Point San Quentin facts for kids
Point San Quentin, also known as Potrero Point, was a piece of land that stuck out into San Francisco Bay. It marked the southern edge of what was once Mission Bay in San Francisco, California. Mission Bay has since been filled in.
History of Potrero Point
Spanish settlers first named this area Point San Quentin in the 1700s. This name stayed on U.S. Coastal maps until at least 1869.
By 1882, maps showed the land as Potrero Point. People often called it The Potrero. This name came from the old Rancho Potrero de San Francisco. A "rancho" was a large farm or ranch, and "potrero" means "pasture" or "grazing land" in Spanish. This rancho used to include the point within its borders.
From Ropes to Ships
In the early 1850s, a place called the Tubb ropewalk was located here. A ropewalk is where long ropes are made by twisting fibers together.
By the mid-1860s, Potrero Point became a very important place for building ships in San Francisco. Later, the shoreline around the point, along Mission Bay and San Francisco Bay, was filled in with earth. This changed the shape of the land.
A Hub for Industry
By 1880, Potrero Point had become a major center for heavy industries in San Francisco. Heavy industries are businesses that make large, heavy products or use big machines. Some of these included:
- Atlas Iron Works (making iron products)
- Bethlehem Shipyard (building ships)
- California Sugar Refinery (processing sugar)
- Pacific Rolling Mill (shaping metal)
- Union Iron Works (another metalworking company)
These important industries continued to operate at Potrero Point through World War I.
The Dogpatch Neighborhood
Today, the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco is located on what was once Potrero Point. It is a historic area known for its industrial past.
