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{{Short description|Railroad station and ferry wharf of the San Francisco and Alameda Railroad at Alameda (1864-1870)}}
{{For|the pier built by the Southern Pacific Coast Railroad in 1876-1878|Alameda Mole}}
{{Infobox historic site
| name = Alameda Terminal
| image = Alameda Terminal.jpg
| caption = Alameda Terminal, {{circa|1869}}
| location= [[Naval Air Station Alameda]]<br/>[[Alameda, California]]
| locmapin = United States Oakland
| map_caption = Location within Alameda/Oakland
| built = 1864 by the [[San Francisco and Alameda Railroad]] (1864-1870)<ref name="ute singer 2007" />{{rp|7}}
| architect=
| architecture= 
| coordinates={{coord|37.775777|-122.304766|display=title,inline}}
| designation1 = California
| designation1_number = 440<ref name=chl/>
| designation1_date = June 8, 1949<ref name=chl/>
| governing_body = 
| refnum=
}}

'''Alameda Terminal''' (also known as '''Alameda Wharf''') was a railroad station and ferry wharf at the foot and west of present-day Pacific Avenue and Main Street in [[Alameda, California|Alameda]], [[California]], on the eastern shore of [[San Francisco Bay]] with ferry service to [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]].<ref name="mosier 1986">{{cite book |last1=Mosier |first1=Page |last2=Mosier |first2=Dan |title=Alameda County Place Names |date=1986 |publisher=Mines Road Books |location=Fremont, CA |quote=see map 3 for the location of Alameda Wharf}}</ref><ref name="ute singer 2007" />{{rp|10–11}}  It was built in 1864 and operated by the [[San Francisco and Alameda Railroad]].  In 1869, it served as the original west coast terminus of the U.S. [[First transcontinental railroad]],<ref name="ute singer 2007">{{cite book |last1=Ute |first1=Grant |last2=Singer |first2=Bruce |title=Alameda by rail |date=2007 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |location=San Francisco, CA |isbn=978-0-7385-4706-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sgam8ANv7xQC&q=grant+ute}}</ref>{{rp|7}} until the opening of [[Oakland Long Wharf|Oakland Pier]] two months later. The western terminus was inaugurated September 6, 1869, when the first [[Western Pacific Railroad (1862-1870)|Western Pacific]] through train from [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]] reached the shores of [[San Francisco Bay]] at Alameda Terminal,<ref name="alta ca">{{Cite web|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18690907.2.6&srpos=66&e=01-06-1869-31-12-1869--en--20--61--txt-txIN-western+pacific-------1|title=The first through train on the Western Pacific Road|publisher=Daily Alta California 7 September 1869 — California Digital Newspaper Collection|website=cdnc.ucr.edu|access-date=2018-06-20}}</ref> — thus completing the first transcontinental railroad "from the Missouri river to the Pacific ocean" in accordance with the [[Pacific Railroad Acts]].

==History==
[[File:Joseph Lee painting Alameda Shore (1868).jpg|thumb|''Alameda Shore'' (Joseph Lee, {{circa|1868}}) depicts the ferry ''Sophie MacLane'' (left) approaching Alameda Wharf on August 25, 1864.]]
In 1863, Alfred A. Cohen, a San Francisco lawyer, along with his associates, formulated plans to build a railroad and wharf to carry passengers not only to Alameda, but also by ferry to San Francisco. In 1864, he built a {{convert|3,750|ft|km|adj=mid|-long}} wharf, starting from a spot near today's Pacific Avenue and Main Street westward, into the Bay at that time, and ending at part of today's [[Alameda Point, Alameda, California|Alameda Point]] where the [[USS Hornet Museum|USS ''Hornet'']] sits anchored. On August 25, 1864, Cohen inaugurated passenger service, for 25 cents, from the wharf at Vallejo and Davis Street in San Francisco, via the leased river packet ''Sophie MacLane'', to the Alameda Wharf and then {{convert|5|mi}} to his [[San Francisco and Alameda Railroad]] High St station. In September 1864, he leased the slightly larger ''Contra Costa''.  As business grew, he replaced the leased boat, in February 1866, with his very own ferry boat, the ''Alameda''.<ref name="evanosky 2015">{{cite web |last1=Evanosky |first1=Dennis |title=Alameda in History: Failed railroad led to thriving ferry service |url=http://www.thealamedan.org/news/alameda-history-failed-railroad-led-thriving-ferry-service |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150720223954/http://thealamedan.org/news/alameda-history-failed-railroad-led-thriving-ferry-service |url-status=usurped |archive-date=July 20, 2015 |website=Alameda Sun |accessdate=31 October 2019 |date=July 17, 2015}}</ref>

