Oakland, CA: Oakland Long Warf and SP Mole

(Satellite, still railroading, but containers instead of ferries and military)

Marty Bernard posted seven photos with the comment:

Early Pictures of the Oakland Mole, Part 1 of 3

The Oakland Long Wharf, later shortened and rebuilt as the Oakland Mole or the SP Mole, was a massive railroad wharf and ferry pier in Oakland, California located at the foot of Seventh Street. The purpose of the Oakland Long Wharf was to allow the transfer of passengers, both commuters from the East Bay and long-distance riders to transfer to or from ferry boats to or from the Ferry Building at the foot of Market Street in San Francisco. Today commuters ride BART through the Transbay Tubes or take buses from the Emeryville Amtrak Station. And, of course, there now is the Bay Bridge.

Initially the Central Pacific Railroad took over a small existing wharf and expanded it. On April 1, 1885 the Central Pacific was leased to Southern Pacific Railroad and the wharf was eventually called the SP Mole.

The Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division has an online set of pictures of the Mole taken between 1869 and maybe 1930. The set is from the Historic American Buildings Survey, Southern Pacific Railroad Collection. The captions are from the collection.

Dennis DeBruler shared

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1. Photograph of 1869 Oakland Point Pier - Before Construction of Long Wharf - Southern Pacific Mole & Pier.

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2. About 1869 Oakland Point Pier - Used by First Central Pacific Train to Enter Oakland -- November 8, 1869 - Southern Pacific Mole & Pier.

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3. After 1919 Oakland Mole -- Aerial View Looking West by South - Southern Pacific Mole & Pier.

Jack Bobby Lou Mulreavy updated

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4. and 5. Photographs of 1871 OAKLAND LONG WHARF - Southern Pacific Mole & Pier.

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4. and 5. Photographs of 1871 OAKLAND LONG WHARF - Southern Pacific Mole & Pier.

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6. Leslie Magazine May 11, 1878 OAKLAND LONG WHARF - CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD TERMINUS - Southern Pacific Mole & Pier.

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7. Note the freight ferry Thoroughfare in Photos 5 and 6. Here's a photo of her from the Western Railway Museum Archives sent by Evan Werkema.

Dennis DeBruler commented on Marty's post

The length of the Oakland Long Warf was 10,500' or nearly two miles.

https://tile.loc.gov/.../ca0000/ca0018/data/ca0018data.pdf

 via:

https://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/item/ca0018/

1895 San Francisco Quadrangle @ 1:62,500

Dennis DeBruler commented on Marty's post

There has been a lot of landfill in the area. I tried to excerpt comparable sections of the maps.

1949 Oakland West Quadrangle @ 1:24,000

Dennis DeBruler commented on Marty's post

Oakland Mole is squeezed between army and navy facilities.

1949 Oakland West Quadrangle @ 1:24,000

Marty Bernard posted six photos with the comment:

Early Pictures of the Oakland Mole, Part 2 of 3

First a comment from Mark Bridgwater: "The Oakland Long Wharf was built first, and quite far out into the Bay, primarily for the purpose of accommodating ocean going ships carrying freight which needed deep water to dock in (Obviously, it handled passenger traffic, as well.). The Oakland Mole, or Pier,  closer to land came later for the purpose of the auto and people ferries that operated between here and San Francisco. Once ocean going freight shipments declined, the Long Wharf was removed leaving the Mole to survive for many more years."

Here are six additional from the Historic American Buildings Survey Southern Pacific Railroad Collection at the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. The captions are from the collection.

Dennis DeBruler shared

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1. OAKLAND LONG WHARF - Southern Pacific Mole & Pier.

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2. Taken in 1890's OAKLAND LONG WHARF FROM GOAT ISLAND Oakland Mole in Background. [Goat Island is one of the names Yerba Buena Island was called over the years.]

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3. Picture 2 cropped to include only the Oakland Long Wharf. You can just see the Oakland shoreline through the fog.

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4. Photograph of 1909 OAKLAND LONG WHARF.

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5. About 1900 Oakland Mole -- Looking West.
[Note, you can just see Goat Island (Yerba Buena Island) out in the Bay. San Francisco is beyond in the fog.]

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6. About 1900 Oakland Mole -- Looking West.

Marty Bernard posted six photos with the comment:

Early Pictures of the Oakland Mole, Part 3 and Last

Here are the final six pictures and captions I downloaded from the Historic American Buildings Survey, Southern Pacific Railroad Collection at the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

I hope you found this look at a long-gone major railroad terminal and transfer point interesting. It sure was different. While there were other railroad to ferry transfer piers, I know of nothing approaching this magnitude and complexity.

Dennis DeBruler

Because many of the eastern railroads accessed NYC using ferries, the west side of the Hudson River had a lot of terminal railyards for ferries.

https://towns-and-nature.blogspot.com/.../jersey-city-nj...

Dennis DeBruler shared

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1. Drawing of 1882 Terminal Building - Oakland Mole Roof Structure - Southern Pacific Mole & Pier, Seventh Street, Oakland, Alameda County, CA.

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2. After 1919 Oakland Mole -- Aerial View Looking East.

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3. After 1919 Oakland Mole -- Terminal Buildings.

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4. After 1919 Oakland Mole Terminal.

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5. ASIATIC WHARF -- DESTROYED BY FIRE 1945 - Southern Pacific Mole & Pier. [The Asiatic Wharf was one part of the Mole complex. There were other "wharfs".]

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6. ASIATIC WHARF -- DESTROYED BY FIRE 1945 - Southern Pacific Mole & Pier.

Paul Jevert shared Greg Giusso's contribution of six photos with the comment: "KEY SYSTEM Terminal and Ferry boats."

[When I first saw "KEY SYSTEM," I thought this ferry service was somewhere in the Florida Keys. But as soon as I saw Oakland, I remembered this SP operation.]

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