Loading Lumber
![](../images/ohline.gif)
Early
uses of the Estuary waterfront as a lumber depot continued well into
this century. Near Larue's wharf, the E. K. Wood Lumber Company operated
a large yard--at one time California's largest. The shipping yards of
the Hogan Lumber Company took up much of the inner-harbor shoreline now
occupied by the Portobello condominium development and KTVU-Channel 2.
Further east, near 5th Avenue, the lumber yards of William Smith and
Company stretched 310 feet along the waterfront. Wharves received logs
shipped in from the northwest, and the mills turned them into lumber to
feed the booming construction industry in a rapidly growing state.
A diminished nearby supply of logs, a collapse in construction starts
during the Great Depression, and finally, defense needs for waterfront
land during World War II ended Oakland's historic heritage as a lumber
town.
Steven Lavoie
Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room
"Walk Along the Water"
© Oakland Museum of California, used with permission.
![](../images/ohline.gif)
Explore this Topic:
Historic photograph of lumber
mill on the estuary - Oakland History Room, Oakland Public Library
back to history map