Two developments in the early 1960s would completely change Benicia: The closing of the Benicia Arsenal in 1960-64, and the completion of the Benicia-Martinez Bridge in 1962.
On December 20, 1968, near the Benicia water pumping station on Lake Herman Road, the Zodiac Killer made his debut by killing Vallejo natives David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen as they rested, or "necked", in Faraday's car.