Each street ended in a wharf, and the owner of said wharf exacted huge tolls from passengers, drays, wagons and all vessels, from the ships to the lighters who help unload the cargo. The cargo was also taxed. A toll was put on anything that could be weighed or measured. Wharfage alone cost medium-sized ships $100 a day and larger ships $200. By the Fall of 1850, about six thousand feet of pier space, extending into the bay like the fingers of two large hands and costing about one million dollars, had been constructed.
The wharves were crowded from morning through night with drays, wagons, horses, sailors, miners, and merchants. Some wharves were developed to such an extent that by 1851-52, they were small cities of stores, shops, and storeships lining the waterfront.
Wharves were those structures that extended out into the water; docks were built alongside the water. Not all of the following existed at the same time and most were built in the late 1850s and 1860s.
Many of these docks were on land that was filled in as San Francisco grew. And many of those areas have ships buried under them, some of which were deserted and left to rot in San Francisco Bay's low tides as the crew rushed to find gold.
(The National Maritime Historical Park in San Francisco has brought this wonderful era to life on Hyde Street Pier and at their annual Festival of the Sea, held in fall of each year.)
Abernethy's
From Steuart Street, northeast between Market and Mission)
Beale Street
Foot of Beale
Black Diamond/Bellingham Bay
Foot of Steuart, formerly Rincon Dock
Broadway Street
250 feet
long, East from between Battery and Front
Brannan's Wharf
from Steuart between Market and Mission
Broadway Wharf
On Broadway from Front and Davis. This wharf was completed in August 1851.
Buckelew's
Green Street, east from Battery
Burnham's Wharf
Pier 2 at Steuart Street.
Burr's
North, just west of Bay and Montgomery Streets
California Street
400 feet. East from between Montgomery and Sansome, then northeast along Market Street (also see Market Street)
California/Oregon and Mexican Steamship Co.
See "Folsom"
Carr's
Refer to Meigg's Wharf
Central Wharf (also known as Commercial Street Wharf and Long Wharf)
Commercial Street, east from Montgomery Street.
Soon it became apparent that there was more money to be made along the Waterfront than in the mines. One Daniel B. Woods surveyed the Mariposa Diggings and found that 56 miners working a total of 121 days had taken an aggregate of $182.55 daily -- an average to each of the men of only $3.26 per day. In response to the land-grabbing along the Cityfront, and the use of storeships and the hulls of old iron steamers for storage and housing, in May 1849, the Legislative Assembly of the District of San Francisco passed an act to authorize the incorporation of "The Central Wharf and Joint Stock Company of San Francisco." The company was to be given the right for 99 years to build and keep in repair "a wharf, to run from some point in Montgomery Street between Clay and Sacramento Street, to the ships' channel, in front of said town." William Heath Davis became the treasurer of this company, and a strip of land 35 feet wide was obtained from the firm of Mellus and Howard to build a wharf beginning at Commercial Street and running about 400 feet into the Bay. It was later extended until it ran down to Drumm Street, a distance of a little more than five blocks. Throughout the early days of San Francisco, this wharf was known as Central Wharf, named for Central Wharf in Boston, then as Long Wharf, and finally as Commercial Street Wharf. Soon the Central Wharf turned away ten times more business than it could accommodate. Ships arrived with many thousands of tons of assorted cargoes, some consigned to men who could not be found, eve more which would not bring enough money to pay the lighterage So "cheap John" auctioneers set up shop and auctioned cargo for whatever it would bring. Whatever cargo found no takers was dumped into the shallow water and sea of mud. Tides carried away masses of disintegrated boxes and crates and portions of their contents.
Clark's
Refer to Broadway: First Wharf in San Francisco
Clay Street
900 feet. East from between Montgomery and Sansome Streets
Cowell's
From Battery, east between Union and Filbert
Cousin's Dry Dock
See Merchant's Dry Dock Co.
Cunningham's Wharf
This wharf opened in October 1850, when it was advertised in the Alta California:
". . . having twenty-six feet of water at its end, and sufficient at the sides for the largest class vessels, offers great inducements to them to land there, as by doing so they will be able to discharge in one-half the time and at much less expense than they would be put to it by lying in the stream . . . a spacious shed and fire proof building are connected with the wharf . . . goods landed or stored on this wharf, will have the advantage of being shipped by first class steamers to Sacramento city and the mining districts, free of all costs of cartage."
Davis Street Wharf
Dewey's
At the foot of Third Street
Dockman's
Steuart Street
East Street
The Embarcadero extended northwest and south from Market
Felt's Wharf
From Steuart near Mission
Fillmore
North from Chestnut Street
Flint's
North, from the end of Battery
Folsom
Northeast from foot of Folsom
Front Street
North on Front at Vallejo Street
Greenwich Dock
North end of Battery Street
Griffin's
Battery Street from Filbert to Greenwich
Ham and Hathaway's
At Spear, southeast at harrison Street
Hobb's
East off Long Bridge at 3rd Street near Alameda
Howard Street
Northeast from Steuart Street
Howison's
From Sacramento, east from Leidesdorff. William Alexander Leidesdorff built a warehouse on the corner of California and the street later-named for him for his import-export trade (particularly in tallow and hides). Leidesdorff was a pre-Gold Rush pioneer of African and Danish descent. He arrived in Yerba Buena in 1841 and soon established himself as a leading merchant. He story is a tragic one, and although he died at 38, he was San Francisco's first millionaire
India Dock
Between Battery and Front, Filbert to Greenwich.
