The railroad industry transformed Oakland from an oak forest to a thriving city. Rapid growth began when the Central Pacific Railroad absorbed local rail lines in 1868 and was granted right-of-way to build a freight and ferry pier. The Oakland Long Wharf, which extended into the bay off the end of Seventh Street, was completed in 1871 and became California's principal rail terminus. Central Pacific reorganized as Southern Pacific and sustained a waterfront monopoly for decades until a series of legal, political and legislative actions returned the waterfront to municipal control. Oakland's Mayor Moti negotiated a compromise with Southern Pacific in return for a fifty-year franchise to continue rail, ferry and shipping operations. The wharf was dismantled in 1918, and city streets were extended to the Oakland waterfront.

The Third Street rail line was eliminated in 1998 leaving a single track on Embarcadero Street. Union Pacific and Amtrak trains continue to run through Jack London Square, serving as a vital link to international trade and passenger transport in the Western United States.

Donated in Memory of Kenneth E. McDowell, Jr.

9/1/59-12/27/99

By Sylvia McDowell, Mother and Mike McDowell, Brother

Marker can be reached from Water Street near Broadway.

Courtesy hmdb.org

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