“Everybody wants it preserved”

The 16th Street Station was built in 1912 to serve as the western depot for Southern Pacific’s transcontinental railroad. For millions of people migrating to California, their first up-close glimpse of the Golden State was getting off the train in West Oakland and entering the station’s 13,000-square-foot main hall. The room’s massive, arched windows allowed light to fill the soaring space. For weary travelers, especially Black families fleeing the Jim Crow south, this building was a beacon of hope. Ron Dellums, Oakland’s former mayor and congressman, called the station “Ellis Island for the African American community.”

Flash forward to 2024. The 16th Street Station is empty and slowly crumbling – a monument to broken promises and shattered dreams. Why has one of the most architecturally and historically significant buildings in the Bay Area been neglected and mostly vacant for so long?

This episode explores the history and potential future of a unique Beaux Arts transit temple. Listen now to hear: Daniel Levy and Feleciai Favroth of the Oakland Heritage Alliance discuss their campaign to save the 16th Street Station; Tom Vinson share memories of his boyhood adventures at the station; and Marcus Johnson discussing his 13-year tenure as the station’s property manager. Listen now via Apple, SoundCloud, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts. Don’t forget to follow the East Bay Yesterday Substack for updates on events, tours, exhibits, and other local history news.

Special thanks to the sponsor of this episode: UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals Oakland, home of the East Bay’s only level one pediatric trauma center. I encourage you to read the incredible story of how UCSF Benioff’s trauma team saved a teen surfer from paralysis. Find the full story here.

Since being decommissioned, the station has hosted weddings, raves and even an opera, as well as serving as the video set for E-40’s hyphy anthem “Tell Me When to Go.” But today, the building, which was badly damaged by 1989’s Loma Prieta earthquake and requires extensive seismic retrofitting, mostly sits empty. Efforts to resurrect the site have been stuck in limbo for decades due to financial challenges. Read more at SF Gate. [Photo: Liam O’Donoghue]

“It could turn into our version of the Parthenon, where it has nothing but walls, which would be very sad. Then everyone will wring their hands about what could have been done to save it.”- Feleciai Favroth of Oakland Heritage Alliance. [Photo: Daniel Levy]

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