Oakland’s 16th Street Station Officially Listed On National Register of Historic Places
For Immediate Release
27 January, 2025
National Park Service Names Oakland’s 16th St. Train Station and Tower to the National Register of Historic Places
Oakland, CA
Oakland Heritage Alliance’s year-long application effort for the Southern Pacific 16th St. Station and 16th Street Tower at 16th and Wood Streets in West Oakland has succeeded in naming it to the National Register of Historic Places. Daniel Levy, president of the organization, said “Oakland Heritage Alliance and West Oakland organizations have been calling for the reuse and restoration of the station and its signal tower since the 1980s. This national designation is an important milestone in securing its future.”
Built in 1912, the station served as a streetcar transit hub to San Francisco ferries; western destination of the transcontinental railroad, west coast nexus of labor organizing by the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first Black labor union; destination for travelers and migrants to the Bay Area; and is known for its grand architecture by Jarvis Hunt. The BSCP and its leader C. L. Dellums were key labor organizers and among the founders of the civil rights movement.
The station has been closed to travelers since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. But its federal designation by the National Park Service creates an opportunity to use tax credits for repair and adaptive reuse.
The station’s location near the Port of Oakland, Interstate 880, and the planned Link 21 network makes it an ideal place to celebrate transit history, Black history, and Labor history in a historic Beaux Arts building with a soaring interior.
A community event is tentatively planned for early March.
For information and links about the station:
Contacts:
Oakland Heritage Alliance: info@oaklandheritage.org, 510-763-9218
Daniel Levy, Oakland Heritage Alliance President, dlouislevy@gmail.com
Kara Brunzell, historic consultant: Kara.Brunzell@brunzellhistorical.com
William Burg, State Historic Preservation Office: William.Burg@parks.ca.gov