Treasure Island History and Seaplane Terminal Origins
A discussion details the history of Treasure Island in San Francisco, noting its origins as an artificial island built for the 1930s World's Fair. The main terminal building was originally designed as a seaport for trans-Pacific seaplanes before the Navy confiscated the site during World War II. The area includes Yerba Buena Island, formerly known as Goat Island, and has served as a filming location for Indiana Jones films.
treasure island· yerba buena· san francisco· world's fair· seaplanes· spruce goose· navy base
00:01 Yeah, somebody hit me down so this is to our show. And apparently coming to you from my sickbed Crackpot Command Center in Gitmo Nation West in the Republic of California. In the morning everyone, I'm Adam Curry. And here printing out documents as I speak. I'm John C. DuVois. It's Crackpot and Buzzkill. In the morning. In the morning to you. Yeah, in the morning to you. Can't get this thing to work. Yeah, I hear you. I can't get... Did you Twitter?
00:45 Yeah, I did. I Twittered. Oh, okay, good. The place should be packed. Yeah. Let me make sure I hit the return key on Twitter. Yeah, I think it looks like I did. Yeah, those things, it does count if you do that, I'm told. Oh, okay. This flu thing I've got just won't quit. Yeah, what's the deal? I don't know. It's like it's it's it's not just me lots of people have it just like you're hawking the whole time first you get this real congested head and then it goes to your chest and then your coffin and and of course either it either goes to your stomach straight away or
01:22 You're screaming your stomach straight away. Yeah, well Nick at the office. He's been like Nick is always sick No, that's not true. That's not true. He's sick a lot. He's probably an alcoholic and hiding it I don't think so. He's just sick. He's living on Treasure Island the paradise the world's worst places windy and cold fantasy island I call it Plutonium on I was gonna say isn't it isn't that place built from like debris from the the big fire of San Francisco part of it yeah it was built in the 30s as a island to put on the world's fair and uh and is there plutonium there how about depleted uranium
02:06 Well, they turned it into a Navy bay. Here was the scenario. First it was built as a World's Fair Island, so then it was just this great World's Fair and all the buildings that were on the island, including what looks like an airport terminal, were designed to eventually become an airport terminal. This looks like an airport terminal. It was determined by all the experts that everything was going to be a seaplane for all the flights to Japan and China. Oh wow. And so this was going to be where they were going to launch these things, the seaplanes. Really? So you're telling me back in the 30s they thought that it was all going to be seaplanes, that they wouldn't be landing on hard asphalt?
02:45 Yeah, I'm just really yeah, I don't know this part of a giant plane could land on asphalt But I didn't know about this part of important aviation history Oh yeah, absolutely. So anyway, so if you look at the Treasure Island, that one building that's in the front is the main terminal that was going to be the passenger terminal. It looks like one if you think about it. And it's been used by Spielberg in a couple of movies as the Nazi terminal in one of the Indiana Jones films. And then if you look, if you're driving across the bridge, you look and you'll see what is obviously hangars. Yes, true. So people who don't know this, this is an island between, it's off the Bay Bridge, in fact the Bay Bridge goes over it, doesn't it? No, the Bay Bridge goes through an island that's always been there, the real island, which was called Goat Island.
03:31 because it had a bunch of goats on it and then they changed the name to Yerba Buena because nobody liked the idea. I think it should just be Goat Island. I like Goat Island better. But anyway, so they changed it to Yerba Buena and Treasure Island was attached to Yerba Buena and it was essentially an artificial island. It's a bogus island. It was designed as where they're going to have the World's Fair, which they had. And then when World War II broke out, they had to confiscate the whole thing and give the whole thing to the Navy. But originally it was designed to be a World's Fair, then the San Francisco International Airport, or as I would say, Seaport, so all these big transatlantic seaplanes could land there and take off.
04:14 Right now that I think about it the spruce goose of course was a seaplane that was the largest plane ever built at the time right yeah It was thought that you know that when your plans are bigger than you land in the water Which you've got to be a rough landing. Oh, you know I've landed a seaplane and it's first of all it's not trivial and Yeah, when you come down on so the plane I was flying had to land at like 70 knots that That's pretty fast when you land on the water. Why don't you jump off your water skis going like 70 knots and see how the water feels? Yeah, or just get in a fast boat and see how unpleasant it is. And if it's choppy, you ain't landing. That's the basic downside of seaplanes.
04:55 So anyway, so that was the original plan and all that's left of it of course is now the Navy took it over and they kind of dropped plutonium in the upper, there's one area, they supposedly cleaned it up. But yeah. So I think we should revert Yerba Buena back to its original name of Goat Sea Island. Yeah, there you go. Anyways, they turned, and by the way, Yerba Buena became the Coast Guard Station and then Treasure Island became the Navy Station. Shall we talk about the producers for or producer executive producer? I don't know if we have one or more for episode 177 of no agenda John I'm trying to get the printout so I can do that, but you were that's why you were delaying well while you're working on I can do it I can do I can read it off the screen. Oh what a concept all right, we got two executive producers and the footing
