1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Alameda

ALAMEDA, a residential city of Alameda county, California, U.S.A., on an artificial island about 5 m. long and 1 m. wide, on the E. side of San Francisco bay, opposite to and about 6 m. from San Francisco, and directly S. of Oakland, from which it is separated by a drainage canal, spanned by bridges. Included within the limits of the city is Bay Farm island, with an area of about 3 sq. m. Pop. (1870) 1557; (1880) 5708; (1890) 11,165; (1900) 16,464, of whom 4175 were foreign-born; (1910, census) 23,383. Alameda is served by the Southern Pacific railway, and is connected by an electric line with Oakland and Berkeley. Its site is low and level and its plan fairly regular. Among the city’s manufactures are terra-cotta tiles, pottery, rugs, refrigerators and salt. The city owns and operates the electric-lighting plant; the water-works system is privately owned, and the water supply is obtained from deep wells at San Leandro. A settlement existed here before the end of the Mexican period. In 1854 it was incorporated as a town and in 1885 was chartered as a city. In 1906 the city adopted a freehold charter, centralizing power in the mayor and providing for a referendum. The county was organized in 1853.