San Francisco Bay Area in the 1930s

by Wes Hammond

The map to the right is of the San Francisco Bay Area, published by H.M. Gousha in 1933 and distributed by Shell Oil.

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The fact that the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge are not on this map of the Bay Area indicates that this map is from before 1939. It shows that US 40 was assigned to the 1927 Lincoln Highway from Crockett to downtown Oakland, using San Pablo Avenue from San Pablo to Oakland. Travelers going west on US 40 (which would actually be going south on US 40 in the Bay Area) and wishing to go to San Francisco would use a ferry at the foot of University Avenue in Berkeley.

With completion of the Bay Bridge, a new highway was built ⁵/₈ mile west of San Pablo Avenue between Richmond and the east end of the bridge. This new highway, the Eastshore Highway, became US 40, and the section of San Pablo Avenue paralleling the Eastshore became Business US 40.

The original route of the Lincoln Highway reached Oakland from the south via Foothill Boulevard and East 14^th Street. This would later be designated US 50. Of interest on this map is the fact that the US 50 route was also designated US 101E. Travelers destined for San Francisco would use a ferry from the terminal at the foot of Broadway in Oakland, today's Jack London Square.

There will be a story in a future issue of The Traveler about the ferry system used by Lincoln Highway travelers between San Francisco and Oakland/Berkeley.