Alameda

Formed March 25, 1853 (33^rd county)

Alameda County (1,682,331), Oakland (440,660)

The governmental appearance to the Art Deco style 1936 courthouse stands out at the intersection of Fallon, 12^th, Oak, and 13^th streets.  The location is six blocks north of Interstate Highway 880 near Lake Merritt.  Oakland had an earlier courthouse for the county.  Alvarado and San Leandro were county seats before Oakland.  Will G. Corlett, Henry A. Minton, James W. Plachek, William E. Schirmer and Carl Werner are the current masonry courthouse architects.  Another courthouse and Justice Center augments this structure.  Additionally, there are augmenting courthouses in Alameda, Berkeley, Fremont, Hayward, and Pleasanton.  Alameda County was created on March 25, 1853 from parts of Contra Costa and Santa Clara counties as the 33^rd county.  The county’s name is Spanish for “tree-lined promenade.” Oakland was named for the evergreen oaks in the surrounding area. 

Alameda County government consists of a sheriff, assessor, controller, and treasurer (executive).  It has 5 Supervisors (legislative.)  Seventy-three Superior Court Judges, clerk, and counsel serve Alameda County (judicial.)  The county is situated on the east coast of San Francisco Bay in northern California.  San Francisco, California is directly west.  The San Francisco Bay makes the entire western part of the county.  The county center is 45.3 miles Southeast of Oakland nearer Livermore.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Contra Costa, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, San Mateo, and San Francisco counties.  The county is shaped like a V pointing to the northeast.  Oakland is in the northwest quarter of the county.  Oakland is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 26.2% of the county population.  The county is pronounced AL-A-MEE-DA.  

The area of the county is 738.0 square miles.  It is 50 out of 58 in the state.  It ranks 7 out of 58 in population in the state.  It has a density of 2279.6 persons per square mile making it 4 out of 58 in the state.  Alameda County has 91.0% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 80 comes from Contra Costa County on the north, turns west in Oakland, and goes across the bay into San Francisco County.  Many connecting Interstate loops also cross the county.  This county is in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont Metropolitan Statistical Area.