If you have ever traveled Amtrak's Capitol Corridor to or from San Jose you may have noticed a curious site as you rode through the South Bay marshlands. In amongst the stretches of salt ponds of various hues, you probably caught sight of what appeared to be the rooftops of cabins which had oozed down into the marsh. This would be the remains of the community of Drawbridge which is doing just that. It is now part of the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge and is being allowed to disappear as part of a marsh restoration project.

The story of Drawbridge starts in 1876 when bonanza silver baron James G. Fair bought a narrow gauge line which he then extended from Alameda to Santa Cruz. In order to build track across Mud Slough and Coyote Creek in Alameda County the company had to construct rotating bridges as these were then considered navigable waterways. When the line went into operation, the bridge tender would live in a cabin built between the two bridges on Station Island. This was the first building in what would become Drawbridge. The line was eventually bought by the Southern Pacific who widened the tracks to standard gauge and continued to operate the bridges into the 1940's.

Station "Island" is at the confluence of Mud Slough and Coyote Creek and, at that time, in the midst of the extensive salt-water marshes that once bordered the South San Francisco Bay. Pollution was low then, there were few encroaching salt ponds, and game and marine life were abundant. The marshes were alive with ducks and geese during the winter months and the sloughs were rich with oysters and shrimp. The bridge tender's friends needed little coaxing to visit this lonely spot when a little bird shooting could be squeezed in. So, it was only a matter of time when cabins were being built and then some duck clubs and eventually even a couple of hotels. There were also some families who were attracted by the beauty and solitude of the marshes who came to settle there.

Drawbridge reached it's population peak in the 1920's when there were 90 residences and duck clubs and even a couple of hotels. There was also a small railroad station with five trains from each direction stopping daily. This was during prohibition and the town gained a reputation for having speakeasies, gambling, brothels, and heavily armed residents. Whether this reputation was deserved, I can't comment, but I would guess they had very few visits from federal prohibition agents.

As the population of the towns and cities around the Bay grew, the estuaries flowing into it became polluted and the shrimp and oyster populations decreased. The salt industry grew tremendously in the South Bay and the marshes were cut off from the daily tides by the evaporation ponds, which destroyed much of the waterfowl habitat. Increased pumping of groundwater in the region caused subsidence which resulted in the sinking of the buildings on Station Island. So the population of Drawbridge began to dwindle and by the end of the 1970's the last two residents moved away.

The administrators of the wildlife refuge have determined that restoration of the community would not only be too expensive, but, creating a tourist attraction would be detrimental to the restoration of the marshes, therefore, access to the town is prohibited. So, as the marsh slowly comes back to life, Drawbrige will slowly sink into the mud and eventually become indiscernible within the natural landscape.

These photos were taken on a sunny winter day in about 1966. I wasn't aware of Drawbridge until Mike Piper, a cycling buddy and fellow photography student at Foothill College, suggested we go there and shoot for our self-assigned photo projects. We drove down dirt roads to the S.P. tracks and then walked over a mile lugging medium format cameras and a 4x5 Speed Graphic with tripod. Although the town still had a few inhabitants we had the place to ourselves with the exception of a couple of passing trains.

All the photogaphs in this gallery were taken by myself and all the usual reproduction restrictions apply.
Don Martinich, July 29, 2010.