NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 (10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section number 8 January,2006 Port of San Francisco Embarcadero Historic District Page 1 ============================================================================== TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION 8 SUMMARY OF EVALUATIONS................................................................................................. 7 CRITERION A ............................................................................................................................... 8 GOVERNMENT................................................................................................................. 8 Significance............................................................................................................. 8 Background........................................................................................................... 10 Early Development of the Port ................................................................. 11 Role of the U.S. Government.................................................................... 13 Organization and Development of the Board of State Harbor Commissioners .................................................................................. 13 First Assessments of the Board of State Harbor Commissioners ............. 17 Effective Administration: 1920s to 1940s ................................................ 19 Decline of the State Board of Harbor Commissioners.............................. 21 COMMERCE.................................................................................................................... 22 Significance........................................................................................................... 22 Background........................................................................................................... 24 Early Commercial Activity....................................................................... 24 Stimulus of the Port from the Transcontinental Railroad ......................... 27 Modernization and Planning for Benefits of the Panama Canal............... 29 Prosperity of the 1920s ............................................................................. 32 The Depression: Stability from Trade in General Cargo and New Types of Business.............................................................................. 35 World War II: Military Business and the Peak of Activity ...................... 37 After World War II: Sharp Decline in Port Activity................................. 40 TRANSPORTATION....................................................................................................... 43 Significance........................................................................................................... 43 Background........................................................................................................... 46 Water-Borne Transportation ..................................................................... 46 Land Transportation.................................................................................. 50 Southern Pacific Railroad ......................................................................... 51 Belt Railroad ............................................................................................. 52 Motor Vehicles.......................................................................................... 57 LABOR............................................................................................................................. 60 NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 (10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section number 8 January,2006 Port of San Francisco Embarcadero Historic District Page 2 ============================================================================== Significance........................................................................................................... 60 Background........................................................................................................... 62 Introduction............................................................................................... 62 Waterfront Life: Lodging Houses, Restaurants, and Bars in the 1920s and 1930s ................................................................................ 64 Background to the 1934 Strike ................................................................. 67 The Riggers’ and Stevedores’ Union Strike, 1919.............................67 Blue Book Union Era 1919-1933.......................................................68 Longshoring as a Casual Industry ......................................................70 Shape-Up............................................................................................70 Work Speed-Up..................................................................................73 A New ILA Union in 1933.................................................................75 Waterfront Employers’ Union............................................................77 The 1934 Strike......................................................................................... 77 Longshore and Maritime Unions Strike, 1934 ...................................77 ILA Opens Its Doors to Black Longshoremen...................................78 Work Speed-Up as an Issue in the 1934 Strike.................................79 Joe Ryan’s Deal with Employers .......................................................80 Industrial Association of San Francisco.............................................81 Bloody Thursday, 5 July 1934 ...........................................................82 Strike Events in Other Cities..............................................................84 Funeral for Labor Heroes, 9 July 1934...............................................84 San Francisco General Strike, 16-19 July 1934 .................................85 Arbitration of Maritime Strike, July–October 1934...........................89 The 1934 Maritime Strike Settlement ................................................90 Longshore Labor Relations After the 1934 Strike.................................... 91 Hiring Hall Won through 1934 Arbitration........................................91 Speed-Up as a Post-Strike Issue: Significant Union Gains by 1937 ....................................................................................................92 Significance of the 1934 Strike................................................................. 93 Pile Drivers ........................................................................................................... 95 Introduction............................................................................................... 95 History of the Use of Pile Drivers......................................................95 Pile Driving Workers..........................................................................97 General Description of Pile Driving Work.........................................98 Waterfront Pile Driving in the 1930s, and Its Health Hazards...........99 Pile Driver Work Crews ...................................................................101 NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 (10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section number 8 January,2006 Port of San Francisco Embarcadero Historic District Page 3 ============================================================================== Pile Driver Labor Organizations ......................................................102 CRITERION B.............................................................................................................................104 LABOR: HARRY BRIDGES AND THE 1934 STRIKE .............................................. 104 Significance......................................................................................................... 104 Background......................................................................................................... 105 Biographical Information on Harry Bridges........................................... 105 Harry Bridges Role in the 1934 Big Strike............................................. 108 CRITERION C............................................................................................................................ 117 ENGINEERING ............................................................................................................. 117 Significance......................................................................................................... 117 Background......................................................................................................... 119 Introduction............................................................................................. 119 Early History of Ports ............................................................................. 120 United States Ports.................................................................................. 123 Port of San Francisco: Engineering and Cargo Handling 1878-1920..... 129 Port of San Francisco: Engineering and Cargo Handling 1920s- 1950s...............................................................................................