Not too long ago I was in San Francisco visiting family and had heard about this place from an old book about abandoned towns and mines from the around the time of the Gold Rush and later 19th century settlements. After quick talking my way past the railroad signalman sitting by the only way in, I was left free to roam around what remained of it.
Drawbridge, (once known as Saline City for its proximity to the salt flats) was created by the narrow-gauge South Pacific Coast Railroad on Station Island in 1876 and consisted of one small cabin for the operator of the railroad's two drawbridges crossing Mud Creek Slough and Coyote Creek Slough to connect Newark with Alviso and San Jose. At one time 10 passenger trains stopped there per day, five going north and five going south. The drawbridges were removed long ago. The only path leading into Drawbridge is the Union Pacific Railroad track. In the 1880s, on weekends nearly 1,000 visitors flocked to the town. By the 1920s, although the town had no roads, it did have 90 buildings, and was divided into two neighbourhoods: the predominantly Roman Catholic South Drawbridge, and the predominantly Protestant North Drawbridge.
After the turn bridge drawbridges were removed and most of the residents had left, the San Jose Mercury News for years incorrectly reported that the town was a ghost town and that the residents left valuables behind. As a result, the people still living there had their homes vandalized. The town's last resident is said to have left in 1979, and Drawbridge is considered to be the San Francisco Bay Area's only ghost town. Drawbridge is now part of the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge and is no longer open to the public due to restoration efforts, though it can still briefly be viewed from Altamont Commuter Express, Capitol Corridor, and Coast Starlight trains.
The whole place is falling apart and what's left is little more than glorified sheds. However, there is a pleasant atmosphere to it, as well as some stark and rather attractive vistas to be seen from it.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
I thought this was rather beautiful
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.