Alameda

Alameda was once a peninsula of grassy fields and sandy beaches, separated from Oakland by a snaking estuary. A tidal canal made Alameda an island in 1902 and its waterfront became a major shipping port. Park Street,s bay-windowed commercial buildings looked out on a prosperous city of streetcars and comfortable homes. Between the two world wars, Alameda,s Neptune Beach resort and amusement park became the ,Coney Island of the West,, eventually boasting a Moorish entrance tower on Webster Street, a stadium, two swimming pools, a high dive, and a roller coaster called the ,Whoopie., Alameda,s strategic location made its ,airdrome, the busiest in the world in the 1930s and eventually attracted a U.S. Coast Guard base, known as Government Island, and the Alameda Naval Air Station.