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William Mendenhall was an American landowner who founded and named the city of Livermore, California in 1869.
William Mendenhall | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1823 |
| Died | November 1911 (aged 87–88) |
| Known for |
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He was born in Greene County, Ohio in 1823,[1][2] and grew up in the Territory of Michigan.[2] In 1845 he moved to California with a group of several others, including Lansford Hastings.[2] He arrived near Sutter's Fort on Christmas Day the same year.[2] He worked for John Sutter and several others for some time until joining the California Battalion in 1846.[2] In March of that year the battalion marched through the Livermore Valley, camping on the land of Robert Livermore, which was Mendenhall's first visit to the valley.[2]
He married Mary Adelaide Allen in 1847.[2] After that the family moved repeatedly; Mendenhall worked in mining, lumber, ranching, and cattle and horse-raising.[2] At some point, he bought 650 acres of the Santa Rita grant.[2][when?] In 1866 he bought 608 acres of the Rancho el Valle de San José.[2]
In 1869, he set aside 100 acres (40 ha) of his land for a townsite, creating a new town which he named Livermore, after his friend Robert Livermore.[3][better source needed] Livermore was platted and registered on November 4, 1869, as a railroad town.[4] Mendenhall also donated 20-30 acres (the exact number is disputed)[2] of this land to the Western Pacific Railroad,[3][better source needed] which in September 1869 placed a station on the land William Mendenhall had donated.[5] The land for the tracks had already been signed over by Robert Livermore from his ranch in 1855, as surveyors had determined it was the best place to build.[6]
Mendenhall built a mansion on College Ave. in 1876.[2]
In his old age he bred Angora goats, having at one point 1,200 of them, which at the time made him the largest Angora goat breeder in California.[2]
He died in November 1911.[2]
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