Antioch will kick off 150 years as a city with celebration on Sunday

Antioch will celebrate the 150th anniversary of its incorporation on Sunday at a spot along the riverfront where a ship landed with the city’s first permanent settlers.

“It is one of the oldest cities in California, and I think it’s important to celebrate these moments, as a community, coming together,” Joy Motts, a volunteer with event sponsor Celebrate Antioch Foundation, said. “We’ve changed dramatically over the years and in wonderful ways, you know, we’ve grown substantially, we’re a beautiful, diverse community.”

Motts has been working for the past several years — first as a councilwoman and later with the Celebrate Antioch Foundation — along with other volunteers and city staff to plan the year-long celebration, which will include multiple events. The volunteers are also partnering with the Antioch Historical Society and service groups like the Delta Veterans Group to take part in the many events planned this year, she said.

“We’ve reached out to other organizations to become part of this because it’s not just Celebrate Antioch (Foundation), it’s a whole community-driven celebration …we want everyone to be involved – not just downtown – we’re having events all over the community.”

Sunday’s kickoff to a year of sesquicentennial celebrations will be held at 1 p.m. at the foot of F Street, where a “Birthplace of Antioch” historical marker is located. The marker commemorates the site where Captain George W. Kimball anchored his ship on Sept. 16, 1850, with newly arrived passengers from Maine, who had been promised land and help building their homes.

Motts said the small kickoff event, which is open to the public, will include proclamations from local dignitaries and a reception at the Antioch Senior Center where historical photos and a video of the city’s history will be shown.

The oldest city in Contra Costa County, Antioch got its start in 1849 when Dr. John Marsh offered twin brothers and New Hampshire natives William Wiggin Smith and Joseph Smith some land for $500 to build a new settlement at a site where Miwok, Julpan and Ompin peoples had lived. Marsh, who lived south of Brentwood, had built a landing at the waterfront and wanted a settlement to locate there.

First called Smith’s Landing or Marsh’s Landing, the future city on the banks of the Joaquin River was renamed by William Smith, a preacher, and others during a community picnic in 1851 in honor of the ancient biblical city of Antioch in what is now modern-day Turkey. Smith’s brother, Joseph, had contracted malaria and died a year earlier in what is now Pittsburg.

But land disputes – the order for the day – kept William Smith and other settlers from receiving land titles of the area until Nov. 18, 1869, according to Antioch historian Elizabeth Rimbault. As a result, the city did not incorporate until Feb. 6,1872. Smith, wife Jane Crocker Crosswell Smith and Captain Kimball were later credited with laying out the town, with Smith doing the surveying work, according to the Antioch Historical Society.

Motts said her group is working closely with the Antioch Historical Society and will host a big community at the museum on April 2, including tours of the museum and a barbecue.

The first large-scale event will be a community picnic and barbecue sponsored by the Antioch Historical Society. The event will be held on April 2 at the Antioch Historical Museum, the original Riverview Union High School, located at 1500 W. Fourth Street.

Later this spring and summer, the group plans to host a number of other events, including a Sesquicentennial History Walk, Golf Tournament, an Outdoor Movie Series, Bicycle and 5K races and more. The Sesquicentennial Celebration will culminate on July Fourth with a parade and festival held downtown.

“The Fourth of July is going to be huge,” she said. “We have some great bands coming. We have Foreverland, Lydia Pense and Cold Blood, Pete Escovedo, Best Intentions, a lot of great entertainers.”

Motts said a commemorative coin and Sesquicentennial calendar will also be available in tribute to the event.

She added that these events will give residents an opportunity to look back at where the city has been and how it has evolved.

“It’s an opportunity for us to learn more about our community and, and really, you know, to celebrate our city and where we’ve been and where we’re where we are now and where we’re headed to.

For a complete list of events, go to Celebrate Antioch Foundation’s website at www.celebrateantioch.org.