Today Oakland is the anchor of the East Bay — a city of hills and harbor, redwood groves and bay views, looking across the water at San Francisco. Its port, a pioneer of container shipping, is one of the busiest in the country, and the wooded ridges above town still hold stands of coast redwoods, survivors of the forests that once helped build San Francisco. It is a city of neighborhoods and food and art, proud of its diversity and proud of its table. Through every chapter, Oakland has been a crossroads — the western end of the line, where the continent meets the bay.
Even before the railroad, Oakland had a role to play. During the Gold Rush it was the mainland staging point, where passengers and freight crossed between the bay and the Sierra foothills. The transcontinental terminus turned that trickle into a flood. The Central Pacific built the Long Wharf out into the estuary, and within a generation Oakland's population leapt more than twenty-fold. Hotels, warehouses, and rail yards crowded the waterfront; the harbor deepened into one of the great ports of the West. The town that the oaks had named became the place where the country's first railroad met the sea.
Why People Visit Oakland
Visitors come to Oakland for a Bay Area city with its own strong character: a wild lake at its center, Art Deco theaters and a historic waterfront, redwood hikes in the hills, and one of the most celebrated food scenes in California. The museums and Jack London Square sit minutes from the lake, and San Francisco is a quick trip across the bay. Equal parts oak-grove heritage and creative energy, Oakland rewards anyone drawn to the heart of the East Bay.
