It has been a good little while since I first came to this place (2013 I believe) and I don’t remember if it was my first or second successful google earth find. Awestruck the first time I laid foot on the property and of the 2-3 trips I took after the first equally impressed. Always new paint on the walls and more or less respect paid to the heaters from the past.
You can easily spend 4-5 hours here, slow rolling through every building, and taking in every wall. It is an open air museum that is free to the public. Just pay no never mind to the signage 😉
The Standard Portland Cement Company facility, built just after the turn of the 20th century, provided concrete for decades to Bay Area projects, including the rebuilding of San Francisco following the 1906 earthquake. The property changed hands a few times through the years. While under the control of the Basalt Rock Co. the silos and the rotunda were built in the late 1940’s early 1950’s But like many things there was an eventual end, and the doors were closed in 1978.
Not sure how or why most of the ceilings are gone but they are. Which is wonderful as a photographer as you are never at a want for more light. Its wild walking through the place and imagining the 300 workers doing their thing, creating concrete.
I’ll be quite now and just let you run through the pictures I hope there are few that stand out to you.
