1543. C. P. R. R. Freight Steamer Thoroughfare Loaded with Cars. 1860 : 1870
1565. Railroad Ferry Steamer El Capitan. 1860 : 1870
1568. R. R. Freight Transfer Ferry-boat, Thoroughfare. 1860 : 1870
Central Pacific Railroad Oakland Wharf
Coal Bunkers Oakland Harbor
Grove Street terminal, looking west from the transit shed, 1935 Clyde Sunderland
Liberty Ship Bow, under construction Richmond, CA
Oakland Mole Aerial
Oakland Bridge Oakland & Alameda California
Oakland ship approaching pier
Passenger train of the Central Pacific Railroad on the Oakland Wharf ca. 1870
Pullman car with solidiers, WWII
Sailing ships and trains at long wharf soon after opening by Central Pacific, now Southern Pacific on January 16, 1871. CP brought trains of the first transcontinental RR into Oakland along 7th street to the first wharf in 1859(69), the wharf was located at Biggon’s Point, near site of the present (1930) Oakland Pier. the first wharf was built by the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Co which inaugurated Ferry and Rail service between SF and Oakland ( Broadway St on Sept 2 1863. The long wharf seen here was used for freight after Oakland Mole was opened January 22, 1882. the Long wharf was abandoned 1918-19
The Oakland hills were covered with a vast redwood forest known as the San Antonio Redwood, which had some of the largest trees on earth. Between 1842 and 1853 this forest was logged extensively to supply San Francisco with lumber. The area’s first steam sawmill was built on the edge of Montclair in 1850. A logging road from the mill, later Park Blvd., connecting to the wharf at the foot of 13th Avenue, where ships transported lumber to San Francisco from this estuary. This forest was gone by 1860.
Shows one of the electric trains on the Key Route.
The Oakland Ferry
The Port of Oakland’s Grove Street Pier opened in 1928 between Grove and Jefferson Streets, on the site of Municipal Dock No. 1
Train carrying tanks past the Grove Street Pier, 1943
The Oakland waterfront was a real busy place in it’s hayday. Several ports and ferry terminals connected Oakland to San Francisco and to the rest of the world.
This massive railroad wharf and ferry pier, located at the foot of Seventh Street, was acquired and extended by the Central Pacific Railroad in 1868 to transport freight to San Francisco. It served as the western terminus of the first Transcontinental railroad when it was completed in 1869, where it connected to ferries that carried commuters and cargo between the Long Wharf and San Francisco. Part of the wharf was filled in between 1879 and 1882, creating a mole. It remained in service until 1958. Oakland history room
The ferry “Garden City” taking on passengers at the Oakland Municipal Wharf, foot of Franklin St. ca. 1900
Mole Ferry Slip Depot Oakland CA 1882
Ferry Boat entering the Key Route Slip Oakland California
“This 1901 view, looking north from Alameda, takes in the Oakland waterfront west of the Webster Street Bridge. The estuary is lined with storage yards for lumber, coal, and building materials. Oakland’s city-owned wharves adjoin the bridge, and on the far left a ferryboat is docked at the foot of Broadway.” Pacific Gateway, Woodruff Minor, p. 15 Image courtesy of the Oakland History Room, Oakland Public Library.
