Alameda Terminal (a.k.a. Alameda Wharf) was a railroad station and ferry wharf at the foot and west of present-day Pacific Avenue and Main Street in
Alameda
An alameda is a Avenue (landscape), street or path lined with trees () and may refer to:
Places Canada
*Alameda, Saskatchewan, town in Saskatchewan
**Grant Devine Dam, formerly ''Alameda Dam'', a dam and reservoir in southern Saskatchewan
Chile
...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, on the eastern shore of
San Francisco Bay with ferry service to
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 ...
.
It was built in 1864 and operated by the
San Francisco and Alameda Railroad
The San Francisco and Alameda Railroad (SF&A) was a short-lived railroad company in the East Bay area of the San Francisco Bay Area. The railroad line opened 1864–1865 from Alameda Terminal on Alameda Island to Hayward, California, with ferry ...
. In 1869, it served as the original west coast terminus of the U.S.
First transcontinental railroad,
until the opening of
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 Rai ...
two months later. The western terminus was inaugurated September 6, 1869, when the first
Western Pacific through train from
Sacramento
)
, image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg
, mapsize = 250x200px
, map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
reached the shores of
San Francisco Bay at Alameda Terminal,
thus completing the first transcontinental railroad to the Pacific coast.
History
![Joseph Lee painting Alameda Shore (1868)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Joseph_Lee_painting_Alameda_Shore_%281868%29.jpg)
In 1863, Alfred A. Cohen, a San Francisco lawyer, along with his associates, formulated plans to build a railroad and wharf to carry passengers not only to Alameda, but also by ferry to San Francisco. In 1864, he built a 3,750-foot-long wharf, starting from a spot near today's Pacific Avenue and Main Street westward, into the Bay at that time, and ending at part of today's
Alameda Point
Alameda Point is the name given to the lands of the former Naval Air Station Alameda in the City of Alameda, California. Alameda Point consists of of land area at the western end of the island of Alameda.''Alameda Point''NAVFAC website/ref> Most o ...
where the
USS Hornet sits anchored. On August 25, 1864, Cohen inaugurated passenger service, for 25 cents, from the wharf at Vallejo and Davis Street in San Francisco, via the leased river packet ''Sophie MacLane'', to the Alameda Wharf and then five miles to his
San Francisco and Alameda Railroad
The San Francisco and Alameda Railroad (SF&A) was a short-lived railroad company in the East Bay area of the San Francisco Bay Area. The railroad line opened 1864–1865 from Alameda Terminal on Alameda Island to Hayward, California, with ferry ...
High St station. In September 1864, he leased the slightly larger ''Contra Costa''. As business grew, he replaced the leased boat, in February 1866, with his very own ferry boat, the ''Alameda''.
First transcontinental train
After the
Pacific Railroad Act The Pacific Railroad Acts of 1862 were a series of acts of Congress that promoted the construction of a "transcontinental railroad" (the Pacific Railroad) in the United States through authorizing the issuance of government bonds and the grants of ...
of 1862 authorized construction of the
First transcontinental railroad and
telegraph
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
line, the first construction activity took place in 1863 eastward from
Sacramento
)
, image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg
, mapsize = 250x200px
, map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
on the
Central Pacific Railroad line. In October 1864, the
Central Pacific Railroad assigned all the rights of the Pacific Railway Acts to the
Western Pacific Railroad
The Western Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was formed in 1903 as an attempt to break the near-monopoly the Southern Pacific Railroad had on rail service into northern California. WP's Feather River Route dire ...
for the route between Sacramento and
San Jose, including
land grant
A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...
s. The plan was that the
transcontinental railroad
A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous railroad trackage, that crosses a continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single ...
would follow the Western Pacific from Sacramento to San Jose and then connect with the
San Francisco and San Jose Railroad
The San Francisco and San Jose Railroad (SF&SJ) was a railroad which linked the communities of San Francisco and San Jose, California, running the length of the San Francisco Peninsula. The company incorporated in 1860 and was one of the first ra ...
(SF&SJ), completed in 1864, to
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 ...
