India Basin, originally called Butchertown, is a part of the Bayview district. It has industrial buildings along the northern edge and shore, with housing inland.
In 1868, the California Legislature sold Butchertown to three San Franciscans, for the explicit purpose of slaughtering and processing meat.
In 1968, the area consisted of run-down industrial buildings, a few residential units, and old meatpacking facilities. The SF Redevelopment Agency tore down a lot of the old buildings with the goal of providing more jobs for the local residents - there were 1400 existing jobs, and the goal was to create at least 3600. This was going to happen by building "modern" industrial parks, with small areas set aside for meat processing. Many of the existing heavy industrial uses (such as scrapyards) were not included in the new plan. None of the displaced meatpacking businesses came back after redevelopment (SFGate article). There was space set aside for the Hunters Point Expressway, although this was never built.
Recently, the India Basin shoreline has been undergoing development as a recreation destination. Referred to as "Area C", the shoreline is being turned into parks (see India Basin/Shoreline Park). It is the only natural area along the shore of the San Francisco Bay. Near the park, there is a historic shipwright's cottage from 1875, which has recently been acquired by the city.
Links
- Butchertown's Beginnings on FoundSF
- 1906 Earthquake Hits Mission Creek and Butchertown on FoundSF
- Removal of the Butchers on FoundSF
