Carquinez Strait Light

The Carquinez Strait (; Spanish: Estrecho de Carquinez) is a narrow tidal strait located in the Bay Area of Northern California, United States. It is part of the tidal estuary of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers as they drain into the San Francisco Bay. The strait is eight miles (13 km) long and connects Suisun Bay, which receives the waters of the combined rivers, with San Pablo Bay, a northern extension of the San Francisco Bay. The strait formed in prehistoric times, near the close of one of the past ice ages, when the Central Valley was a vast inland lake. Melting ice from the Sierra Nevada raised the water level while seismic activity created a new outlet to the Pacific Ocean, draining the lake into the ocean and exposing the valley floors.

The Carquinez Bridge is a pair of parallel bridges spanning the Carquinez Strait at the northeastern end of San Francisco Bay. They form the part of Interstate 80 between Crockett and Vallejo, California, United States. The name Carquinez Bridge originally referred to a single cantilever bridge built in 1927, which was part of the direct route between San Francisco and Sacramento. A second parallel cantilever bridge was completed in 1958 to deal with the increased traffic. Later, seismic problems made the 1927 span unsafe in case of an earthquake, and led to the construction, and 2003 opening, of a replacement: a suspension bridge officially named the Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge, in memory of iron worker Al Zampa, who played an integral role in the construction of numerous San Francisco Bay Area bridges. The Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge carries southbound traffic from Vallejo to Crockett, and the 1958 cantilever span carries northbound traffic.

Crockett (formerly Crockettville) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Contra Costa County, in the East Bay sub-region of the San Francisco Bay Area, California. The population was 3,094 at the 2010 census. It is located 28 miles northeast of San Francisco. Other nearby communities include Port Costa, Martinez, Vallejo, Benicia, Rodeo, Hercules, Pinole and Richmond.

The California Maritime Academy Corps of Cadets is the undergraduate student body at the California Maritime Academy. As a State Maritime Academy, as required by Title 46 Part 310 of the Code of Federal Regulations students are considered Cadets, required to wear uniforms, and utilize a demerit-based disciplinary system. Participation in the Corps of Cadets is mandatory; participation in the Navy Reserve Merchant Marine program is optional. Cadets still utilize Merchant Marine Navy-style uniforms, customs, and traditions. Based on academic majors cadets are organized into Squads, Sections, Divisions and Companies which regularly muster in Morning Formations multiple times a week, as well as stand watches on campus and aboard the training ship.

The California State University Maritime Academy (Cal Maritime or CSU Maritime Academy) is a public university in Vallejo, California. It is part of the California State University system and the only maritime academy on the contigious West Coast. The university offers six bachelor's degree programs and one master's degree program.

Carquinez Strait Powerline Crossing was the world's first powerline crossing of a large river. It was built in 1901 for a 60 kV powerline operated by Bay Counties Power Company to deliver electric power from their Colgate powerhouse to Oakland, California. For this a crossing of Carquinez Strait was required, which has at its narrowest point at Dillon Point a width of 838 metres (0.52 mi). Such a span width was impossible with wooden poles, which were common in those days. Installing an underwater cable was considered, but for reliability reasons an overhead power line was installed, which used at the north site of the river a 68 metres (223.10 ft) tall lattice tower and at the south site one with a height of 20 metres (66 ft).

John Swett High School is located in Crockett, California, United States. It serves the communities of Crockett, Port Costa, Rodeo, and the Foxboro area of Hercules. It is named after John Swett, former California Superintendent of Public Instruction, elected in 1863. John Swett High School was established in 1927. The school remains in its original building complex, which was extensively renovated five years after original construction for seismic retrofitting at a cost of two-thirds of the original cost of the complex. John Swett High School is part of the John Swett Unified School District. The school's Indian mascot was dropped by a vote of the School District Board in February 2015. Citing the Golden State Warriors as an example, the school mascot became the Warriors in February 2016. The school always was the Warriors but would go by Indians. The year books would say Warriors on the cover but sports teams would go by the Indians.

Eckley is an area in Contra Costa County, California, which served as a train-ferry landing for crossings of the Carquinez Strait prior to the opening of the Benicia-Martinez railroad bridge. It lay on the Southern Pacific Railroad 4.5 miles (7.2 km) northwest of Martinez, at an elevation of 10 feet (3 m). The place's name is in honor of Commodore John L. Eckley who established a yacht harbor at the cove here.

Valona is an unincorporated community in Contra Costa County, California, United States. It is located in the bluffs above Crockett, 5.5 miles (9 km) west-northwest of Martinez, at an elevation of 62 feet (19 m). The similar village of Selby is located nearby. The ZIP Code is 94525. The community is inside area codes 510 and 341.

Benicia State Recreation Area is a state park unit of California, United States, protecting tidal wetland. It is located in the Solano County city of Benicia, 2 miles (3.2 km) west of downtown Benicia and borders Vallejo's Glen Cove neighborhood. The park covers 447 acres (181 ha) of marsh, grassy hillsides and rocky beaches along the narrowest portion of the Carquinez Strait. Southampton Creek and the tidal marsh front Southampton Bay, where the combined waters of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers approach San Pablo Bay, the northern portion of San Francisco Bay.

St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Vallejo, in the U.S. state of California. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento.

Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline is a regional park, part of the East Bay Regional Park District system, located in northwestern Contra Costa County, California.