16th Street station (Oakland Central) is a former
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
station in the
Prescott neighborhood of
Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
, United States. The
Beaux-Arts building was designed by architect
Jarvis Hunt
Jarvis Hunt (August 6, 1863 - June 15, 1941) was a Chicago architect who designed a wide array of buildings, including railroad stations, suburban estates, industrial buildings, clubhouses and other structures.
Biography
Hunt was born in Weathe ...
, a preeminent railroad station architect, and opened in 1912. The station has not been served by trains since 1994.
History
Southern Pacific
![Sixteenth Street station 1910 postcard](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Sixteenth_Street_station_1910_postcard.JPG)
The original 16th Street depot was a smaller wood structure, built when the tracks were on the shoreline of San Francisco Bay. Later the shoreline was filled and now lies nearly a mile west. It was replaced in 1912 by a
Beaux-Arts building designed by architect
Jarvis Hunt
Jarvis Hunt (August 6, 1863 - June 15, 1941) was a Chicago architect who designed a wide array of buildings, including railroad stations, suburban estates, industrial buildings, clubhouses and other structures.
Biography
Hunt was born in Weathe ...
.
For decades the 16th Street station was the main Oakland station for
Southern Pacific
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
(SP) through trains, almost entirely replacing the
7th Street station. It was a companion (or "city station") for
Oakland Pier
The Oakland Long Wharf was an 11,000-foot railroad wharf and ferry pier along the east shore of San Francisco Bay located at the foot of Seventh Street in West Oakland. The Oakland Long Wharf was built, beginning 1868, by the Central Pacific Railr ...
, two miles away, where passengers could board
ferries to San Francisco. (After 1958, the ferries were replaced by buses from 16th Street station to the SP's
Third and Townsend Depot
The Third and Townsend Depot was the main train station in the city of San Francisco for much of the first three quarters of the 20th century. The station at Third Street and Townsend Street served as the northern terminus for Southern Pacific's P ...
). The elevated platforms were used for the SP-owned
East Bay Electric Lines
The East Bay Electric Lines were a unit of the Southern Pacific Railroad that operated electric interurban-type trains in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area.Tufveson.Ford (1977). Beginning in 1862, the SP and its predecessors opera ...
commuter service (renamed Interurban Electric Railway or IER in 1938).
IER trains from Berkeley no longer stopped at 16th Street when railroad service over the
Bay Bridge opened on January 15, 1939, as the junction from those lines to the bridge was north of the station. When the IER folded in July 1941, portions of some lines were sold to the competing
Key System
The Key System (or Key Route) was a privately owned company that provided mass transit in the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Emeryville, Piedmont, San Leandro, Richmond, Albany, and El Cerrito in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area fr ...
for use by their transbay trains; however, the Key System only served the station with a surface streetcar line on 16th Street, and did not use the elevated platforms.
Major long-distance trains from the station included the ''
Oakland Lark'' (night train to Los Angeles) and the ''
City of San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
'' (to Chicago).
Amtrak and replacement
The station also served as the main rail link for points north and east of the Bay Area. San Francisco-area passengers boarded ferries to
Oakland Pier
The Oakland Long Wharf was an 11,000-foot railroad wharf and ferry pier along the east shore of San Francisco Bay located at the foot of Seventh Street in West Oakland. The Oakland Long Wharf was built, beginning 1868, by the Central Pacific Railr ...
, and after 1958 boarded buses to 16th Street.
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
took over intercity passenger rail services in 1971, and decided to consolidate most Bay Area service in Oakland, leaving San Francisco as one of the largest cities without direct intercity rail service.
The station was severely damaged in the
1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake occurred on California's Central Coast on October 17 at local time. The shock was centered in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz County, approximately northeast of Santa Cruz on a section of t ...
, but continued serving trains at an adjacent building.
