San Francisco Ghost Town
Sasha Malchik http://malchik.net
Drawbridge is an abandoned town on the
outskirts of San Jose and is slowly sinking into the sloughs of San Francisco
Bay. It was created on Station Island in 1876 and consisted of a single dwelling
to house the operator of two drawbridges owned by the Southern Pacific Railroad
to connect Newark with Alviso and San Jose. It eventually grew into a small town
consisting mainly of hunting cabins, hotels, and gun clubs (the San Francisco
Bay, before salt evaporation ponds and sewage dumping, was a hunting and fishing
paradise). During Prohibition, taking advantage of its location in no man's land
between Santa Clara and Alameda counties, it housed numerous speakeasies and
brothels. In addition, the police were reluctant to enter as nearly everyone in
Drawbridge was armed.
Starting in the late 1920's, the surrounding communities began to pump fresh
water out from the sloughs causing the land to sink. Two salt evaporation ponds
around Drawbridge prevented the tides from cleaning the waters and the pumping
in of raw sewage fouled what remained.
At its peak in 1926, Drawbridge had 90 private residences and two hotels. The
train stopped five times daily. In 1979, the last remaining resident left.
Drawbridge is officially off-limits to visitors.
To contact Abandoned But Not Forgotten please e-mail us at abnf@abandonedbutnotforgotten.com with any questions or submissions you may want to contribute to the site.
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