Hope you're ready to join in the fun when Walt's Sierra
Adventures when it
departs for Reno on Saturday, March
17th. Yes, that is St Patrick's Day but it isn't a wee joke of the little folks
that has this trip starting in Emeryville that morning.
No, that fault lies a bit to the south. The San Andreas
Fault to be precise. Before October 17th, 1989. Amtrak trains heading out of
the Bay Area stopped at a station in Oakland. In a neighborhood whose prime had
passed a long time back. Definitely not in the better part of town anymore.
After the Loma Preita earthquake, Amtrak was forced
to relocate as the 16th Street Station was condemned, red tagged as not safe to
occupy. Looking for a new station site, local governments used the lure of a
new train station for the growing Capitol Corridor as a way to jump start
redevelopment.
Oakland wanted to keep it's role as the main station for the
Bay Area. Using a site across from Jack London Square seemed a good fit. Using
the lure of shops and restaurants in a shiny new complex, a new train station
on the tracks across the street would be just the ticket. Or would it?
Jack London Square from above
Enter Emeryville. It, too, was in the early stages of
redevelopment. Changing from the "garden" district where the factories grew to
more of a combination of residential and light industry seemed a great way to
bring new revenues to old properties. And a new Amtrak station would make a
great addition to all of that.
Oakland seemed to be the natural winner here. Trains from
all points had come to that city for a long time. For many years, that meant a
nice ride on the ferry across the Bay to the City. San Francisco. When the Bay
Bridge (San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge), to be formal opened on November 12,
1936, buses could and did make the trip from their connections with trains. The
last ferry steamed out of town on July 29, 1958.
The Bay Bridge under construction in 1935
Even in the Amtrak days, a bus ride was what awaited train
passengers after they arrived in Oakland. And the truth be told, that bus would
have an easier time and a shorter trip if it went to Emeryville instead of
Oakland's Jack London Square. That and the problems of bringing trains
down the middle of the Embarcadero to start and end their trips. Just too much
hassle.
Meanwhile, back in Emeryville… A long history of
industrial uses. In 1890, there was a bit of everything here. Stockyards, an
iron mill, a paint plant, plenty of warehouses, a racetrack and an amusement
park. (If you ever get a chance to see Van Stroheim's 1924 film "Greed", that is indeed
Emeryville where the family heads off to for a day of diversion.) But not much
in the way of housing, churches or civic facilities.
Copyright 1924 Metro Goldwyn Mayer.
All rights reserved
That all changed when railroads came to town. The mainline
of the Southern Pacific heading east passed through town. Competition came in
1902 when the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe came through on it's way to Oakland
and it's port. Streetcars and interuban electric trains offered commuters an
easy way to travel from work to home. One of those companies even established
it's headquarters in Emeryville with one of the largest railroad shop complexes
in the West. Building and repairing railcars added to the industrial tax base and brought plenty of
jobs to this growing community.
And it was far from alone. From the City of Emeryville web
site, "A special "Thirty-Third Anniversary Edition" of the Emeryville Herald
published in 1929 listed over 100 companies that called Emeryville home
including California Packing Corp., Fisher Body, Judson-Pacific, Oliver Tire
and Rubber, Pacific Gas and Electric, Paraffin Paint Company, Pennzoil, Santa
Fe Railroad, Shell Oil, Sherwin-Williams Paints, Southern Pacific, Standard
Electric, Union Oil, Western Electric, and Westinghouse." All in all, plenty of
things going on there. Residential neighborhoods came as those folks working in
all those businesses decided to stay, too. That meant all of the usual civic
improvements. Emeryville had gone from just a sleepy spot by the Bay to being a
player in the local economy.
Look! Jobs on Park Street in
Emeryville!!!
That California Packing Corporation? It late became part of
the Del Monte Company. Canning
fruits and vegetables that would find there way to tables across the West. On a
nice little place called Park Street. Just down the block from the City Hall,
too. Wonder how many cans of fruit cocktail came out of that place over the
years?
And just up the block? How about the home of the Oakland
Oaks?
One of the classic baseball teams of the old Pacific Coast League. They played
their games at Oaks Park at the corner of Park Street and San Pablo Avenue.
Even had a guy named Casey Stengel managed the Oaks for a while. He might have
had some experience at that, having managed for both the Brooklyn Dodgers and
the Boston Braves. So go that he went back to the majors and managed the New
York Yankees in 1949. Oaks Park lasted until 1957 when it was torn down to make
room for a Pepsi-Cola bottling plant.
An aerial view of Park
Street in Emeryville. Oaks Ball Park on the right and
the Del Monte Cannery to
the left.
Not far away at Sixty Fifth Street and San Pablo Avenue, a
young gentleman made a name for himself with a nice little bar and restaurant
called Hinky Dinks. So much of a name that he ended up creating one of the
classic bar concoctions of all times. You may know him better as Trader Vic and the
cocktail? The Mai Tai, of course!
So… a long way to the end of this tale? Well, maybe, but
if you decide to come to Emeryville to join us for Walt's Sierra Adventures,
you should plan to explore a bit of this city. For example, that Del Monte
Cannery and the former Oaks Ball Park? Why indeed, that is today's home to
Pixar.
Sorry, not open for tours. You
can just look in from Park Street.
And although you can't take a tour of the studio, you should
certainly stop by Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe at the corner of Park Street and Hollis Street. It's got
that vibe, that high energy spirit found across the street making everyone's
favorite family films. And the food is pretty tasty, too!
Or for something a bit more relaxed, why not plan to stop by
the Trader Vic's mothership location on Anchor Drive. Fun, good food and
beverages await. Either at the bar or in the restaurant.
Oh, those old school Mai Tai's!
But don't stay out too late! You won't want to miss the
train when we head east that Saturday morning. Plenty of good stories to be
shared aboard about Walt and the adventures that could have been in store for
guests to the Sierra resorts at Mineral King and Independence Lake. And
Saturday night's Ice Cream Social has some surprises in store that you won't
find anywhere else. Hope you can join us for all of the fun in store!