Transportation: Streetcars, Trains, Buses
1876
Southern Pacific's Berkeley Station, looking east, at Shattuck Avenue and Center Street.
Image: Courtesy of Berkeley Historical Society
Image: Courtesy of Berkeley Historical Society
The completion of the Central Pacific Railway in 1869 fueled the development of local feeder lines. Berkeley benefitted from this movement in 1876 when the Southern Pacific Railway built a local line from Broadway and Seventh Street in Oakland north to Shattuck Square.
The SP local service brought scheduled transportation to within walking distance of much of the McGee and Spaulding Tracts, but the service did not result in dramatic growth as the service was originally infrequent (less than five round trips daily) and powered by steam locomotives that emitted objectionable smoke.