.
By 1866,
Western Pacific had built of track north and east from San Jose, reaching halfway into
Niles Canyon
Niles Canyon is a canyon in the San Francisco Bay Area formed by Alameda Creek, known for its heritage railroad and silent movie history. The canyon is largely in an unincorporated area of Alameda County, while the western portion of the cany ...
, to about Farwell near MilePost33.
The Western Pacific used 500 Chinese laborers to grade and construct the rail line into the rugged canyon with its tight curves and narrow banks.
Construction was then halted because of disagreements between the railroad's contractors and its financiers.
In 1868, Central Pacific Railroad, a subsidiary of which had acquired the Western Pacific and
Oakland Point
Oakland Point, or Gibbons' Point, was a small promontory formerly on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in West Oakland, California. It was located in the vicinity of what is now the Port of Oakland shipping terminal.
History
Oakland Point ...
, restarted work on the Western Pacific Railroad line starting at
Sacramento
)
, image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg
, mapsize = 250x200px
, map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
working southward, as well as near Lathrop and Livermore, using upwards to 2,000 Chinese laborers. The new plan was to connect with
Oakland and Oakland Point with its ferry service to San Francisco. After the golden spike ceremony at Promontory Summit, work resumed in June 1869 in Niles Canyon with track laying towards Livermore. Also in June 1869, J. H. Strobridge came to
Niles (then
Vallejo Mills Fremont.html"_;"title="Fremont,_California.html"_;"title="ow_part_of_Fremont,_California">Fremont">Fremont,_California.html"_;"title="ow_part_of_Fremont,_California">Fremont_to_oversee_the_construction_of_the_new_line,_with_his_crew_of_up_to_600_Chinese_laborers,_heading_towards_Oakland.
_By_midsummer,_Governor_Stanford_made_known_his_hopes_that_the_line_be_finished_in_time_for_the_opening_of_the_State_Fair_on_September_6._Thus_in_September_1869,_a_temporary_connection_was_made_at_the_bay_side_(west_of_Alvarado_and_Davis_Sts)_of_San_Leandro,_California.html" "title="Fremont,_California">Fremont.html" ;"title="Fremont,_California.html" ;"title="ow part of Fremont, California">Fremont">Fremont,_California.html" ;"title="ow part of Fremont, California">Fremont to oversee the construction of the new line, with his crew of up to 600 Chinese laborers, heading towards Oakland. By midsummer, Governor Stanford made known his hopes that the line be finished in time for the opening of the State Fair on September 6. Thus in September 1869, a temporary connection was made at the bay side (west of Alvarado and Davis Sts) of San Leandro, California">San Leandro
San Leandro (Spanish for " St. Leander") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area; between Oakland to the northwest, and Ashland, Castro Valley, and Hayward to the sout ...
, which led to the SF&A Alameda Wharf with ferry service to San Francisco.
at Alameda Terminal, thus achieving the transcontinental ''Pacific Railroad'' envisioned in the 1862 Pacific Railroad Act. According to the ''Daily Alta California'', this first through train left Sacramento at 10 am, got delayed by some construction trains, exited
late at 9:30 pm, and an hour later arrived at Alameda Terminal to a cheering crowd.
Continuing passengers boarded the ferry ''Alameda'' and crossed the Bay to the Davis St Wharf in San Francisco.
The steamer ''Oakland'', strengthened and converted into a car ferry capable of carrying up to four freight cars at one time, also began service in September 1869, from Alameda wharf to the San Francisco freight slip.
, which was inaugurated on November 8, 1869, in another round of celebration.
Alameda then went back to local passenger train service. Freight service from Alameda continued until 1870 when the freight slip at Oakland wharf and the new line through First Street, Oakland, were completed.
In 1870 the SF&A was absorbed into Central Pacific and in 1873 the SF&A pier was abandoned,
at least for rail-ferry purposes. It was subsequently used by the
which established its refinery adjacent to the wharf in 1880. It was listed in the local city directory as the business address of the E.M. Derby lumber yard from at least 1874 to about 1885.