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Alameda

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Union Iron Works Turbine Machine Shop, 2200 Webster Street, Alameda, Alameda County, CA



B&W Photos

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Data Pages


Photo Caption Pages


Item Title


Location
2200 Webster Street, Alameda, CA

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Created/Published
Documentation compiled after 1968.

Notes
Survey number HAER CA-43
Unprocessed field note material exists for this structure (FN-12).
Building/structure dates: 1917 initial construction
Building/structure dates: 1956 demolished
Building/structure dates: 1940 subsequent work
Significance: The Union Iron Works Turbine Machine Shop building is both historically and architecturally significant. As the nucleus of a major West Coast shipyard which made important contributions to ship building in both world wars, the large structure was first utilized (World War I) for production of reciprocating engines, diesel engines and marine turbines and, subsequently (during the Depression and World War II), for fabricating structural steel for a number of important buildings and structures on the West Coast and in parts of ship building. The building, the only known major industrial design by the locally prominent architect, John Reid, Jr., is an impressive example of a large, open-plan industrial structure with vast interior spaces made possible by the use of steel trusses and steel frame construction and by curtain walls that lighted and ventilated the huge spaces. Its architectural quality is derived from its simplicity of structure, massing and detail; its curtain walls; and its straightforward response to its function.

Subjects
War (World War I)
War (World War II)
Steel Industry


Related Names
Reid, John
Alameda Marina Center Associates
Dickie Brothers
US Engineering Company
Union Plant Of The Bethlehem Shipping Corporation
Alameda Fabricating Works
Charles Hall Page & Associates, Historian
Corbett, Michael, Historian
Griffith, John, Photographer
Weldon, Margaret, Historian


Collection
Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress)

Contents
Photograph caption(s): 
1. CONTEXTUAL VIEW FROM ATOP NEARBY FIVE-STORY BUILDING
2. CONTEXTUAL VIEW FROM BETHLEHEM AVENUE
3. VIEW OF SOUTH SIDE AND EAST END
4. VIEW OF EAST END
5. VIEW OF NORTH SIDE AND WEST END
6. VIEW OF WEST END
7. VIEW OF UTILITY TOWER ON SOUTH SIDE
8. EXTERIOR DETAIL OF ORNAMENTAL BRICKWORK OF A LOWER SPANDREL ON THE SOUTH SIDE
9. EXTERIOR DETAIL OF ORNAMENTAL BRICKWORK OF A PIER ON THE EAST END
10. INTERIOR VIEW OF CENTRAL PAVILION
11. INTERIOR VIEW SHOWING STEEL COLUMNS, BALCONIES AND ROOF MONITORS
12. INTERIOR VIEW SHOWING STEEL COLUMNS FROM BENEATH BALCONY
13. INTERIOR VIEW OF COLUMNS AND ROOF MONITORS FROM BALCONY LEVEL
14. INTERIOR VIEW OF CRANE SPANNING CENTRAL SPACE
15. INTERIOR VIEW OF STEEL TRUSSES AND MONITOR ROOF BAYS
16. Photocopy of photograph (From Bethlehem Shipbuilding Ltd., New York, New York, 1919) COMPOSITE VIEW OF THE LAUNCHING OF THE 'INVINCIBLE' FROM THE ALAMEDA WORKS OF THE BETHLEHEM SHIPBUILDING CORPORATION, LTD.
17. Photocopy of Photograph (From Bethlehem Shipbuilding Ltd., New York, New York, 1919) COMPOSITE PHOTOGRAPH SHOWING AN EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR VIEW OF THE MACHINE SHOP AND AN INSET OF THE GENERAL MANAGER
18. Photocopy of Photograph (From Bethlehem Shipbuilding Ltd., New York, New York, 1919) C.1918 PHOTOGRAPH OF CONSTRUCTION WORK IN PROGRESS WITH MACHINE SHOP IN BACKGROUND


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