Bethel Island, California
Bethel Island is a community of 1,864 people in Contra Costa County, California.
Why visit Bethel Island
Townapedia lists 4 parks and trails, 1 place to eat and 1 place to stay in and around town.
Highlights include Bethel Island Golf Course.
July is the warmest month, with average highs of 91°F; January lows average 40°F.
Weather in Bethel Island
Forecast from the National Weather Service. Full forecast
About Bethel Island
Bethel Island is an island in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta of Contra Costa County, California, United States, approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) east of Antioch. The island describes itself as "the heart of the California Delta."
From the Wikipedia article Bethel Island (this version), under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Parks, trails and playgrounds4
Restaurants and cafes1
Where to stay1
Schools, colleges and libraries9
History
Bethel Island was named for the Bethell Brothers, Frank and Warren Bethell, who formed the first successful farm on the island, called Sand Mound Ranch.
The landform known as Bethel Island was created between 1859 and 1870 by several men, see the names and survey numbers below. (Source: California State Archives for Land Patent Certificate of Purchase for Swamp and Overflow Surveys Numbers 80, 81, 82, 83, 225, 226, 227 and 250). Alonzo Stone purchased much of the property formerly owned by Warren and Anne Bethell, and the area was briefly referred to as the "Stone Tract" in the 1930s. Prior to this, it was referred to as "Sandmound Ranch", "Sandmound Tract" or "Bethel Tract" and contained an estimated area of 6,000 acres (24 km2), and did not become an island until 1911, when Dutch Slough was dredged eastward to join with Sandmound Slough. East Contra Costa Historical Society has been made aware of these inaccuracies, however has not yet updated their website.
The first post office opened in 1898, and named for its first postmaster Franklin Cloud Bethell. The second "L" was dropped by a rather pious postal commissioner that reportedly felt it would be ungodly to allow the new location to be called "Bet Hell", and took liberties to change it to "Bethel" (בית אל), meaning "House of God" in Hebrew. The post office closed in 1902. A Post Office re-opened on Bethel Island in 1947.
From the History section of Bethel Island on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Map of Bethel Island
15 places. The map loads OpenStreetMap tiles when you open it.
Climate by month
Monthly table
| Month | High | Low | Rain | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 56°F | 40°F | 2.7 in | 0.0 in |
| Feb | 61°F | 44°F | 2.4 in | 0.0 in |
| Mar | 66°F | 47°F | 1.9 in | 0.0 in |
| Apr | 72°F | 50°F | 0.9 in | 0.0 in |
| May | 79°F | 54°F | 0.4 in | 0.0 in |
| Jun | 86°F | 59°F | 0.1 in | 0.0 in |
| Jul | 91°F | 61°F | 0.0 in | 0.0 in |
| Aug | 90°F | 60°F | 0.0 in | 0.0 in |
| Sep | 87°F | 59°F | 0.1 in | 0.0 in |
| Oct | 78°F | 54°F | 0.4 in | 0.0 in |
| Nov | 65°F | 46°F | 1.2 in | 0.0 in |
| Dec | 56°F | 40°F | 2.5 in | 0.0 in |
U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 for Antioch Pumping Plt #3 (7 mi away), NOAA NCEI.
People and cost of living
American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020-2024, U.S. Census Bureau. Estimates have margins of error, larger for small towns.
Disaster history
Contra Costa County has had 9 federal disaster declarations since 2000, most often for floods.
- 2023-01-14: Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides (Flood)
- 2023-01-09: Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides (Flood)
- 2020-03-22: Covid-19 Pandemic (Biological)
- 2020-03-13: Covid-19 (Biological)
- 2017-04-01: Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides (Flood)
- 2017-03-16: Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides (Flood)
OpenFEMA disaster declarations summaries.
Getting there and nearby towns
Travis Air Force Base (SUU) is the nearest airport with scheduled flights listed in OpenStreetMap, 23 miles away.
- Oakley 4 mi southwest, about 6 min by car
- Knightsen 5 mi south, about 7 min by car
- Brentwood 8 mi southwest, about 13 min by car
- Discovery Bay 8 mi south, about 14 min by car
- Antioch 10 mi west, about 16 min by car
- Rio Vista 11 mi north, about 18 min by car
- Byron 11 mi south, about 17 min by car
- Pittsburg 15 mi west, about 24 min by car
- Country Club 16 mi east, about 26 min by car
- Stockton 18 mi east, about 29 min by car
Drive times are estimates from straight-line distance, not routes.
Local news
Headlines from INDB, the NEMICO news database.
Reviews, tips and questions
Loading what members have shared...
Sources and licences
- NCES EDGE (Public domain): public schools
- NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 (Public domain): climate by month
- OpenFEMA (Public domain): disaster declarations
- OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0): places, airports, map data
- U.S. Census Bureau (Public domain): population, income, housing, education, commute
- Wikidata (CC0 1.0): elevation, founding date, time zone, website
- Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0): overview and history text
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