Produce and Waterfront in Oakland in Alameda County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)
Evolution of a Marine Terminal
Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, January 9, 2014
1. Evolution of a Marine Terminal Marker
Captions: Bird’s-eye view 1893 (top, right); Howard Terminal – 1900 (center, right); Quay Wall, Municipal Dock No. 1 (bottom, right (l)); Grove Street Terminal – 1928 (bottom, right (r)); Weatherproof containers don’t need protection from the elements. Modern marine terminals look like big parking lots. (top, center); Charles P. Howard Terminal – 1982 (bottom, center (l)); Howard Terminal – 1997 (bottom, center (r)); Quay wall under construction circa 1913. (sidebar, top); A remnant of the original quay wall can be seen west of the foot of Clay Street. (sidebar, bottom).
Inscription.
Evolution of a Marine Terminal. . Oakland’s waterfront has been rebuilt many times in response to changes in marine technology. In 1900 coal-laden schooners discharged their cargo into bunkers on Howard Terminal’s pier. Dockside warehouses, known as transit sheds, held break-bulk cargo (such as bags of wheat) for the return trip. Longshoremen moved cargo between shore and vessels with hand trucks, shipboard derricks, and cargo nets. Finger piers reached out from the shore to deeper water. When shipbuilding transitioned from wind-powered wood hulls to fuel-powered steel hulls, the city built a quay wall along the shoreline west of Clay Street to provide deep-water berths for increasingly larger, deeper-draft vessels. Later, a paved wharf and several piers with transit sheds were added to the area. After the Port of Oakland was established in 1925, these municipal facilities were reconfigured as Grove Street Terminal, including a larger pier and u-shaped transit shed that served as the Port’s headquarters from 1928 to 1966. , Containerization, introduced in Oakland in 1962, brought speed and standardization units to cargo handling. The Port bought the private Howard Terminal site in 1978, and built a modern container facility, Charles P. Howard Terminal, to replace outmoded break-bulk facilities. , sidebar on right, Constructed between 1910 and 1914, the quay wall was a long bulkhead that measured forty feet from top to bottom, and tapered from twenty-two feet wide at its base to eighteen inches at the top. Because the quay wall was built inland from the shore, tons of soil were removed on the harbor side. Dredging created a berthing basin with a depth of 27 feet at low tide. Sediment placed on the shore side of the wall became a 150-foot-wide wharf.
Oakland’s waterfront has been rebuilt many times in response to changes in marine technology. In 1900 coal-laden schooners discharged their cargo into bunkers on Howard Terminal’s pier. Dockside warehouses, known as transit sheds, held break-bulk cargo (such as bags of wheat) for the return trip. Longshoremen moved cargo between shore and vessels with hand trucks, shipboard derricks, and cargo nets. Finger piers reached out from the shore to deeper water. When shipbuilding transitioned from wind-powered wood hulls to fuel-powered steel hulls, the city built a quay wall along the shoreline west of Clay Street to provide deep-water berths for increasingly larger, deeper-draft vessels. Later, a paved wharf and several piers with transit sheds were added to the area. After the Port of Oakland was established in 1925, these municipal facilities were reconfigured as Grove Street Terminal, including a larger pier and u-shaped transit shed that served as the Port’s headquarters from 1928 to 1966.
Containerization, introduced in Oakland in 1962, brought speed and standardization units to cargo handling. The Port bought the private
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Howard Terminal site in 1978, and built a modern container facility, Charles P. Howard Terminal, to replace outmoded break-bulk facilities.
sidebar on right
Constructed between 1910 and 1914, the quay wall was a long bulkhead that measured forty feet from top to bottom, and tapered from twenty-two feet wide at its base to eighteen inches at the top. Because the quay wall was built inland from the shore, tons of soil were removed on the harbor side. Dredging created a berthing basin with a depth of 27 feet at low tide. Sediment placed on the shore side of the wall became a 150-foot-wide wharf.
Erected by Port of Oakland.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Waterways & Vessels. A significant historical year for this entry is 1900.
Location. 37° 47.705′ N, 122° 16.786′ W. Marker is in Oakland, California, in Alameda County. It is in Produce and Waterfront. It can be reached from Clay Street near Water Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Oakland CA 94607, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in California’s
Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, January 9, 2014
2. Evolution of a Marine Terminal Marker
This marker is closest to the camera.
San Francisco Bay Area and on the Coast Ranges. It is also on the American Pacific Coast. Globally, it is in North America, on the Ring of Fire, in the Pacific Rim, in the Western Hemisphere, in the Western World, and in the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain and also Mexico’s Alta California.
3. Port of Oakland Marine Terminal in the background
personally kicked down a fence that the Southern Pacific railroad, which once claimed exclusive ownership of Oakland's waterfront, had erected across Broadway in 1893. Finally, in 1906, the California Supreme Court ended the lengthy disputes by ruling in the city's favor.(Submitted on January 18, 2014, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.)
Credits. This page was last revised on February 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on January 18, 2014, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 818 times since then and 46 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on January 18, 2014, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