By the late 1860s, successive waves of Italian immigration brought hundreds of fishermen from the coastal villages near the city of Genoa into San Francisco. They also built fishing boats in the tradition of their native land, called "silenas" by the fishermen, but later more widely known as "San Francisco feluccas," which, combined with the skill of their owners, did well in San Francisco Bay's rough water. The earliest recorded site of the growing fleet of feluccas was located at the India Dock. Here, in the inside basin of a small rectangular pier, the fleet shared pier space with a variety of larger vessels.
Hunters Point Dry Dock Co.
Jackson Street
552 feet. East from Montgomery Street
LaRue's
Northeast from East near Market Street
Law's
East, from Battery between Union and Green
Lombard Dock
Lombard, east from Sansome
Long Wharf
Alta California, April 8, 1851
A LONG WHARF ROW--Yesterday afternoon an interesting row occurred on Long Wharf, at the Young Miners' Restaurant, kept by a foreigner, named Antonietto. It appears that Wooley Kearny and Thomas Kelly, two characters pretty well known in that classic vicinity, had called for some food, for which, after eating it, they refused to pay. High words followed, and then blows, between Kearny and Kelly on the one side, and the landlord and servants on the other. Porter bottles, pies, boiled crabs, and tea cups suffered some, windows were broken, tables upset, and everything placed in the most admirable confusion. Kearny and Kelly were arrested and conveyed to the station house, where they gave bail for their appearances before the Recorder this morning.
Market Street
600 feet. Refer to California Street
Mastick's
East, from Steuart between Mission and Howard
Meiggs Wharf
North, from Francisco between Mason and Powell Streets.
Henry Meiggs, born July 7, 1811, in Catskill, New York, was the second son of a family of nine children. He worked as a youth at the lumber trade in Catskill, Boston and New York. He suffered business losses, and when word of the discovery of Gold reached the East, Meiggs loaded the Albany with lumber and sailed around Cape Horn for San Francisco, arriving on January 11, 1849. He sold the cargo at a huge profit and entered the California lumber business, forming the California Lumber Manufacturing Company, later known as the Mendocino Lumber Company, located in Mendocino County.
Meiggs Wharf was built in the vicinity of Powell Street to accommodate his lumber schooners, which began sailing down the coast after July 1852. It was the longest pier on the City front and projected about 2,000 feet from dry land out into the harbor. Part of this site today is occupied by Fisherman's Wharf, PIER 39 and Pier 45. He became a prominent in City politics and business, until, due to his larcenous financial practices, he outfitted the brig American and on October 6, 1854, sailed away with his family, including his brother, who was then City Controller. He left many people high and dry, and left everything he owned, including his wharf, his city lots, and his beautiful home on Telegraph Hill. The story is that he left a "fire burning in the hearth and the birds singing in their cages," and told people they were going for a cruise on the Bay.
Meiggs ended his career as a successful railroad builder in South
America. He paid off most of the debts he left behind, but he never returned
to San Francisco. He died in Lima, Peru, in 1877, a rich and famous man.
Merchant's Dry Dock Company
Kearny and Bay Streets
Mission Street
Northeast from Steuart Street
Montgomery and Francisco Streets
East from foot of Francisco
Moore and Company Dock
East at Portrero Point
Nelson's
East between Market and Commercial Streets
North American Steamship Line
Foot of Mission
North Pacific Transportation Company
Foot of Folsom Street
North Point Dock
Sansome, north from Lombard to Chestnut
Oakland Ferry (Two Locations)
Pacific, east of Davis and at the foot of Second Street
Pacific Street
525 feet. East from Montgomery and Sansome Streets
Alta California, April 8, 1851
Section 1st.--Resolved, That F. Vassault, Wm. H. White, O.A. Reynolds, Chas. Griswold, Henry A. Harrison, Chas. H. Hill, Edward Jones, F.C. Gray, E. Conner, Martin R. Roberts, W.B.C. Stebbins and M McNulty, and such persons as they may associate with them, shall constitute, in the city of San Francisco, a body politic and corporate, under the style and title of the "Pacific Street Wharf Company," to have succession for five years, to sue and be sued in Court, to make and use a common seal, and the same to break, alter and mend at pleasure. To hold, purchase and convey such real and personal estate as the purposes of the Company shall require, to appoint such officers and agents as the business of the Company shall need, and to allow them suitable compensation for their services. To make bye-laws, not inconsistent with any law of the State of California, or of the United States; for the regulation of its affairs, the management of its business, and for the transfer of its stocks.
