street. The marker was placed there by The Historic Landmarks Committee Grand Parlor Native Sons and Benicia Parlor No.89 and Benicia Parlor No.287 Native Sons of the Golden West and Native Daughters of the Golden West in 1932.Reverend Sylvester Woodbridge Jr. was born on June 15, 1813, in Sharon, Connecticut. Woodbridge graduated from Union College in 1830 and Princeton Theological Seminary in 1846. Woodbridge married Mary Foster in 1836, they had 11 children: 11. They came to San Francisco in February 1849 sailing from New York on the SS California. Captain Montgomery of the ship SS Portsmouth docked in San Francisco helped Woodbridge in putting on Church Worship Services. By April 15, 1849, there were enough regular attendees to establish The First Presbyterian Church of Benicia. The church was small so, Woodbridge was school teacher Monday to Friday, for a living in the early days of the Church. For the first year he also lived in the church building. He as the pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Benicia for 18 years. Woodbridge died in 1883, at the age of 70.

The Old Masonic Hall, also known as Benicia Masonic Hall, is a historic building in Benicia, California. Constructed by Benicia Masonic Lodge No. 5 in summer 1850, on land donated by Alexander Riddell and with lumber donated by Benicia founder Robert Semple, it was the first purpose build Masonic Hall in California. It was occupied by the lodge October 14, 1850, and formally dedicated December 27, 1850.In 1850 Benicia was the original County seat of Solano County, and the first floor of the Hall was used as the Solano County court room and offices prior to the completion of Benicia's city hall. The second-floor rooms, with remarkable ornate woodwork made by California frontier craftsmen, was used for the Lodge. The Benicia Lodge No. 5, founded on March 6, 1850, included many of the important Benicia pioneers, among them Robert Semple, W. B. Nurse, L. B, Mizner, and Alexander Riddell. The building served as the Masonic Temple for Benicia Lodge No. 5 until 1888, when the Lodge outgrew the premises and constructed a larger one adjacent to it. The building was then sold to be used for community purposes; it housed a boys' club prior to World War I and the American Legion shortly after the war. In 1950, one hundred years after it was erected, it was reacquired by Benicia Lodge No. 5. The building was listed on the California Historical Landmarks in 1935 and the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. One of the earliest surviving public buildings in Benicia, the Old Masonic Hall is an excellent example of 19th-century Greek Revival architecture. The moderately pitched front gable roof has a molded fascia and a plain verge board. A cornice is found on both the gable end and the eaves. The fenestration is symmetrically arranged. The gable entry porch covering extends beyond the building on the west side. Cladding is lap siding with wooden pilasters with capitals at the corners of the building.The building is still in use.

Saint Paul's Episcopal Church of Benicia is historical church Building built in 1859 in Benicia, California in Solano County, California. The Saint Paul's Episcopal Church is a California Historical Landmark No. 862 listed on July 20, 1973. Saint Paul's Episcopal Church was designed Lt. Julian McAllister and built by shipwrights of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. Saint Paul's Episcopal Church is built in the early California Gothic ecclesiastical architecture. The church as dedicated 0n February 12, 1860, 163 years ago, by the church's first pastor Rev. William Ingraham and is still open. The church was founded on September 24, 1854 169 years ago, by Major F. D. Townsend, with the US Army in the Benicia Sate Capital Building. A historical marker is at Saint Paul's Episcopal Church of Benicia. The marker was placed there by The Historic Landmarks Committee, Grand Parlor, Native Sons of the Golden West. Benicia Parlor No.89, Native Sons of the Golden West and Benicia Parlor No.287, Native Daughters of the Golden West on October 17, 1954.

Benicia Capitol State Historic Park is a state park in Benicia, California, United States. The park is dedicated to California's third capitol building, where the California State Legislature convened from February 3, 1853, to February 24, 1854, when they voted to move the state capital to Sacramento. It is the only pre-Sacramento capitol that remains. The park includes the Fischer-Hanlon House, an early Benicia building that was moved to the property and converted into a home in 1858, after the legislature departed. Benicia Capitol State Historic Park just off the city's main street also includes a carriage house, workers' quarters and sculptured gardens.

Fischer-Hanlon House is historical house built in 1858 in Benicia, California in Solano County, California. The Fischer-Hanlon House is a California Historical Landmark No. 880 listed on March 14, 1975. The Fischer-Hanlon House was built by Joseph Fisher in 1849. Fisher was Swiss immigrant who came to Benicia and purchased a plot of land on July 1, 1858. He then purchased a nearby old hotel and had it moved to his lot. The California Gold Rush home is built in an East Coast Federalist architecture styling. For a living Fisher was in a butcher partnership in Benicia. The wooden house has fourteen rooms. The house had damage in 1856 fire. After Joseph and Catherine Fischer moved in they repaired and remodeled home. The Fischer house was passed down to later generations, then was donated to the State of California in 1969. The donation was done by Fischer's granddaughters, Raphaelita and Catherine Hanlon, in memory to sister Marie Rose. The Fischer-Hanlon House is restored and is furnished in 1880s decor. The outside as Victorian Garden. A historical marker is next to the Fischer-Hanlon House, at 135 W G Street, Benicia, next to the Benecia Capitol Building. The marker was placed there by California State Parks working with the Solano County Historical Society on September 9, 1976.

The Carr House is a now demolished historic building in Benicia, California, United States. It was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on September 13, 1979.

Benicia station is a former train station in Benicia, California. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2017 as Benicia Southern Pacific Railroad Passenger Depot.

The Benicia–Martinez Bridge refers to three parallel bridges which cross the Carquinez Strait just west of Suisun Bay in California; the spans link Benicia on the north side with Martinez on the south. The original 1.2-mile (1.9 km) deck truss bridge opened in 1962 to replace the last automotive ferry service in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 1962 bridge has seven 528-foot (161 m) spans and 138 feet (42 m) of vertical clearance, now carrying four lanes of southbound traffic, as well as a path for pedestrians and bicyclists. It was named the George Miller Jr., Memorial Bridge in 1975 after California state legislator George Miller Jr. A 1.7-mile (2.7 km) bridge was built alongside and opened on August 25, 2007 with five lanes of northbound traffic. In 2007, it was named the Congressman George Miller Benicia–Martinez Bridge after U.S. Congressman George Miller, Miller Jr.'s son. The cost of the 1962 span was US$25 million and US$1.3 billion for the 2007 span. (Adjusted for inflation, equivalent to $242 million and $1.83 billion respectively.) The bridge is part of Interstate 680, a major transportation link connecting other heavily traveled freeways. Between the two vehicle bridges is a Union Pacific Railroad bridge, the first bridge at this location, built between April 1929 and October 1930 by Southern Pacific. It is used by Union Pacific and BNSF (trackage rights) freight trains and 36 scheduled Amtrak passenger trains each weekday. Passenger trains include the long-distance trains California Zephyr and Coast Starlight and commuter-oriented Capitol Corridor services.