Communities

Fremont was formed in 1956, when five separate towns, Centerville, Irvington, Mission San Jose, Niles and Warm Springs, incorporated together as one city. Those five towns are still its historic districts.

• Two BART stations: Fremont, at 2000 BART Way, and Warm Springs/South Fremont, which opened in March 2017.
• Capitol Corridor and Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) trains stop at the Fremont-Centerville station on Fremont Boulevard.
• Mission Peak Regional Preserve, 3,023 acres, rises over the city's east side; Coyote Hills, Quarry Lakes and Ardenwood Historic Farm are East Bay Regional Parks inside the city.
• Fremont Unified School District serves the city through five attendance areas named for its high schools: American, Irvington, John F. Kennedy, Mission San Jose and Washington. Check a specific address with the district's school locator; placement is not guaranteed.

This district grew up around Mission San Jose, founded on June 11, 1797, the 14th of the 21 Spanish missions in Alta California.

• The 1868 Hayward Fault earthquake destroyed the mission's 1809 adobe church. Between 1982 and 1985 it was rebuilt to look as it did in the 1830s.
• Two California Historical Landmarks: No. 334, Mission San Jose, and No. 642, the Leland Stanford Winery.
• Mission Peak trails start from the Ohlone College lots and the Stanford Avenue staging area.

Niles began as the settlement of Vallejo Mills and grew into a railroad town at the mouth of Niles Canyon. In 1912 the Essanay studio set up here, and Charlie Chaplin made The Tramp in Niles in 1915.

• The Niles Canyon Railway runs heritage trains between Niles and Sunol, operated by the nonprofit Pacific Locomotive Association.
• The Vallejo Flour Mill is California Historical Landmark No. 46, in Vallejo Mill Historical Park at Niles Canyon Road and Mission Boulevard.
• The Alameda Creek Regional Trails run about 12 miles from the mouth of Niles Canyon west to San Francisco Bay.

Irvington started as a saloon stop and later became home to the area's first college. Its center is Five Corners, where Bay Street, Fremont Boulevard, Union Street and Washington Boulevard meet beside the Irvington Monument.

• Irvington High School anchors one of Fremont Unified's five attendance areas.

Centrally placed, Centerville was the meeting place of old Washington Township, and several township-wide organizations made their home here.

• The Fremont-Centerville station on Fremont Boulevard serves Capitol Corridor and ACE trains.

The Spanish called it Agua Caliente, hot water. Today Warm Springs is home to the southernmost BART station in Alameda County, in the Warm Springs Innovation District.

• Warm Springs/South Fremont BART, at 45193 Warm Springs Boulevard, began regular service on March 25, 2017.
• The Warm Springs/South Fremont Community Plan guides transit-oriented development around the station.

Newark was started by the South Pacific Coast Railroad and became its own city in 1955, a few months before Fremont incorporated in 1956. Old Town, along Thornton Avenue, is its historic center.

• Coyote Hills Regional Park, 1,266 acres of marsh and grassy hills on the Bay shore, lies just northwest of Newark.
• Newark Unified School District serves the city; Newark Memorial is its comprehensive high school.

Union City incorporated in 1959, joining the communities of Alvarado, Decoto and New Haven. Alvarado was Alameda County's first county seat, from 1853 to 1856.

• Two California Historical Landmarks: No. 503, the Site of the First County Courthouse, and No. 768, the Site of the Nation's First Successful Beet Sugar Factory.
• Union City BART station is at 10 Union Square.
• New Haven Unified School District, based in Union City, serves most of the city.

Hayward grew from William Hayward's 1852 general store on Mission Boulevard and incorporated in 1876. Once known as the Apricot City, it now calls itself the Heart of the Bay.

• Hayward has two BART stations, Hayward and South Hayward, and a Capitol Corridor stop.
• Home to California State University, East Bay, founded in 1957, and Chabot College, founded in 1961.
• Hayward Regional Shoreline protects 1,841 acres of salt, fresh and brackish marsh.
• Hayward Unified School District serves most of the city; parks are run by the Hayward Area Recreation and Park District.

Castro Valley is an unincorporated community of Alameda County, a valley ringed by hills. It began as cattle and poultry ranches and is named for the rancher Don Guillermo Castro. Castro Valley Boulevard is its main street.

• There is no city government: the Alameda County Board of Supervisors governs, advised by the Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council.
• Castro Valley BART station, on the Dublin/Pleasanton line, is at 3301 Norbridge Drive.
• Lake Chabot Regional Park surrounds a reservoir built in 1874 and 1875, with more than 20 miles of trails.
• Castro Valley Unified School District serves most, but not all, of the community; check a specific address.