Alamo is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Contra Costa County, California, in the United States. It is located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2000 census, the population was 15,626. Alamo was named by the Spanish in 1850 for the poplar trees that lined San Ramon Creek. As an unincorporated community, Alamo does not have a government of its own. Police services are provided by the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff. Fire and EMS services are provided by the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District. In August, 2007, a group of citizens launched a new initiative to incorporate the community, the latest in a series of attempts that go back to the early 1960s or before. Previous failed Alamo incorporation efforts always included parts of other nearby unincorporated areas: Alamo-Danville (1964) and Alamo-Danville-San Ramon (1976). The latest Alamo incorporation came to a vote on March 3, 2009 when the measure was defeated. In 1985, Alamo almost had a chance to vote on its own incorporation, but Contra Costa County turned down the effort. Alamo has never had an opportunity to vote on incorporation by itself.