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Long Wharf
- Group 1
- Intersection of Leidesdorff and Commercial Sts, San Francisco
- View Map
Long Wharf was built in the spring of 1848 by the Central Wharf and Joint Stock Company, which had previously been granted a 99-year charter to build and maintain the structure. Beginning at the present corner of Leidesdorff and Commercial Streets, the water's edge in 1848, Long Wharf initially extended some 800 feet into the Bay, along what is now Commercial Street. After 1850 the wharf was lengthened by another 1200 feet to the present crossing of Drumm Street.
Long Wharf soon became a major commercial center of the young City. For some years it was the only docking place for vessels entering the port. The Pacific Mail Steamship Company Office was located in William D.M. Howard's building on the southeast corner of Long Wharf and Leidesdorff. The building burned in the fire of June 14, 1850, forcing the company to relocate to Sacramento and Leidesdorff.
The Knickerbocker House, an early hotel, stood at the corner of Battery and Long Wharf. The area was also the site of the robbery which led to the lynching by vigilantes of John Jenkins on June 11, 1851.
Plaque
Inscription
In the spring of 1848, the old Central or Long Wharf was built from the bank in the middle of the block between Sacramento and Clay Streets, where Leidesdorff Street now is, 800 feet into the Bay.
After 1850 it was extended 2,000 feet and the Pacific mail steamers and other large vessels anchored there. Central or Long Wharf is now Commercial Street.
Note: there is presently no state marker on site. Inscription provided by the Office of Historic Preservation, CA State Parks.