===First transcontinental train===
{{main|Western Pacific Railroad (1862–1870)}}
After the [[Pacific Railroad Act]] of 1862 authorized construction of the [[First transcontinental railroad]] and [[telegraph]] line, the first construction activity took place in 1863 eastward from [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]] on the Central Pacific Railroad line.  In October 1864, the [[Central Pacific Railroad]] assigned all the rights of the Pacific Railway Acts to the [[Western Pacific Railroad (1862–1870)|Western Pacific Railroad]] for the route between Sacramento and [[San Jose, California|San Jose]], including [[land grant]]s. The plan was that the transcontinental railroad would follow the Western Pacific from Sacramento to San Jose and then connect with the [[San Francisco and San Jose Railroad]] (SF&SJ), completed in 1864, to [[San Francisco]].

By 1866, Western Pacific had built {{convert|20|mi|km}} of track north and east from San Jose, reaching halfway into [[Niles Canyon]], to about Farwell near Milepost&nbsp;33.<ref name="Luna 2005" /> The Western Pacific used 500 Chinese laborers to grade and construct the rail line into the rugged canyon with its tight curves and narrow banks.<ref name="NCTRHD.gov">{{cite web |title=Niles Canyon Transcontinental Railroad Historic District |url=https://www.nps.gov/places/niles-canyon-transcontinental-railroad-historic-district.htm |website=National Park Service |accessdate=10 May 2019 |date=June 2018}}</ref> Construction was then halted because of disagreements between the railroad's contractors and its financiers.<ref name="Luna 2005">{{cite book |last1=Luna |first1=Henry |last2=Pacific Locomotive Association |title=Niles Canyon Railways |date=2005 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |location=San Francisco, CA |isbn=0-7385-2983-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7jVd7r_q5HIC&pg=PT8 |quote=Western Pacific became the first railroad into Niles Canyon when their first 20-mile section of track was built from San Jose to a point in the canyon just beyond Farwell, when construction halted.}}</ref>

In 1868, Central Pacific Railroad, a subsidiary of which had acquired the Western Pacific and [[Oakland Point]], restarted work on the Western Pacific Railroad line starting at Sacramento working southward, as well as near Lathrop and Livermore, using upwards to 2,000 Chinese laborers.  The new plan was to connect with [[Oakland, California|Oakland]] and Oakland Point with its ferry service to San Francisco.  After the golden spike ceremony at Promontory Summit, work resumed in June 1869 in Niles Canyon with track laying towards Livermore.  Also in June 1869, J. H. Strobridge came to [[Fremont, California#Niles|Niles]] (then [[Vallejo Flour Mill|Vallejo Mills]] [now part of [[Fremont, California|Fremont]]]) to oversee the construction of the new line, with his crew of up to 600 Chinese laborers, heading towards Oakland.<ref name="WP june1869">{{cite news |title=Again in the field -- the Western Pacific Railroad |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SDU18690605.2.22&srpos=12&e=------186-en--20--1-byDA.rev-txt-txIN-railroad+strobridge----1869---1 |accessdate=5 June 2019 |publisher=Sacramento Daily Union |date=June 5, 1869 |quote=J. H. Strobridge, ...to commence work upon the branch of the Western Pacific Railroad leading from Vallejo Mills to Oakland.}}</ref> By midsummer, Governor Stanford made known his hopes that the line be finished in time for the opening of the State Fair on September 6. Thus in September 1869, a temporary connection was made at the bay side (west of Alvarado and Davis Sts) of [[San Leandro, California|San Leandro]] with the old tracks of the San Francisco and Alameda Railroad, which led to the SF&A Alameda Wharf with ferry service to San Francisco.<ref name="ute singer 2007" />{{rp|8}}

