This history links Treasure Island with several other islands in the Pacific, located 4,600 miles away (Smith & Mieszkowski, 2014).
18, 1968, National Archives and Records Administration, San Bruno, CAĭuring its time under Navy control until the 1990s, Treasure Island served as an important strategic location, but perhaps more importantly it became intertwined with the history of nuclear research and development. US Navy sailors in protective suits learn radiation techniques aboard the USS Pandemonium when it was used as a training ship. During the war, the island processed approximately 12,000 military personnel per day for service overseas (Former naval station treasure island). In 1941, with the onset of World War II, the Navy took control of the island through the use of eminent domain and established a naval base and facility. The island was then considered as a potential site for a new airport, but the idea was soon abandoned due to other, more pressing concerns. The Exposition was designed to highlight San Francisco and California as the gateway to the Pacific and celebrate the city as a cultural, political, and social hub. The 400-acre artificial island was originally built to host the 1939-40 Golden Gate International Exposition. Treasure Island sits just off the coast of San Francisco along the Bay Bridge, connecting San Francisco and Oakland. Treasure Island has become embroiled in an ongoing controversy surrounding redevelopment, affordable housing, environmental racism, and an ongoing scandal about mishandled cleanup practices at contaminated sites and the subsequent denial and cover-up by authorities.Īerial view of Treasure Island that sits off the Bay Bridge between San Francisco and Oakland. However, Treasure Island’s nuclear legacy resurfaced when radioactive materials were discovered, raising health and environmental concerns. In the 1990s the naval base was closed and transferred to civilian control and today, many civilians, especially the poor and formerly homeless, live on the island.
There, the Navy hosted nuclear war academies to prepare sailors for nuclear and chemical warfare and also used the base to clean contaminated ships and dispose of waste. Starting in Word War II through the Cold War, the Navy operated a base on the island. By Eric Matsumoto, 2019 Treasure Island, sitting off the coast of San Francisco, is intimately linked with a history of nuclear activity.