The Oakland Army Base 

Stirrings of war against Japan created a state of emergency in the U. S. Army and a desperate need for a place to dispatch supplies and equipment to the fighting forces in Asia and the Pacific Islands.

The Port of Oakland was ideally located to meet that need. In 1941, using emergency powers, the Army seized 72 acres of Bay frontage along the Outer Harbor shoreline to develop a shipping depot called Camp Knight. Italian prisoners-of-war housed at the base pitched in their labor to defeat Japan.

After peace came, the Army continued to occupy the shoreline and the entire northern flank of bay fill. The Oakland Army Base served as an induction center during the Vietnam War, drawing mass demonstrations protesting the war. The facility is now being converted to civilian uses as part of the federal government's base closure program.

Steven Lavoie
Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room

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

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Oakland Army Base History - California State Military Museum

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