''Capitols'' and ''San Joaquins'' trains were shifted to the new
Emeryville station
Emeryville station is an Amtrak station in Emeryville, California, United States. The station is served by the ''California Zephyr'', ''Capitol Corridor'', ''Coast Starlight'', and ''San Joaquins''. The station is the primary connection point for ...
on August 13, 1993, but long-distance trains continued to use Oakland Central while track work was completed at Emeryville. The ''Coast Starlight'' and ''California Zephyr'' began stopping at Emeryville on August 5, 1994; they last stopped at Oakland 16th Street on August 21.
[ This left Emeryville as the only Oakland-area stop for Amtrak until the new Oakland–Jack London Square station opened on May 22, 1995.]
Emeryville largely replaced 16th Street station as the connection point for Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach
Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, transit ...
across the bay in San Francisco (for passengers heading northbound towards Seattle or eastbound towards Chicago, or passengers arriving from the north and east), as Emeryville is closer to the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge
The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, known locally as the Bay Bridge, is a complex of bridges spanning San Francisco Bay in California. As part of Interstate 80 in California, Interstate 80 and the direct road between San Francisco and Oakland ...
than Oakland–Jack London Square. However, Jack London Square serves as the San Francisco connection for the ''Coast Starlight
The ''Coast Starlight'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States between Seattle and Los Angeles via Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area. The train, which has operated continuously since Amtrak's formati ...
'' (for southbound passengers from San Francisco and northbound passengers heading to San Francisco).
In the mid-1990s, the adjacent railroad tracks were moved west during the construction of Interstate 880 (to replace the earthquake-destroyed Cypress Street Viaduct
The Cypress Street Viaduct, often referred to as the Cypress Structure or the Cypress Freeway, was a 1.6-mile-long (2.5 km), raised two-deck, multi-lane (four lanes per tier) freeway constructed of reinforced concrete that was originally pa ...
), which isolated the station from the tracks. The station buildings are largely intact, including the interlocking tower and ironwork elevated platforms. The station was purchased in 2005 by BUILD, an affiliate of BRIDGE Housing, and is being restored as part of a local redevelopment project. In 2015, the station was used to stage a local opera company's production of ''Lulu
Lulu may refer to:
Companies
* LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer
* Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer
* Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia
* Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...
''. As of 2021, the station is being used as a rented space for private events.
In media
The station was used in films including ''Chu Chu and the Philly Flash
''Chu Chu and the Philly Flash'' is a 1981 American comedy film starring Alan Arkin, Carol Burnett, Jack Warden, Ruth Buzzi, Adam Arkin and Danny Aiello. It was directed by David Lowell Rich and produced by Jay Weston, with the screenplay being wr ...
'', ''Funny Lady
''Funny Lady'' is a 1975 American biographical musical comedy-drama film and the sequel to the 1968 film '' Funny Girl''. The film stars Barbra Streisand, James Caan, Omar Sharif, Roddy McDowall and Ben Vereen.
Herbert Ross, who helmed the musi ...
'' (as Cleveland station), ''RENT
Rent may refer to:
Economics
*Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property
*Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production
*Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...
'', and ''Hemingway & Gellhorn
''Hemingway & Gellhorn'' is a 2012 television film directed by Philip Kaufman about the lives of journalist Martha Gellhorn and her husband, writer Ernest Hemingway. The film premiered at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival and aired on HBO on May 28, ...
'' (as a stand-in for the Hotel Florida). Mumford & Sons
Mumford & Sons is a British folk rock band formed in London in 2007. The band currently consists of Marcus Mumford (lead vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, drums), Ted Dwane (vocals, bass guitar, double bass), and Ben Lovett (vocals, key ...
filmed their music video for "Babel
Babel is a name used in the Hebrew Bible for the city of Babylon and may refer to:
Arts and media Written works Books
*Babel (book), ''Babel'' (book), by Patti Smith
* Babel (2012 manga), ''Babel'' (2012 manga), by Narumi Shigematsu
* Babel (20 ...
" in the station.
References
{{Oakland terminals
Former Amtrak stations in California
History of Oakland, California
Amtrak stations in Alameda County, California
Railway stations in Oakland, California
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1912
Railway stations closed in 1994
Beaux-Arts architecture in California
1912 establishments in California
Oakland 16th