The Port Of Oakland

All cities built on the shores of an ocean have some connection to the sea. Many, like St. John's, Newfoundland, establish themselves as fishing villages by virtue of there being a lot of fish nearby. Others with excellent weather, like Troncones, Mexico, end up with economies based on tourism. Still others, like Halifax, Nova Scotia, become important points in the shipping industry that distribute manufactured goods throughout the world. Oakland, California falls into the latter category. It has an extremely busy port and shipping industry.

The History of the Port of Oakland

1927 was the date of the creation of the container terminal itself, which is nearly as large as the entire town of Coboconk. Cottages didn't exist on that land prior to that date, however, as shipping in Oakland goes all the way back to 1852, the year of Oakland's incorporation. At that time ships were unloaded by people rather than cranes and cargo was stored in boxes and bags. Dredging that year opened up the estuary to ships and further dredging in 1874 made it a deep water port. In 1915 marked the arrival of the first major vessel and improvements to the approaches were made in 1921 and 1922. It became a container port in 1962, and for a period of time was the 2nd busiest in the world.

The Port of Oakland in the Grand Scheme of Things

Some port towns are smaller, providing goods to only the region in which they are located, like Honolulu, through which come the materials needed to stock the islands' store shelves and build real estate. Toronto doesn't fall into this category, and neither does Oakland. It was the first major port in the United States to build terminals for container ships and the investment has more than paid off. Oakland is now the fourth busiest container port in the country, behind only Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Newark, New Jersey.

How Things Work in a Container Port

Oakland is a major link in the trade chain between the entire West Coast and the rest of the world, providing equipment for everything from automobiles to landscaping. Toronto, located on the Great Lakes, doesn't even come close. Cranes offload more than 2.24 million containers per year from ships arriving from all over the world and deposit them onto 18-wheelers which then deliver them to companies across the continental United States. Nearly 2,000 vessels arrive every year in the port, keeping the 20 available berths constantly full.