In 1850, a deep-water channel that ran inland to what is now Redwood City was discovered off of San Francisco Bay. Named "Redwood Creek," this channel was used by the lumber companies to ship wood and logs from the redwood forests in the peninsula hills to San Francisco. Lumber products of all types were brought to the waterfront for export, and Redwood City became famous for its workable port where materials could be shipped without the delay or expense of overland travel.
Dr. Robert O. Tripp (founder of the historic Woodside Store) and Mathias A. Parkhurst initiated the first lumber operation using the waterways of Redwood Creek to float redwoods from Woodside to San Francisco in 1850. Tripp and his partner thus became the founders of Redwood City, which they established as a lumber-shipping basin. (At the same time, S.M. Mezes, an agent for several prosperous rancho owners, surveyed the area in what is today downtown Redwood City, and named it after himself, Mezesville).
The port also generated the beginning of the ship-building industry. The first schooner was built in 1851 by G.M. Burnham and appropriately named "Redwood." Shipbuilding remained an active industry until the 1880's. The last wooden ship built in Redwood City, called the "Perseverance," was launched in 1883.
The Corps of Engineers became interested in the Port of Redwood City in 1882, which was also known then as El Embarcadero. In that year, the Corp recommended the dredging of a seven-foot deep channel, which they accomplished between 1886 and 1889 when a channel 50 feet wide was dredge. In 1903, the Corps increased the channel's width to 100 feet and by 1911, they broadened it to 150 feet. In 1931, local and federal interests combined to deepen the channel to 20 feet and widen it to 200 feet for a distance of 13,360 feet.
Many different types of businesses found the proximity to a deep-water channel of benefit, and wharves and businesses soon occupied the entire length of Redwood Creek. Commercial shipping of products other than lumber thrived, especially shingles, grains, and livestock. There were three main wharves. The two largest were on opposite sides of the creek at Broadway (then called Bridge St.) The third wharf, owned by Frank's Tannery, was farther down the creek near where the present-day Mervyn's Plaza is located.
The Redwood City Harbor Company was formed in 1912 by businessmen and civic leaders, but continued growth of the port was inhibited for some time by the railroad and other competing transportation interests. Several industries, however, saw the location as an asset, including the Alaska Codfish Company and the Morgan Oyster Company. The Pacific-Portland Cement Company, which located there in 1924, greatly increased shipping activity at the port.
In 1931, local sentiment was mounting to formally create a Port through the City charter. The City Council commissioned Consulting Engineer H.W. Crozier of San Francisco to make a feasibility report. Five years later, on June 11, 1936, voters approved an amendment to the City Charter to establish a Port Department to control, operate and manage development of the Port of Redwood City. The Port to this day is governed by the City Charter. With this large showing of support, the channels were dredged and larger piers were built along the sections that parallel what is now Seaport Blvd. In 1937, the first cargo ship steamed into the new Port of Redwood City, and since that year, the Port has operated independently and profitably.
On Sept. 9, 1937, the Redwood City Tribune, in an editorial recognizing the formal opening of the Port, wrote, in part: "The greatest single step in achievement ever recorded by this community has been completed. The Port of Redwood City, built as it has been through the combined efforts of the entire populace as guided by a few far-visioned leaders, is a monument to their insight and to cooperation..."
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