Oakland Naval Supply Depot  

Workers at Naval Supply DepotThe Navy came first came to the waterfront thanks to the city's generosity. In 1936, after decades of lobbying by the Pacific Fleet command, Oakland voters agreed to donate 390 Bay front acres on the Middle Harbor for a naval supply center.

Commissioned in 1941, the Depot had grown by the end of World War II into the largest facility of its kind in the world. It was called a "City within a City" because of the stores, banks, police department and even baseball teams that served its 14,000 workers.

Steven Lavoie
Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room

Oakland Museum of California Logo  "Walk Along the Water"
  © Oakland Museum of California, used with permission.

Update: In 1999, the Navy transferred the Oakland Naval Supply Depot property to the Port of Oakland.  In 2004, Middle Harbor Shoreline Park opened on a part of the site after innovative development by the Port of Oakland.  Bill Threlfall, Waterfront Action, 2009

Explore this Topic:

Middle Harbor Shoreline Park - Waterfront Action

Building the Park from Dredging Spoils - Bay Crossings

Oakland Naval Supply Depot History - East Bay Regional Parks

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