Dougherty is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in Alameda County

Alameda County, California

Alameda County is a county in the U.S. state of California. It occupies most of the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,510,271, making it the 7th most populous county in the state...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. It is located just north of Dublin

Dublin, California

Dublin is a suburban city of the East Bay region of Alameda County, California, United States. Located along the north side of Interstate 580 at the intersection with Interstate 680, roughly east of Hayward, west of Livermore and north of San Jose, it was named after the city of Dublin in...

, at an elevation of 348 feet (106 m).

James Witt Dougherty purchased the land here in 1852, including a two-story adobe building. A community grew up around the adobe, and was first called Amador's and Amador Valley. The post office arrived in 1860 and renamed the place Dougherty Station. The southern part of the settlement broke off and became Dublin. The post office was renamed Dougherty in 1896 and closed in 1908.