A forgotten land rediscovered. That’s Hunters Point. Right here before you lies a place steeped in history. A place many try to forget. But its stories deserve to be heard.
Hunters Point’s history stretches back millennia. The Ramaytush Ohlone people called it home for thousands of years before the arrival of Spanish missionaries. They left behind shell mounds sacred burial grounds. The Spanish called the Ohlone Costanoans coast dwellers. Hunters Point’s three sides border the San Francisco Bay. It was perfect for fishing and shellfish harvesting. The Ohlone navigated the bay in tule reed canoes.
Then came the Gold Rush. Hunters Point quickly became Butchertown. Eighteen slaughterhouses opened in just ten years. Tanneries fertilizer plants and tallow works surrounded them. The stench from Islais Creek—unofficially dubbed “Shit Creek”—was legendary. Butchertown’s offal was dumped directly into the creek. The 1906 earthquake brought tons of debris. This debris was used as landfill. It dramatically reshaped Hunters Point. Islais Creek shrank. Mission Bay Dogpatch and other neighborhoods were created. Some say Dogpatch’s name comes from the dogs scavenging in Butchertown.
From the 1870s to 1939 a thriving Chinese shrimping community flourished. They lived along India Basin. Then the US Navy arrived. In 1939 they took over Hunters Point via eminent domain. The Navy burned the shrimpers’ shacks and docks.
The shipyard became a vital part of Hunters Point’s identity. In 1868 the first permanent dry dock on the Pacific Coast opened. By 1916 Hunters Point’s drydocks were considered the largest in the world. Maltese and Italian immigrants flocked to the area to work. During World War II African Americans moved to Hunters Point for shipyard jobs. The War Manpower Commission actively recruited them from the South. Many lived in new war housing.
Hunters Point played a secret role in World War II. It was involved in loading components for the atomic bomb “Little Boy” used on Hiroshima. The USS Indianapolis which carried the bomb left Hunters Point on July 16 1945. It wasn’t allowed to leave until after the successful Trinity test was confirmed. After the war the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory operated at Hunters Point. Contaminated ships from Bikini Atoll were decontaminated here. The cleanup continues to this day. In 2014 a worker alleged that soil samples were falsified. This investigation is still ongoing.
The 1960s brought unrest. Hunters Point became a predominantly African-American neighborhood isolated from the rest of San Francisco. Matthew “Peanut” Johnson was shot and killed by police in 1966 sparking a riot. This event highlighted the deep-seated issues of poverty pollution and racial injustice.
Then a transformation began. Artists moved in. Led by Jacques Terzian they created one of the largest artist colonies in the US. The Hunters Point Shipyard artist collective continues this legacy. Many scenes from the movie *The Last Black Man in San Francisco* were filmed here. This movie captured Hunters Point’s complex past.
Hunters Point. A place of hardship and resilience. A place where history echoes in every corner. A place that still has a lot to say.