Yerba Buena Island

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For other uses of the term Yerba Buena see Yerba Buena (disambiguation).

Aerial photo of Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island.

Yerba Buena Island sits in the San Francisco Bay between San Francisco and Oakland, California. The Yerba Buena Tunnel runs through its center and connects the western and eastern spans of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. It has had several other names over the decades: Sea Bird Island, Wood Island, and Goat Island.

The island is currently part of District 6 of the City and County of San Francisco. According to the United States Census Bureau, Yerba Buena Island and Treasure Island together have a land area of 2.334 km² (0.901 sq mi) with a total population of 1,453 as of the 2000 census.

1 History
2 Miscellaneous
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] History

The first California legislature on February 18, 1850, passed an act establishing the boundaries of San Francisco County and named the island Yerba Buena, after the former name of the city of San Francisco.

Officially, the island was Yerba Buena until 1895, when on a decision by the U.S. Geographic Board, it was changed to "Goat Island." It was changed back to "Yerba Buena" on June 3, 1931. "Yerba Buena" literally means "Good Herb" in Spanish.

As the natural base for the artificial Treasure Island, Yerba Buena and Treasure Islands formed the Treasure Island Naval Base, beginning during World War II until 1996, when it and the Presidio of San Francisco were decommissioned, and opened to public control, under stipulations.

[edit] Miscellaneous

Located west of the island is Blossom Rock, a treacherous submerged stone which caused a number of shipwrecks, until ships learned to use some nearby redwood trees as a navigational-aid to avoid it. The site of these trees (now located in Redwood Regional Park) is a California Historical Landmark.

In his book Two Years Before the Mast, published in 1840, Richard Henry Dana mentioned the island and called it "Wood Island."