On September 6, 1869, the first Western Pacific train reached the shores of [[San Francisco Bay]] at Alameda Terminal, thus achieving the transcontinental ''Pacific Railroad'' envisioned in the 1862 Pacific Railroad Act. According to the ''Daily Alta California'', this first through train left Sacramento at 10&nbsp;am, got delayed by some construction trains, exited Niles Canyon late at 9:30&nbsp;pm, and an hour later arrived at Alameda Terminal to a cheering crowd.<ref name="alta ca" />  Continuing passengers boarded the ferry ''Alameda'' and crossed the Bay to the Davis St Wharf in San Francisco.<ref name="evanosky 2015" />

The steamer ''Oakland'', strengthened and converted into a car ferry capable of carrying up to four freight cars at one time, also began service in September 1869, from Alameda wharf to the San Francisco freight slip.<ref name="root 1921">{{cite web |last1=Root |first1=Henry |title=CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD WORK IN OAKLAND, SAN FRANCISCO AND ELSEWHERE. |url=http://cprr.org/Museum/Henry_Root_1921.html#Oakland-SF |website=cprr.org |accessdate=20 October 2020 |date=1921}}</ref>

Two months later, Central Pacific Railroad switched the western transcontinental terminus to its expanded [[Oakland Pier]], which was inaugurated on November 8, 1869, in another round of celebration.<ref name="DAC oakland">{{cite web |title=Railroad celebration at Oakland |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DAC18691109.2.6&e=01-06-1869-31-12-1869--en--20--61--txt-txIN-western+pacific-------1 |website=California digital newspaper collection |publisher=Daily Alta California, Volume 21, Number 7172, 9 November 1869 |accessdate=10 May 2019|quote=New York and Oakland are bound together by ties strapped with iron.}}</ref> Alameda then went back to local passenger train service. Freight service from Alameda continued until 1870 when the freight slip at Oakland wharf and the new line through First Street, Oakland, were completed.<ref name="root 1921" />  In 1870 the SF&A was absorbed into Central Pacific and in 1873 the SF&A pier was abandoned,<ref name="ute singer 2007" />{{rp|9}} at least for rail-ferry purposes.  It was subsequently used by the [[Pacific Coast Oil Company]] which established its refinery adjacent to the wharf in 1880.  It was listed in the local city directory as the business address of the E.M. Derby lumber yard from at least 1874 to about 1885.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/directoryofcityo1874lang/page/388/mode/2up ''A directory of the city of Oakland and the town of Alameda for the year ending 1874'', Henry G. Langley, Internet Archive]</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/details/hustedsoaklandal8485hust/page/740/mode/2up ''Husted's Oakland, Alameda and Berkeley directory'', F.M. Husted, Polk-Husted Directory Co., 1884-5, Internet Archive]</ref>

==Present day==
[[File:440AlemadaTerminal.jpg|thumbnail|California Historical Landmark #440: NW corner of Lincoln Ave and Webster St in Alameda]]

The railroads and their wharfs are gone from Alameda.  The last rails were removed in 1960 from Lincoln Ave (formerly Railroad Ave and along which the SF&A rails ran).<ref name="ute singer 2007" />

