Roofer in Hayward, CA

Human habitation of the greater East Bay, including Hayward, dates from at least 4000 BC. The most recent pre-European inhabitants of the Hayward area were the Native American Ohlone people.

Don Guillermo Castro, a noted Californio ranchero, owned Rancho San Lorenzo, which made up the modern cities of Hayward, Castro Valley, and San Lorenzo.

In the 19th century, the land that is now Hayward became part of Rancho San Lorenzo, a Spanish land grant to Guillermo Castro, in 1841. The site of his home was on the former El Camino Viejo, or Castro Street (now Mission Boulevard) between C and D Streets, but the structure was severely damaged in the 1868 Hayward earthquake, with the Hayward Fault running directly under its location. Most of the city’s structures were destroyed in the earthquake, the last major earthquake on the fault. In 1930, that site was chosen for the construction of the City Hall, which served the city until 1969.

William Dutton Hayward arrived during the gold rush and “squatted” as he began to build a house next to the creek at the site of the old Polamares School. Guillermo Castro’s Vaqueros came by one day and told Hayward to get off of Castro’s property. William did leave, but went to Guillermo Castro directly and asked to buy a piece of his land. Castro sold him the area of what was east of Castro Street, now Mission Blvd. and the north side of A Street. William Hayward built a grand hotel on the property. He and his wife ran the hotel, which eventually burned to the ground around 1916.

Learn more about Hayward.