About Danville, CA

The Town of Danville is located in the San Ramon Valley in Contra Costa County, California. It is one of the incorporated municipalities in California that use “town” in their names instead of “city”. The population was 43,582 at the 2020 census. Since 2018, for four years in a row, Danville was named “the safest town in California”.The Iron Horse Regional Trail runs through Danville. It was first a railroad that has been converted to an 80-foot (24 m) wide corridor of bike and hike trails as well as controlled intersections. Extending from Livermore to Concord, the trail passes through Danville.Danville is also home to the Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site, Village Theatre and Art Gallery, and the Museum of the San Ramon Valley. == History == Often referred to as the “Heart of the San Ramon Valley,” Danville was first populated by Native Americans who lived near creeks and camped on Mount Diablo in the summer. Later, it was part of Mission San José’s grazing land as well as a Mexican land grant called Rancho San Ramon. Initially a farming community, the Town of Danville switched from wheat to fruits and nuts after the Southern Pacific Railroad built a spur line through the area in 1891. It developed as a residential suburb in 1947 when the first sizable housing tracts were constructed and its population boomed in the 1970s and 1980s.The Danville Post Office opened in 1860 with hotel owner Henry W. Harris as the first postmaster.Churches, schools, farmers unions and fraternal lodges began as the community grew.