Some Places and Organizations Named after Tesla*

1. Tesla Quadrangle - A 15-minute topographic map of the area around Tesla, California, first published in 1907 by the U.S. Geological Survey and named for the town of Tesla. The 1907 issue was reprinted in 1914. A revised edition came out in 1943. These maps are now out of print and difficult to find.
2. Tesla Formation - Named in 1936 by Arthur S. Huey for a group of brackish-water and marine sediments of middle Eocene age that are completely exposed near the former mining camp of Tesla. This rock formation is described in “Geology of the Tesla Quadrangle, California,” by Arthur S. Huey, California Division of Mines Bulletin 140, 1948.
3. Tesla Fault - Named in 1925 by F.P. Vickery for a geologic fault line that can be traced for 9 miles running across the central part of the Tesla quadrangle. The fault is described in an article titled “The Structural Dynamics of the Livermore Region,” by F.P. Vickery, published in Journal of Geology, v. 33, p. 608-628, 1925, and in Huey's bulletin mentioned above.
4. Tesla Portal - Name of the entrance to a tunnel 25 miles long on the Hetch-Hetchy Water System. The portal is located on the eastern end of the Coast Ranges where pipelines enter the mountains. It was named in the late 1920s.
5. Tesla Sand and Clay Company - Name of a mining company interested in extracting the sand and clay from the Tesla Formation during the late 1940s and early 1950s.
6. Tesla Cattle Company - Owned by William H. Ryan of Livermore, who purchased livestock for the coal company from 1905 to 1915.
7. Tesla Gravel Company - This company mined the gravel deposits located 7 miles east from Tesla. It operated from 1907 to 1909.
8. Tesla Phone Company - In 1916, stockmen from the Tesla district organized to build a telephone line from Livermore to Tesla.
9. Tesla Advisory Council - Organized in 1987 by residents of the Tesla district to fight the threats of encroachment by the city of Livermore and to establish their own water supply. There was talk of reinstating the name of the town of Tesla and incorporating as a city. Several meetings with the Livermore City Council and Alameda County Supervisors however failed to bring water to the Tesla district. Not sure if this council is still active.

* Information by Dan Mosier, submitted to TCBA by Nick Basura