Star Wars on the Harbor 1915 style

My hand-tinted photo of 1915 crane

I was looking through an Alameda County glossy brochure (1915) that might have been printed for PPIE (reference below). I was surprised to see this picture of an enormous lumber handling crane.

For years, there has been a rumor that the gigantic container cranes at the Port of Oakland were the inspiration for the Star Wars All-Terrain Armored-Transports (AT-ATs).


But there were AT-ATs in 1915?!?

WOW! That was a huge innovation that I had no idea existed 100 years ago.

Note: on further checking, the actual location of this plant might have been in Port Chicago and offices in Oakland. But this is part of a myth. There were AT-ATs in Port Chicago?

Here's the picture from that glossy brochure. Look at it yourself here in the booklet.

I know that the whole " Star Wars AT-ATs were inspired by the container cranes" myth has been busted several times.  But it is such a great myth. They just look like they come from science fiction. So I'm allowing that myth to live - if only in the busted-myth kingdom - along with Bigfoot.

We are at Middle Harbor Shoreline Park, looking at the Port of Oakland container cranes, 
on the path of the old Western Pacific track that leads to the old WP freight ferry slip to SF.
The slips are behind us and we are standing on the WP mole. Not the fuzzy mammal. Look it up!
Definitely worth a visit.
You can get really close to the cranes and you will have a hard time believing they are that big.
You might even see a container ship coming in.

Checking out some more Cheney Photo Adv images. Here's another crane, a mammoth travelling crane in Oakland Inner Harbor:

Where to eat when you go to visit the Port of Oakland 

• Brown Sugar Kitchen. My friend, Debcot, said that it smelled like an Alabama diner. The Chicken and Waffles are Super! Even a vegetarian can find something to eat.
• While you are in the area, check out the old re-purposed Western Pacific Depot at 3rd and Washington and get a coffee down the street at Blue Bottle.

References

• "Alameda County, California, U.S.A., the logical location for the Pacific Coast factory assembling or distributing plant of the Eastern manufacturer, where industrial opportunity offers a challenge to creative genius", 1915. Click on "full view" to see the book.
• Cheney Photo Adv album, "New or greatly enlarged industrial establishments of Oakland and East Bay cities / by Oakland (Calif.) Chamber of Commerce", possibly 1917.
• Pacific Gateway, An Illustrated History of the Port of Oakland, by Woodruff Minor
• When you visit Middle Harbor Shoreline Park, be sure to visit both the south and north moles of the harbor. Both sides have great historical exhibits. If you are a birder, they have been restoring the shore so birds actually come here. Bring your binoculars. If you are a train fanatic, you can read about the Oakland Long Wharf as part of the Transcontinental Railroad.
• If you are interested in some 1860's innovation, check out the two mile long Oakland Long Wharf. I've gathered some Lawrence & Houseworth photos together to give a visual of the Long Wharf.  To find out more about the Oakland Long Wharf, go to the "Room With a View" exhibit on the north side of the harbor. Waterfront Action has a description of the facilites in the parks, including the "Room with a View".
• Wikipedia article on AT-ATs
• Buy your t-shirt here to continue this myth.
• To "look that up" about the WP mole and find out more about the Western Pacific Oakland mole, you need to know that it was finished in 1910 and that it is not the Oakland Long Wharf, not the Oakland mole, not the SFO ferry slip, and not the Alameda mole. It seems to be over-shadowed by those other structures. The WP mole appears to be the less flashy brother of the Oakland moles. Check here for as some info on "Oakland WP mole" which has some pictures of the park and some old maps.