The City of Hercules invites residents and visitors to celebrate a milestone on Sunday, Dec. 7, from 3:30–5:30 p.m. at City Hall (111 Civic Drive) for its annual holiday tree-lighting and the 125th anniversary of the city’s founding.
Festivities will include light refreshments, entertainment and photo opportunities with Santa, culminating in the tree lighting ceremony at approximately 5:20 p.m.
Attendees are encouraged to bring canned food items, gently used coats, or unwrapped toys to support local families in need.
“This celebration is a perfect blend of honoring our past and lighting the way to our future,” said City Manager Dante Hall.
Hercules was founded in the late 1880s as a company town for the Hercules Powder Company, which produced explosives for mining, construction and transport along the West Coast. It remained under company control until the 1970s, when it was redeveloped into a suburban community. The city’s waterfront, once a major shipping and rail hub for explosives and goods, is now being reimagined as an interconnected transportation center with restored passenger rail service, transit-oriented housing, businesses, bicycle and pedestrian paths, bus routes and a future ferry service known as the Hercules Hub.
Learn more about our industrial past from the Hercules Historical Society and find more information on the event.