Description

Essentials about The Embarcadero in brief

The Embarcadero is San Francisco’s most important coastal boulevard, stretching from the South Park neighborhood along downtown San Francisco to Fisherman’s Wharf in the north. For those who want to take a walk and see the city skyline, the many piers, the beautiful Ferry Building and the San Francisco Bay with the impressive Bay Bridge, a walk along The Embarcadero is highly recommended.

The history of The Embarcadero

The boulevard was built on land reclaimed from the sea. San Francisco’s coastline originally ran further inland and included a cove called Yerba Buena Cove. As San Francisco grew, construction of a large offshore causeway and filling of the bay began in the 1860s. It took more than 50 years to do so, reclaiming the land on which San Francisco’s Financial District now stands.

In the early twentieth century, the port on the Embarcadero was one of the largest transshipment hubs in the world, but the completion of the Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge in the 1930s led to a sharp decline in passengers, and the shift of freight traffic to Oakland further exacerbated the decline.

During World War II, the coastal strip at The Embarcadero became a military logistics center: troops, equipment, and supplies left the port for the Pacific. Nearly every pier and shipyard was involved in military activities, supporting troop transports and warships along the Embarcadero.

In the 1960s, the Embarcadero Freeway was built. While it improved access to the Bay Bridge by car, it was by far the ugliest structure in the city. For 30 years, the two-level freeway divided the coastal area and the Ferry Building from downtown San Francisco. It was demolished in 1991 after partially collapsing in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

Extensive redevelopment led to the construction of what is now a palm tree-lined boulevard on the same site, complemented by some beautiful parks. Pier 7 and 14 at The Embarcadero, both jutting far into the bay, offer the best view of San Francisco Bay, by the way. And Pier 15 has been the new home of the excellent Exploratorium interactive science museum for several years.

Website

Unavailable.

Opening hours

None.

Admission fees

None.

Address

Getting there

By public transport:

Light rail lines E and F: Several stops along The Embarcadero

BART lines Dublin/Pleasanton – Daly City, Pittsburg/Bay Point – SFIA/Millbrae, Richmond – Daly City/Millbrae and Warm Springs/South Fremont – Daly City: Stop Embarcadero

MUNI lines J, K, L, M, N and T: Stop Embarcadero

By car:

Along The Embarcadero there are a number of car parks.