EL CERRITO

city, Contra Costa county, Calif., U.S., on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay, north of Oakland, and 14 miles (22.5 km) northeast of San Francisco via the San FranciscoOakland Bay Bridge. The early village, named Rust after a German blacksmith and storeowner who lived there, did not grow until the establishment of a railroad terminal and harbour at neighbouring Richmond in the early 1900s. The San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906 resulted in a spurt of settlement, and thereafter a slow growth took place, culminating in the incorporation of the city of El Cerrito in 1917. Subsequent growth accompanied the economic development of the San Francisco Bay area but was particularly affected by that of Richmond. El Cerrito is largely residential, with the greater part of the working population employed in Richmond, Oakland, and San Francisco. The city has had a council-manager form of government from 1948. Pop. (1990) 22,869.