The achievement of the first transcontinental railroad reaching Alameda Terminal on September 6, 1869, is marked by a plaque in the [[Naval Air Station Alameda]] and a [[California Historical Landmarks in Alameda County|California Historical Landmark]] (CHL #440) nearby.<ref name=chl>{{cite ohp |440 |Alameda Terminal of the First Transcontinental Railroad |2012-10-05}}</ref>  The [[GPS]] coordinates of the two markers are given respectively by ''[https://www.google.com/maps/place/37%C2%B047'12.4%22N+122%C2%B018'10.5%22W/@37.7867778,-122.3051054,516m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d37.7867778!4d-122.3029167?hl=en 37.786779,-122.30292]'' (plaque); and ''[https://www.google.com/maps/place/37%C2%B046'31.3%22N+122%C2%B016'36.8%22W/@37.7753611,-122.2790776,516m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d37.7753611!4d-122.2768889?hl=en 37.77535,-122.276891]'' (CHL #440).<ref name="landmark quest">{{cite web |title=California State Historical Landmarks |url=http://www.landmarkquest.com/alameda/chl440.htm |website=landmarkquest.com |accessdate=2 July 2019}}</ref><ref name="HMdb alameda">{{cite web |title=Alameda Terminus of the 1st Transcontinental Railroad |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=29447 |website=HMdb.org |accessdate=15 December 2019}}</ref>

On 6 September 2019, a "golden spike" ceremony was held in Niles Canyon, where the Western Pacific track laid in 1866 was linked with the Central Pacific track laid in 1869,<ref name="patch2019">{{cite web |title='Golden Spike' Ceremony Held To Honor Niles Canyon Railway |url=https://patch.com/california/pleasanton/golden-spike-ceremony-held-honor-niles-canyon-railway |website=patch.com |date=9 September 2019 |accessdate=31 October 2019 }}</ref> commemorating the 150th anniversary of the 6 September 1869 completion of the first transcontinental railroad to the Pacific coast terminus at Alameda Terminal.<ref name="AlamedaSun2019">{{cite web |last1=Evanosky |first1=Dennis |title=Transcontinental Railroad Arrived 150 Years Ago |url=https://alamedasun.com/news/transcontinental-railroad-arrived-150-years-ago |website=Alameda Sun |accessdate=31 October 2019 |date=5 September 2019}}</ref>  Also, the mayor of the City of Alameda issued a proclamation recognizing "the outstanding contributions of the many Chinese immigrants who helped make the Transcontinental Railroad a reality".<ref name="proclamation 2019">{{cite web |last1=Ashcraft |first1=Marilyn Ezzy |title=Proclamation: Transcontinental railroad recognition |url=https://www.alamedaca.gov/files/assets/public/city-manager/proclamations/transcontinental-railroad-sept.pdf |website=AlamedaCA.gov |accessdate=6 November 2019 |date=September 2019}}</ref> At the terminal there is a plaque that marks terminus of the First Transcontinental Passenger train that started in New York City and terminated at Alameda Point pier on September 6, 1869.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alameda Terminus of the 1st Transcontinental Railroad Historical Marker |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=150959 |access-date=2023-02-03 |website=www.hmdb.org |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Alameda Mole]]
* [[First transcontinental railroad]]
* [[Niles Canyon Railway]]
* [[Oakland Long Wharf]]
* [[San Francisco and Oakland Railroad]]
* [[San Francisco and San Jose Railroad]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Bay Area Rail Stations}}

[[Category:Railway stations in Alameda County, California]]
[[Category:California Historical Landmarks]]
[[Category:History of the San Francisco Bay Area]]
[[Category:1864 establishments in California]]
[[Category:Former Southern Pacific Railroad stations in California]]
[[Category:Railway stations in the United States opened in 1864]]
[[Category:Ferry terminals in the San Francisco Bay Area]]
[[Category:Railway stations closed in 1873]]
[[Category:1873 disestablishments in California]]
[[Category:Railway stations in the United States closed in the 1870s]]