Hunters Point Crane

The name "Hunters Point" refers to an area on San Francicso bay just South of the city. The name comes from a pioneer family of that name who were living there, rather than from the good game and duck shooting thereabouts as is commonly supposed In 1867 Hunters Point was the first permanent dry-dock on the Pacific coast. In 1939 the Navy purchased the site for a shipyard. At the time, the Navy's actions were as controversial as the "purchase" of Treasure Island as they essentially moved everyone out with an offer they couldn't refuse.

Naval operations began in 1941 near the start of WWII. The Navy increased ship building operations to quicken production of liberty ships during WWII. From 1941 to 1974, the principal facility activities were ship building; naval ships and submarines were also modified, maintained, and repaired. In addition to repair activities, the facility was used for base housing, naval ordnance training exercises, radiological defense research, and research on exposure to radioactive fallout.

n 1946, a group, designated as the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory (NRDL), was detailed to arrange for the decontamination and disposition of several ships that had returned from nuclear weapons tests at the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. NRDL's mission was the study of nuclear weapons effects and the development of counter measures. NRDL was operational from 1946 until 1969. Several of the buildings were used for radioactive laboratory operations, cyclotron operations, animal research studies, material storage, and/or processing by NRDL.

Hunters Point remained active until 1974, when it was placed on industrial reserve. The majority of the land was leased to Triple A Machine Shop, Inc. from 1976 to 1986 during which time the base was used for ship repair. During this period, Triple A sub-leased buildings to many small businesses. Allegations of improper waste disposal practices by Triple A were reported and in 1986, twenty on-site areas were investigated by the San Francisco District Attorney . The company has been accused by the city and county of dumping hazardous waste in various areas on site.

In 1980 some of the buildings were renovated into artists studios.

On October 5, 1994, the US Navy was sued by a coalition of environmentalist, sports fishing, and public interest groups who alleged that toxic discharges from Hunters Point Naval Shipyard are contaminating San Francisco Bay. The lawsuit filed against the Navy with the U.S. District Court in San Francisco charges the Navy with 19,000 violations of the Clean Water Act. The violations are based on the Navy's own self-monitoring reports to the EPA and the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board.

One of the more imaginative uses of the giant derrick is shown below:

"OPERATION SKYCATCH--This sequence shows how a huge overhead assembly at the San Francisco Naval Shipyard catches a multi-ton dummy Polaris missile in mid-air and keeps it from free-flight. Left to right: Powerful blast sends missile skyward. At top of its trajectory, it is snubbed by modified arresting gear engine. Then the dummy Polaris is lowered for examination removal of instrumentation, and preparation for next test. In earlier testings the missile was hurled out into San Francisco bay and then retrieved. Lockheed Missiles and Space Division, who released these pictures, said this new method permits accurate study on dummy missiles which are structurally identical in live Polaris missiles.

Brick Buildings at Hunters Point

I'm trying to find out the origin of thes buildings. Any ideas?

DogPatch

Dogpatch It is one of the few neighborhoods to survive the 1906 earthquake and fire, and it is gateway to the oldest, largest and most intact historic industrial complex remaining in the city–the former shipyards and mills on the waterfront at Pier 70. Industrial development of the Central Waterfront and the establishment of Dogpatch and Potrero was fueled by the availability of cheap land and the opening of Long Bridge, a wooden causeway across Mission Bay completed in 1865.The bridge stretched over the Mission Bay marsh lands, through the Islais Creek basin to Hunters Point, terminating at the ornate Bay View Race Track. Long Bridge covered what is now Third Street (known at the time as Kentucky Street). The construction of Long Bridge successfully connected downtown San Francisco to the Central Waterfront, but it had the environmental effect of sealing off the larger western part of Mission Bay, leading to the eventual filling in of the tidal lagoon.Thanks to its then-isolated location and protection from the marshland that surrounded it, Dogpatch managed to escape the Earthquake and Fire of 1906

Portrero Point

The earliest enterprises in the central waterfront began on a lonely patch of land protruding into the bay at Point San Quentin, later known as Potrero Point.