BlockFrom the record
One of 160 National Register listings published here for Alameda County · listed in 1980 · category: Building · built in 1917.
Sources: the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service
Union Iron Works Powerhouse
Built in 1917. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. 17 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1895.
The listing
- What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
- Address. 2308 Webster St., Alameda, 94501
- When was it listed? January 1980
- Category. building
- Census division. Alameda
- When was it built? 1917
- National Register reference number. 80000793 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
Then and now
1895 to 1993The ground this property stands on, surveyed 98 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
Fires near this property
238 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 238 fires within 5 miles of Union Iron Works Powerhouse between 1992 and 2020, burning about 74 acres in total. None started naturally. 29 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 165 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 29 |
| Smoking | 18 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 16 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 6 |
| Debris and open burning | 4 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Santa Clara Unit | not named |
| 9 September 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 8 September 2005 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 8 September 2004 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Santa Clara Unit | SMALL |
| 7 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Santa Clara Unit | not named |
| 6 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Santa Clara Unit | not named |
| 6 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 6 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
Mines and quarries near this property
6 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Union Iron Works Powerhouse: 5 producers, 1 past producer. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaiser Industries Corp | Clay | Producer | ||
| Ada Sand and Gravel Pit No 2 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Kaiser Sand & Gravel | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Moller Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Quarry | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Sanderling Dredge | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this property
18 since 2009Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Alameda, the town this property stands in, in 18 storm reports between 2009 and 2026: 16 flood, 2 heavy rain. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2024 | Flood | Alameda | $10 | Roadway flooding reported on I-880 near Market Street offramp. |
| January 2026 | Flood | Alameda | - | One foot of water was reported on the offramp from westbound Interstate 980 to Jackson Street. |
| February 2025 | Flood | Alameda | - | Around 6 inches of water covered the entire exit lane on the offramp from northbound Interstate 880 to Broadway. |
| December 2025 | Flood | Alameda | - | Flooding was reported on northbound Interstate 880 around a half mile south of 5th Street. |
| November 2025 | Flood | Alameda | - | Roadway flooding was reported in multiple locations in downtown Oakland, including the Jackson St onramp to northbound Interstate 880, the transition between northbound Interstate 880 to Interstate 980, and the transition between westbound Interstate 580 to eastbound California Highway 24. |
| November 2024 | Heavy Rain | Alameda | - | The Oakland Museum COOP station recorded a new daily record rainfall of 2.46 inches for November 22. |
| December 2024 | Flood | Alameda | - | Floodwaters 3 inches deep along northbound Interstate 880 at Broadway. |
| December 2022 | Heavy Rain | Alameda | - | Oakland site had its wettest day on record (since 1970) with 4.75, beating out the previous record set back on 1/4/1982 by just 0.01||This day was 36% of Decembers rainfall at this site. |
| December 2021 | Flood | Alameda | - | Heavy rain led to 1 ft of standing water in the roadway. |
| January 2020 | Flood | Alameda | - | Roadway flooding at I-880 N and Broadway off ramp. |
| January 2019 | Flood | Alameda | - | Flooding across off ramp of I800 N. |
| February 2019 | Flood | Alameda | - | Flooding on on ramp of I880 S and 7th St, 3 to 4 feet of water. |
| February 2019 | Flood | Alameda | - | Roadway flooding at NB 880 at Broadway. |
| December 2019 | Flood | Alameda | - | Hwy 880 just south of Market St off ramp, lanes 3 and 4 flooded. |
| November 2019 | Flood | Alameda | - | Roadway flooding on WB Hwy 980 on Jackson St off ramp. |
| February 2017 | Flood | Alameda | - | I880 and 5th st on ramp flooded. |
| February 2015 | Flood | Alameda | - | Roadway flooding on Westbound Interstate 980 at Southbound Interstate 880. |
| October 2009 | Flood | Alameda | - | Flooding occurred along Interstate 880 near the intersection of Interstate 980. |
Maps showing this location
17 surveysUnited States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.
- 1895 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:62500
- 1899 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:62500 - 7 printings
- 1915 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:62500 - 6 printings
- 1947 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1948 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1949 USGS Oakland West quadrangle1:24000 - 2 printings
- 1955 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000 - 4 printings
- 1957 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Oakland West quadrangle1:24000 - 5 printings
- 1960 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1971 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1978 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:100000 - 2 printings
- 1985 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1993 USGS Oakland West quadrangle1:24000
Listed places nearby
6 within 8 milesOther National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Union Iron Works Turbine Machine Shop | 0.2 miles | 1980 |
 | Heinold's First and Last Chance Saloon | 0.5 miles | 2000 |
 | American Bag Co.-Union Hide Co. | 0.6 miles | 1999 |
 | USS POTOMAC (yacht) | 0.6 miles | 1987 |
 | Oakland Waterfront Warehouse District | 0.7 miles | 2000 |
 | Lightship WAL-605, RELIEF | 0.7 miles | 1989 |
Sources for this property
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 80000793 in Record Group 79. |
| Alameda County | All 160 listed properties in this county. |
Provenance
- Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
- Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
- How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
- Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
- Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
- Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.