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Dogpatch Then - An Eclectic History

MEXICAN PERIOD

The area that is now Dogpatch has had many incarnations, from pasturelands to shipyards. Its first recorded use was by the Franciscan friars of Mission Dolores (formerly Mission San Francisco de Asis, established by Father Junipero Serra in 1776). All of Potrero Hill was used as livestock grazing land and called Potrero Nuevo, or "new pasture." Later, the Mission and its vast landholdings were granted to the sons of Francisco de Haro, the first alcalde (mayor) of Yerba Buena (later renamed San Francisco). The De Haro family used the land as a working ranch called Rancho Potrero de San Francisco.

RISE OF INDUSTRY

In the years following the American U.S. annexation of California in 1846, the northern shore of De Haro's land, Potrero Point, became one of the most important zones of heavy industry on the West Coast. Industrialists marked Potrero Point as an ideal location for setting up shop because of its undeveloped nature and ample deep-water access. In addition to serving maritime-related trades and early gunpowder manufacturing, Potrero Point was home to companies such as San Francisco Cordage Manufactory, California Sugar Refinery, Atlas Iron Works, and the California Barrel Company.
At that time, the area now known as Mission Bay was a wide expanse of shallow tidal flats and not easily traversable. The completion of a bridge linking the South of Market area with Potrero Point accelerated the industrial development of the area. In 1871, the Southern Pacific and Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroads bought most of the submerged lands of Mission Bay from the State of California. At the same time, Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe bought much of the rugged Potrero Point peninsula, including the future site of the Schilling Wine Cellars complex.

THE WORKINGMAN'S SUBURB

In 1883 the Union Iron Works shipyard was constructed. The activities of this shipyard would shape Potrero Point's industrial character and economy for the next 70 years. By 1890, Union Iron Works employed over half of the neighborhood's adult male residents. These shipwrights, boilermakers, metal workers and skilled craftsmen of all types needed to live close to where they worked. This need was the impetus that transformed the district from a manufacturing hub into a workingman's suburb.
During the late 1870's and 1880's the marshlands in Mission Bay were filled and leveled to make way for new building sites. The area west of what is now Third Street became a mixed-use district of industrial worker's housing, commercial structures, machine shops, railroad facilities and various industrial buildings. The Santa Fe Land Improvement Company (the real estate arm of Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroads) continued to invest heavily in their Potrero Point holdings. They acquired vast acreages in the vicinity of the Shilling Wine Cellars complex and improved these blocks with worker's cottages and industrial buildings.

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To read a more detailed history of the Dogpatch area, please click here.