{"id":1575,"date":"2026-06-08T20:41:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T20:41:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1575"},"modified":"2026-06-08T20:41:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T20:41:41","slug":"port-costas-historic-main-drag-is-a-hidden-gem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1575","title":{"rendered":"Port Costa’s historic main drag is a hidden gem"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are only two roads that lead into Port Costa, which makes this port town along the northern edge of Contra Costa County feel particularly isolated and remote.<\/p>

Read more A flesh-eating cattle parasite is spreading in Texas as new far-flung screwworm cases are found<\/a><\/p>\nBut in fact, it\u2019s well within day-tripping range for most of the Bay Area, especially the East Bay \u2013 and well worth visiting. One can take Interstate 80, with views of the Straits of Carquinez, or Highway 4, which connects to the same trail Juan Bautista de Anza\u2019s expedition navigated through the coastal canyons 250 years ago.\n

The latter peaks in verdant bluffs before descending more than 600 feet to narrow county roads built around the turn of the 20th century. At the bottom of the hills, Sarah Louise Humann takes in the view from the doorframe of the Crystal Garden, the shop she opened in Port Costa three years ago at the very end of Canyon Lake Drive \u2013 about as far away from the water as the town\u2019s main street is long.<\/p>\n

Her space is a cross between the Garden of Eden and \u201cAlice Through the Looking Glass,\u201d where tarot cards, handcrafted jewelry and other little gems line the walls inside the restored Burlington Hotel that nearly 120 years ago accommodated travelers in tailor-made wool suits, fox furs and haute couture skirts.<\/p>\n

The 42-year-old Humann is one of the lucky locals working in historic and architecturally stunning buildings that are all that\u2019s left standing of the commercial hub that arose here in the late 1800s.<\/p>\n

Decades before it was accessible by road, Port Costa\u2019s main street served the needs of hundreds of gigantic steam ships \u2013 the largest of their kind in the world \u2013 that carried freight and passengers from California\u2019s fertile valleys and industrial waterways across the Carquinez\u2019s criss-crossing currents and to the oceans beyond.<\/p>\n

And there is something magical, Humann says, that keeps drawing people to Port Costa.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does have that magnetic ability to pull people in,\u201d she says.<\/p>

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When one arrives here, they\u2019ll find no light-up signs or flowy banners welcoming tourists. More often than not, the sidewalks and storefronts are quiet, with the syncopated choruses of birds the only sounds filling tree-lined streets.<\/p>\n

Just past the Crystal Garden, the community\u2019s lone parking lot is just a short walk away from a shoreline dotted with sailboats, fishing poles and oil tankers like the \u201cAmerican Endurance.\u201d Bones of the long-abandoned rail lines that put Port Costa on the map in 1879 remain, as does one active set of tracks that run along the water\u2019s edge; passengers on the Amtrak trains that whoosh by the town a few times each day may blink and miss it.<\/p>\n

The valley\u2019s natural quiet fades into weekends when leather-clad bikers rev their engines down Canyon Lake Drive, and friends cackle over decks of cards on the patio behind the Warehouse Cafe. Pool balls crack while patrons flash cash at Scoty Hopkins, who\u2019s tended bar for nearly a decade inside the mammoth structure, which in 1886 was the first fireproof building constructed in Contra Costa County. The warehouse for wheat, hay and potatoes withstood four disastrous fires and two earthquakes long before it became known as a destination for brews with a view.<\/p>\n

Over the years, Hopkins says, the restaurant has shed its \u201cWild West biker bar\u201d reputation for a more laid-back atmosphere.<\/p>

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\u201cThis bar sort of functions more like a community center,\u201d he says, pointing to a mismatched collection of patio furniture. \u201cPeople hang out here.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Baby who was delivered by emergency c-section after mother fatally shot dies in California hospital<\/a><\/p>\n

Across the street and kitty-corner from the warehouse, JJ Levine has operated his antique store Compulsive Peddler for the past decade. The 56-year-old concedes he has a knack for \u201cdiscovering beautiful things,\u201d but is quick to credit luck for his success as a tenant in Port Costa, five minutes from the quiet home he owns in Crockett.<\/p>\n

Singing along to playlists of pop divas while hand-stickering the newest additions to his collection of vintage ceramics, figurines, signed artwork and high-end fashion, Levine says he\u2019s often asked if the town is actually real or a movie set.<\/p>\n

In reality, it\u2019s the opposite of a movie set, he says \u2013 almost hyper-real.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife here is very transparent. It\u2019s a freaking anomaly,\u201d Levine said. \u201dI feel very fortunate to be around it, and I feel valued, like I belong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Levine has also noticed the effect this place has on people.<\/p>\n