Berkeley Pier

The Berkeley Pier is in Berkeley, California. When constructed, the pier extended 3.5 miles (5.6 km) into San Francisco Bay from the end of University Avenue. Due to extensive filling of the bay and the creation of the Berkeley Marina, it presently extends only 2.5 miles (4.0 km). Only the first 3,000 feet (910 m) were maintained and open to the public. In July, 2015 the entrance to the pier was fenced off and access was forbidden due to safety concerns after severe weathering and corrosion was discovered in the concrete and iron rebar supporting the pier.

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 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. Starting in 1926, the Golden Gate Ferry Company, began construction of the Berkeley Pier. It was also built out from the foot of University Avenue about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) into the Bay (measured from the original shoreline). On June 16, 1927, auto ferry service began between the Berkeley Pier and the Hyde Street Pier in San Francisco, a pier shared with the Sausalito ferry. In early 1929, the Golden Gate Ferry Company merged with the competing auto ferry system of the Southern Pacific railroad. On May 1, 1929, ferry service to San Francisco from the Berkeley Pier was taken over by the new "Southern Pacific-Golden Gate Ferries, Ltd."

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.

Between 1926 and 1937, the Pier served as an integral part of the Lincoln Highway (the first road across America), and then subsequently U.S. Route 40. A two-lane road ran the entire length to a ferry dock at the end of the pier. The ferry line shut down on October 16, 1937, 11 months after the Bay Bridge opened to auto traffic.

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