The Shoreline - How it Used to Be  

You can get a sense of how much the shoreline has changed since we began to alter the landscape in the early 1850s. It has changed so much that it's hard to imagine that what was once wetland is now city streets.

The information on this map about the shoreline was compiled from several maps made in the 1860s and 1870s. The locations are approximate, but you get the general idea.

Deborah Cooper
Oakland Museum of California

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

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1856 survey map of Oakland-Alameda waterfront - U.S. Coast Guard
(Note landforms, including extensive marshlands.)

 

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