Bay Farm Island is a district of the city of Alameda, California, though it is separated from the rest of the city on

Alameda Island Alameda Island is an island located in the San Francisco Bay in California. It is south and west of, and adjacent to, Oakland, California, Oakland, and across the bay eastward from San Francisco. Located on the island is most of the city of Ala ...

by an estuary of San Leandro Bay. Its ZIP code is 94502. The location was originally an island in San Francisco Bay, but due to land reclamation it has become a

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

and is now connected to the mainland of

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

and Oakland International Airport. Marshes and other areas of the island were also reclaimed. Prior to 20th century development, Bay Farm Island was farmland with asparagus being the principal crop, thus it was also formerly known as ''Asparagus Island''. In addition, the area was the site of large oyster beds which regularly supplied restaurants in nearby San Francisco. Bay Farm is home to the 36-hole Chuck Corica Golf Complex, office and retail complexes, and several housing developments. There is a chain of lagoons as well as several community parks including Shoreline Park. Four elementary schools serve the island: Bay Farm Elementary, Chinese Christian School, Coastline Christian School, and Amelia Earhart Elementary. Bay Farm was the home of the headquarters of the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

when the team was in Oakland from 1995 until 2020. A greenbelt is also present which encompasses the perimeter of the peninsula.

Harbor Bay Isle

The largest development on Bay Farm is named "Harbor Bay Isle", generally bounded to the north and east portion of the island by Island Drive and Mecartney Road. Harbor Bay Isle is divided into seven villages; six villages cover twenty

homeowner's association A homeowner association (or homeowners' association, abbreviated HOA, sometimes referred to as a property owners' association or POA), or a homeowner community, is a private association-like entity often formed either ''ipso jure'' in a building ...

s in each of the residential

subdivision Subdivision may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Subdivision (metre), in music * ''Subdivision'' (film), 2009 * "Subdivision", an episode of ''Prison Break'' (season 2) * ''Subdivisions'' (EP), by Sinch, 2005 * "Subdivisions" (song), by Rus ...

s, and one village covers commercial interests, including the Harbor Bay business park. Harbor Bay Isle excludes the three southern townhome developments, Islandia, Casitas, and Garden Isle, as well as the single-family homes to the east of Island Drive. Much of the development is built on reclaimed land. Bay Farm Island, Alameda, CA

Southern Crossing

Bay Farm was proposed as a site for the eastern end of another bridge from San Francisco across

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...

. The so-called Southern Crossing was first conceptualized in the 1940s and canceled in 1958.

Schools

There are four elementary schools on Bay Farm Island: Bay Farm Elementary, Chinese Christian School, Coastline Christian School, and Amelia Earhart Elementary. The latter is named for aviator

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...

, who started many of her flights from the nearby Oakland Airport.

Notable residents

* Chris Isaak, recording artist * David Segui, former MLB first baseman * Jim Otto, former center for Oakland Raiders *

Stan Bunger Stan Bunger (born June 8, 1956 in San Francisco, California) is an American broadcast journalist. He was the morning co-anchor at KCBS All News 740 AM/106.9 FM in San Francisco from 2000 until his retirement in 2021. He first joined KCBS in 1982 an ...

, radio broadcast journalist

Public transit

AC Transit provides local bus service in addition to express commuter "Transbay" service to the Transbay Terminal in Downtown San Francisco. In the weekday mornings and afternoons there are student only bus rides from neighborhoods on Bay Farm Island to various local schools. The free Harbor Bay Business Park Shuttle connects the Harbor Bay Ferry Terminal with the Harbor Bay Business Park and Oakland Coliseum station. In addition, the Harbor Bay Ferry provides commuter (rush hour) service to the San Francisco Ferry Building. Harbor Bay Ferry website

References

External links

* * {{San Francisco Bay watershed, state=autocollapse Islands of Alameda County, California Islands of Northern California

Bay Farm Island Bay Farm Island is a district of the city of Alameda, California, though it is separated from the rest of the city on Alameda Island by an estuary of San Leandro Bay. Its ZIP code is 94502. The location was originally an island in San Francisco Ba ...

Islands of San Francisco Bay