The Port of Pittsburg is in Contra Costa County, California, on the Sacramento River Delta about 11 nautical miles upriver from Avon. The Port of Pittsburg is about 50 kilometers (33 miles) northeast of San Francisco. Linked to San Francisco through a BART station, the city has been called Black Diamond and New York of the Pacific in the past. The Port of Pittsburg is home to about 63 thousand people.

The Port of Pittsburg economy has relied largely on coal mining and industrial development. Dow Chemical Company and USS-POSCO Industries operate large plants in the Port of Pittsburg. Two Philippine-based companies, Ramar International and Magnolia Dairy Ice Cream, also have manufacturing plants in the Port of Pittsburg.

Colonel Jonathan D. Stevenson purchased the former Rancho Los Medanos land grant in 1849, calling the future Port of Pittsburg "New York Landing," but his venture quickly failed. For a brief time, the Port of Pittsburg prospered due to the fishing and canning industries.

When coal was discovered in Nortonville near the Port of Pittsburg, the struggling village became a coaling port and adopted the name "Black Diamond" after the company that owned the coal mine and, in 1865, the railroad connecting the two towns. In 1868, the Port of Pittsburg's post office opened.

Columbia Geneva Steel opened in the Port of Pittsburg in 1906. In the 1930s, Columbia Geneva Steel was purchased by United States Steel (USS). During the 1950s, employment at the mill exceeded five thousand workers. Recognizing its suitability for industrial development related to the steel industry, the town's citizens adopted the name Pittsburg in 1911.

The Port of Pittsburg has continued to grow inland to the south since the early 20th Century. It also grew to the east and west along the highway that took commuters to work in the San Francisco Bay area. During its growth, the Port of Pittsburg absorbed the town of Cornwall.

Created in the Port of Pittsburg in 1942, Camp Stoneman was an important staging area for the US Army during the Second World War and the Korean War.

United States Steel sold half interest in its Pittsburg Works plant to POSCO, Korea's largest steel company and the world's fourth largest. The resultant USS-POSCO Industries is a stand-alone joint venture that operates primarily in the western United States, with a major plant in the Port of Pittsburg.

In early 2007, California legislation transferred ownership of the shoreline and authorized the City to manage the riverfront and Port of Pittsburg development and operations.

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