Berkeley Pier and Golden Gate Bridge aerial

The Berkeley Pier is in Berkeley,

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 ...

. When constructed in 1926, the

pier Seaside pleasure pier in England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century. A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out ...

extended into

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the United States, 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, California, San Jose, and Oakland, Ca ...

from the end of University Avenue. Due to extensive filling of the bay and the creation of the

Berkeley Marina The Berkeley Marina is the westernmost portion of the city of Berkeley, California, located west of the Eastshore Freeway (Interstate 80 and 580) at the foot of University Avenue on San Francisco Bay. Narrowly speaking, "Berkeley Marina" refers o ...

, it presently extends only . Since 1937, only the first were maintained and open to the public until July 2015, when public access was closed due to safety concerns.

History

In the mid-19th century, two private wharves were built along the Berkeley waterfront. One was located at the foot of Addison Street one block south of University Avenue and served the Standard Soap Company, a major regional soap-making factory. The other, the Jacobs and Heywood Wharf, was located several blocks north of University Avenue at the foot of Delaware Street, used as a general freight

transshipment Transshipment, trans-shipment or transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, then to another destination. One possible reason for transshipment is to change the means of transport during the journey (e. ...

point. In 1909, the City built a municipal wharf at the foot of University Avenue. This pier was intended for a commuter ferry which never materialized, and the pier was instead used mainly for freight. In 1925, the

Golden Gate Ferry Company Golden Gate Ferry Company was a private company which operated automobile ferries between San Francisco, Berkeley and Sausalito before the opening of the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge. The company was incorporated in November 1920. The ...

announced its plans to build a new ferry pier for its proposed automobile ferry service between Berkeley and San Francisco. The City of Berkeley agreed to a 50-year lease of the tidelands off the Berkeley waterfront for the construction of a new ferry pier. On January 25, 1926, the Golden Gate Ferry Company applied to the California State Railroad Commission (predecessor of the

California Public Utilities Commission The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC or PUC) is a regulatory agency that regulates privately owned public utilities in the state of California, including electric power, telecommunications, natural gas and water companies. In addi ...

) for a certificate permitting it operate a ferry service between Berkeley and San Francisco. On July 7, 1926, the Golden Gate Ferry Company applied to the California State Railroad Commission for a certificate permitting it operate vessels on San Francisco Bay between Berkeley and San Francisco. The permit was granted. In 1926, the Golden Gate Ferry Company began construction of the Berkeley Pier. It was built out from the foot of University Avenue, extending about into the Bay (measured from the original shoreline). The length was determined by the distance to deeper water. Nearly the entire length of the pier was paved as a two-lane road. At its end, the pier widened to accommodate vehicles waiting for a ferry. Two ferry docks were constructed. On June 16, 1927, auto ferry service began between the Berkeley Pier and the

Hyde Street Pier The Hyde Street Pier, at 2905 Hyde Street, is a historic ferry pier located on the northern waterfront of San Francisco, California. Background Prior to the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, it was th ...

in San Francisco, a pier shared with the

Sausalito Sausalito (Spanish language, Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, California, Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, California ...

ferry. In December 1928, the Golden Gate Ferry Company and the competing auto ferry system of the Southern Pacific railroad decided to merge. They petitioned for the approval of the Railroad Commission. With the approval in hand, the new Southern Pacific-Golden Gate Ferries Ltd. was incorporated on February 18, 1929. On May 1, 1929, ferry service to San Francisco from the Berkeley Pier was taken over by the new company. At the beginning of service, before the merger with SP, four specially-built diesel ferry boats ran every 15 minutes between Berkeley and San Francisco via the pier: The ''Golden Bear'', the ''Golden Poppy'', the ''Golden State'', and the ''Golden Dawn'', all painted yellow. Upon merging with the SP, the boats were all re-painted in the standard Southern Pacific maritime white. In August 1928, radio station KTAB, associated with the

Pickwick Broadcasting Corporation The Pickwick Corporation was a California corporation that historically encompassed a number of related businesses, including the surviving Pickwick Hotel in San Francisco, California. History Prior firms, merged to the Pickwick Corporation, had us ...

, began construction of its broadcasting facilities including a large antenna tower at the pier. From its opening in 1927 to 1937, the Pier served as an integral part of the

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 1913 ...

(the first road across America), and then subsequently

U.S. Route 40 U.S. Route 40 or U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), also known as the Main Street of America, is a major east–west United States Highway traveling across the United States from the Mountain States to the Mid-Atlantic States. As with most routes wh ...

. The ferry line shut down on October 16, 1937, 11 months after the Bay Bridge opened to auto traffic. Upon the cessation of ferry service, the portion of the pier closest to shore was converted to recreational use, mainly

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques ...

. The remaining portion of the pier was left to decay, and is still visible, but inaccessible due to a barrier. There is a gap of about fifty feet at the end of the current pier to allow the passage of small boats. In 2007, proposals were considered to start a new ferry service using a terminal near the pier. In 2015, deterioration of the pier prompted its entrance to be fenced off.

References

External links

"The New San Francisco-Berkeley Pier", ''San Francisco News Letter'', Christmas Edition, December 1927, pp.48-49
Includes rare photos.
"Berkeley Pier", ''The Traveler'', newsletter of the California Chapter of the Lincoln Highway Association, ed. Gary Kinst, January 2016, Vol.17, No. 1, pp.10-13.
*Photo of the ferry slips at the end of the Berkeley Pier
''The Traveler'', newsletter of the California Chapter of the Lincoln Highway Association, October, 2019, Vol.20, No. 4, p.17.Photograph of the ferry Golden PoppyPhotograph of the ferry Kehloken, formerly the Golden State
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berkeley Pier Buildings and structures in Berkeley, California Landmarks in the San Francisco Bay Area Lincoln Highway Piers in California San Francisco Bay U.S. Route 40 Tourist attractions in Berkeley, California Transportation buildings and structures in Alameda County, California

History

See also

References

External links