Discover 4 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Benicia (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Benicia State Recreation Area, Benicia Capitol State Historic Park, and Old Masonic Hall. Also, be sure to include Martinez Subdivision in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Benicia (California).
Table of Contents
Benicia State Recreation Area
State park in Solano County, California. 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 west of downtown Benicia and borders Vallejo's Glen Cove neighborhood. The park covers 447 acres 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.[1]
Address: 1 State Park Rd, 94510-3619 Benicia (Benicia)
Benicia Capitol State Historic Park
State park in Benicia, California. Benicia Capitol State Historic Park is a state park in Benicia, California. 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.[2]
Address: 115 W G St, 94510-3114 Benicia (Benicia)
Old Masonic Hall
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.[3]
Address: 110 W J St, 94510 Benicia (Benicia)
Martinez Subdivision
The Martinez subdivision is a Union Pacific railway line which runs from Roseville, California to Oakland, California. It is informally referred to as the Cal-P line, after the original California Pacific Railroad, who constructed the line from Sacramento to Suisun and Fairfield. The line is entirely double-tracked including bridges, and features extensive sidings.
Originally built as a more direct route to the San Francisco Bay to compete with the Western Pacific Railroad, the Cal-P segment opened months prior to the First Transcontinental Railroad. California Pacific was taken over by the Central Pacific, which in late 1879 completed the line from Suisun-Fairfield to Oakland via the train ferry Solano from Benicia to Port Costa. The present double-track lift bridge across the Carquinez Strait replaced the train ferry in 1930.
The California Pacific became part of the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) which in the 1990s merged into the Union Pacific Railroad, the line's current owner.
The Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority is planning to construct a third track between Sacramento and Roseville as part of a plan to expand passenger rail operations in the area.
The line hosts several Amtrak passenger routes: the Capitol Corridor, Coast Starlight, and California Zephyr operate 36 trains daily over the Benicia–Martinez Bridge. Union Pacific operates numerous freight trains over the route, and BNSF has trackage rights in some segments.[4]