..The Origin of many Livermore Valley
..place names is somewhat of a mystery m
..non-natives, so offered here is an explana-
..tion of the most eommnn ones. Much of
..this infornmtion was originally compiled
..by Livermore City Clerk Ehner Still in
..the 1930s.

..Altamont. The name was given by the
..Western Pacific Railroad Company when
..its station was built in 1869, evidently on
..account of its being located at the highest
..point on its line between Oakland and
..Sacramento (740 feet above sea level). The
..Latin derivation is from the words altus
..(high) and montis (mountain)

..Amador Valley. Located at the western end
..of the Livermore-Amador Valley, the name
..honors its first settler, Don Jose M. Amador
..who built an adobe house in 1826 where
..Dublin is now and received the San Ra-
..mon grant of 37,000 acres from Mexico in
..1835.

..Arroyo Seco. This creek begins west of Tes-
..la and flows northwest across East Avenue
..to Las Positas Creek. The Spanish transla-
..tion is very appropriate: "dry creek."

..Arroyo Mocho. It means "'cut-off creek"
..and spreads into smaller creeks running
..between Livermore and Pleasanton, end-
..ing up near Santa Rita.