Benicia was founded on May 19, 1847 by Robert Semple, Thomas O. Larkin, and Comandante General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, on land deeded to them by General Vallejo, and named after the General's wife. They originally intended it to be a port city to rival San Francisco. Benicia was named the California state capital in 1853, but quickly lost its early prominence. The capital was moved permanently to Sacramento the following year, and the Solano County, California seat was moved to Fairfield, California in 1858.

Benicia faded into a backwater during the next century, kept alive mainly by the United States Army's Benicia Arsenal, to the east of the city. After 1860 the town did not grow again until the economic boom of World War II, which doubled the population to about 7,000 residents.

Two developments in the early 1960s would completely change Benicia: The closing of the Benicia Arsenal in 1960–64, and the completion of the Benicia-Martinez Bridge in 1962. The closing of the Arsenal removed Benicia's traditional economic base, but allowed city leaders to create an industrial park on Arsenal land which eventually provided more revenue for the city than the Army had. The completion of the Benicia-Martinez Bridge made it possible for the city to become a suburb of San Francisco and Oakland, and suburban development in the Benicia hills began in the late 1960s.

On December 20, 1968 near the Benicia water pumping station, the Zodiac Killer made his debut by killing Vallejo natives David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen as they rested in Faraday's car. Near the same area on July 4 of the following year, the killer struck again killing Darlene Ferrin and injuring Michael Mageau at the Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo, immediately next to Benicia.

Between 1970 and 1995, the population of Benicia grew steadily at a rate of about 1,000 people per year, and the city changed from a poor, blue-collar town of 7,000 to a white-collar bedroom suburb of 28,000.

The town is also the location of the Valero Refinery. The refinery was completed in 1969 by Exxon Corporation, and bought by Valero Refining in 2000.

Benicia Capitol State Historic Park is the site of California’s third seat of government (1853-1854). It is the only pre-Sacramento capitol that survives.

The original building has been restored with reconstructed period furnishings and exhibits. The interior includes a board-for-board reconstruction of the building’s original floor with ponderosa pine. The desks, three of which are originals from the Benicia period or earlier, are furnished with a candlestick, a 19th century newspaper, a quill pen and a top hat.

The historic park is located at 115 West G Street in Benicia, not far from Vallejo.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Benicia, California".