“A rare glimpse of the busy Southern Pacific Railroad’s busy waterfront terminal in Oakland, California, where trainloads of passengers would be loaded onto giant railroad-operated ferries for a short trip across San Francisco Bay and into the San Francisco Ferry Building. Prior to the construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in the late 1930s, this was the way train passengers got from one side of the bay to the other. Use of the facility actually traces back to the late 1860s when the Central Pacific Railroad began transporting freight cars across the bay from what was then known as the Oakland Long Wharf, located at the western end of Seventh Street. The area around the pier was filled in in the early 1880s, and the Southern Pacific Railroad, which had taken over the Central Pacific Railroad, expanded and enclosed the facility into the scene pictured here. Use of the Oakland Mole declined after completion of the Bay Bridge, but some service continued there until about 1957. The Oakland Mole was demolished in the mid-1960s to allow for an expansion of the Port of Oakland cargo facilities. This postcard was published by the Newman Post Card Co. of Los Angeles, although it says it was printed in Germany. It features the longtime Southern Pacific slogan of being ‘On the Road of a Thousand Wonders.’ “
The Oakland Long Wharf, later known as the Oakland Pier or the SP Mole was a massive railroad wharf and ferry pier in Oakland, California. It was located at the foot of Seventh Street. The pier began as a smaller ferry pier extending from Oakland Point westward into San Francisco Bay. In 1868, the Central Pacific Railroad acquired this pier and immediately began extending and improving it and renamed it the Oakland Long Wharf. This wharf was used by the CPRR for transporting freight cars over to San Francisco starting in 1871. Part of the wharf was filled in between 1879 and 1882, thus creating a mole. Local commuter trains also used the pier, while the transcontinental railroad trains used another wharf in nearby Alameda until 1876 when they were shifted to the Oakland Long Wharf. Thereafter, ferries carrying both commuters and long distance travelers operated between the Long Wharf and San Francisco. Beginning on January 15, 1939, electric commuter trains from East Bay points no longer ran to the Long Wharf (by then known as the SP Mole or, officially by the Southern Pacific, as Oakland Pier). Instead, they operated over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge to the Transbay Terminal in San Francisco. However, regular passenger trains continued to run to Oakland Pier until 1958, when the last Southern Pacific ferryboat service from the Ferry Building in San Francisco to Oakland Pier was discontinued. After that, service from San Francisco was by bus over the Bay Bridge to Oakland’s 16th Street Station. After the Central Pacific’s operations were consolidated under the Southern Pacific, the Long Wharf was improved and the terminal buildings at the end of the pier rebuilt. Throughout its existence, progressively greater portions of the bayshore tidelands were filled in. The pier remained in service until 1958. It was demolished in the 1960s to make way for an expansion of the burgeoning Port of Oakland’s container ship facilities. Today, the only thing that remains of the SP Mole is the pier’s switchman’s tower which was restored as part of a small commemorative park.
1889 engraving of the approach to the Oakland Ferry Mole
Ferry Jeffries, Western Pacific Mole, Oakland. This is the Western Pacific Railroad Mole that served as a passenger terminal until the early thirties and then continued as a freight ferry transport point until the 1970s/1980s
The Key Route (later called Key System) was a privately owned company which provided mass transit in the cities of the East Bay. It was formed in 1903 by Francis M. Smith by merging Alameda County’s independent street railways into a conglomerate of streetcars, interurbans, and ferries, which were served by the Key Pier. It operated until 1960, when the system was sold to AC Transit.
The Mole was a dock halfway out Oakland’s Long Wharf used by Southern Pacific ferries to connect with the Key System. The Key System, formed in 1903, was a network of commuter rail and bus lines connecting cities and neighborhoods in the East Bay to San Francisco by way of the Mole.After completion of the Bay Bridge, use of the Mole declined but continued until about 1957. It was demolished in the mid-1960s to allow for an expansion of the Port of Oakland cargo facilities.
The Southern Pacific Company’s Bay City ferry plies the waters of San Francisco Bay in the late 19th century.
Point Richmond Ferry Terminal was operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and a big piece of the pier can still be seen today. Zoom in to check out all the cool details of the pier:
Hi my name is Andreas Grewin and I work as an Interactive Art Director in Stockholm, Sweden. This site represents one of my interest during my past time. With this site I really want to show the world and the people around me what a amazing and creative hobby this is.
My work sponsors this site with hosting and support. They are called Webbyrå Galax and can be visited on that link.
Hi my name is Andreas Grewin and I work as an Interactive Art Director in Stockholm, Sweden. This site represents one of my interest during my past time. With this site I really want to show the world and the people around me what a amazing and creative hobby this is.