Section 2d.--In addition to the powers enumerated in the preceding section, the Corporation hereby created shall have power, by instruments under seal of otherwise--
1st. To construct a wharf at the foot of Pacific street, in this city, in accordance with the terms of the lease granted by the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund of San Francisco, under date of 13th of February, A.D. 1851
2d. To enjoy all the rights and privileges granted by said lease, and to assume all the obligations incurred thereby.
Section 3d.--All the corporate powers of said Company shall be exercised by a Board of Directors, not to consist of more than eleven nor less than seven members, (chosen by ballot from the stockholders,) a majority of whom shall form a quorum, and such officers, clerks and agents as the said Directors may from time to time appoint. The first Board of Directors shall choose a President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Wharfinger, to serve for one year. Said Directors shall also continue in and hold office for one year. At the expiration of the first year, and annually thereafter, during the existence of the Company, there shall be an election of Directors to manage the affairs of said Company, and said Directors shall at their first meeting elect a President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Wharfinger, to serve for the year succeeding their election, and at least ten days notice of such election of Directors shall be published in one of the daily papers of San Francisco.
Section 4th.--All elections shall be by ballot, and the election shall be by such of the stockholders as shall attend in person or by proxy, and the persons qualified by receiving the highest number of votes shall be the Directors for the ensuing year. Each stockholder shall be entitled to one vote for each and every share which he, she or they may hold respectively: Provided, That no person shall vote on any share which may have been transferred to him within thirty days preceding said election.
Section 5th.--No person shall be a director of said Company who is not a resident of San Francisco, and does not hold in his own name, or in the name of the firm of which he may be a partner, ten shares of the capital stock of said Company.
Section 6th.--In case from any cause the election of directors should not take place on the day fixed by this act, it shall be the duty of the Board of Directors for the time being to give ten days notice for an election, to take place within fifteen days from the date on which such an election should have been held; and in such cases all the officers of the Company shall remain in office until such election has been held and successors appointed.
Section 7th.--The capital stock of said company shall be seventy thousand dollars, divided into seven hundred shares, of one hundred dollars each. The amount subscribed for by each stockholder shall be due and payable to the Treasurer at such time and in such proportionate amounts as the Board of Directors shall by resolution require; such call or demand being always limited, at any one time, to twenty percent, of the amount subscribed.
Section 8th.--No dividends shall be declared until all expenses or debts incurred by the Board of Directors shall be paid. After all expenses and liabilities have been discharged, dividends shall be declared quarterly upon the capital stock, and shall be payable to the stockholders or their legal representatives by the Treasurer.
Section 9th.--No dividend shall be declared or paid on any stocks on which all installments called for by the Board of Directors have not been paid.
Section 10th.--Vacancies happening in the Board of Directors or officers of the Company, by death, resignation, or otherwise, may be filed for the remainder of the term, by the Board of Directors, or provided for by the by-laws.
San Francisco, March 28, 1851
Alta California, April 8, 1851
PACIFIC STREET WHARF--The splendid wharf at the foot of Pacific street, partially constructed at a heavy expense by the city, has fallen into the hands of a number of gentlemen, who have formed themselves into a stock company, with the determination of extending the wharf some eight hundred feet further out. The stock was all taken up previous to the organization or first meeting of the company, and the full amount of capital subscribed. The contract for extending it, has been completed and the first series of piles already driven. In forty days the famed Central Wharf will have a competitor equal, if not superior, in every respect.
Pacific Mail Steamship Company
Foot of Folsom; later southeast on First at Brannan Streets
Pacific Rolling Mills
Portrero Point
Pennell & Brown's Wharf
From Steuart near Howard Street
Pope's Wharf
From Steuart near Howard Streets
Rand's
East between Clay and Commercial Streets
Rincon Dock
Rincon Point Dock, south from foot of Steuart Street
Robinson's
Between Jackson and Pacific, part of East Street Wharf
Rousset
Northeast on Howard from Steuart
Ryan and Duff's
Northeast on Mission from Steuart, next wharf south of Roussett's Wharf.
Sacramento Street
800 feet. Refer to Howison's. Started in March 1852.
Shaw's
See Cowell's
Smith's
Southeast on Steuart at Howard Street
Third Street
Southeast from foot of Third
Union Street
East, from Battery. This was the first Fisherman's Wharf built in 1884 specifically for the fishing fleets. It was an impressive all-service facility. Jutting out from the shore on a north by northeast angle, the new Union Street Wharf comprised a long narrow rectangle about 450 feet long and 150 feet wide, with an entrance along the leeward eastern side. The easternmost pier featured a long shed for maintenance of fishing equipment, including four large boiling vats for tanning nets and sails. Tucked into the northwest corner of the wharf was a small boat slip, or ramp, which, combined with the davits lining the outboard face of the wharf, allowed the fishermen to haul out their boats for painting and repairs. Along the inshore pier, and facing the Embarcadero (then called East Street) was the Market House, where the daily catch of fish and crabs was deposited and sold in the early morning hours for resale by fish markets, hotels, restaurants and street vendors.
Vallejo Street
East, from Battery
Washington Street
275 feet