Cranes Alight at Encinal
Terminals
Established
in 1925, Encinal Terminals is one of the few remaining general cargo
facilities on the Estuary. Built by the Alaska Packers and the
California Packing Co., it included a basin carved out of the marshland,
wharves, and large transit sheds. Initially, much of the cargo consisted
of food products of the California Packing Co., bearing the brand name
Del Monte.
Encinal Terminals played a pioneering role in the development of
containerized shipping. This revolutionary system of cargo handling was
first used by Sea-Land in New Jersey in 1956, and then by Matson Lines
and Encinal Terminals in 1958-59. Encinal Terminals has the honor of
being the first fully operational system with the installation of its
high-speed container crane in 1959. The crane was designed and built by
another Alameda company, Paceco, at its plant on the Estuary.
Containerization revolutionized cargo handling around the world, with
the Port of Oakland at the forefront of the transformation.
Woodruff Minor
Historian
"Walk Along the Water"
© Oakland Museum of California, used with permission.
Explore this Topic:
On the Waterfront, the story of the Del Monte Warehouse at
Encinal Terminals by Woodruff Minor - Oakland Magazine
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