Gibbons' Point was a small promontory in West Oakland named for Rodman Gibbons, an early settler who constructed a wharf on the point, named Gibbons' Wharf. 1,2 Construction began on the wharf in August 1862. 3
The name was changed to Oakland Point, and after being acquired by the Central Pacific Railroad, the point underwent major construction, becoming the Oakland Long Wharf.
The shallows around Oakland Point were filled over the years, leaving no trace of the original promontory.
Links and References
- "About 1855, Rodman Gibbons attempted to build a bridge to Goat Island, just north of the site of the present mole. After driving piles for about one hundred yards his funds gave out and the unfinished structure was called Gibbons' Folly. Yerba Buena Island acquired the name Goat Island from a herd of goats kept there in early days." Bubbles, East Bay Water Company, Vol. 2, no. 6 June 1919
- "Down on the beach there stood an old shanty that had been built some years before by Rod Gibbons. At the same time he built the house he drove a few piles in the mud by way of a starter for the water front. This very limited wharf went for years by the name of "Gibbons' Folly," but as the present depot includes the very spot where he drove his piles, Gibbons wasn't such a darn fool after all - he was merely ahead of his time." Oakland Tribune, 19 Dec 1891, Sat, Page 23
- "In 1861 a franchise was obtained by Rodman Gibbons, R. E. Cole, and others for a ferry landing on the western shore of Oakland, and on the 2d of August, 1862, work was begun on the road which now forms the local road of the Southern Pacific Company. It was not until September 2, 1863, that trains were run over the Oakland and San Francisco Ferry Railroad, as it was called, and even then only from Broadway to the wharf, the extension to Clinton (East Oakland) having been temporarily given up. The wharf at that time was only three quarters of a mile long, just sufficient to clear the bar." Oakland Tribune, 27 Sep 1887, Tue, Page 3
