Brief History & Status of Albion Castle, located in San Francisco's Indian Basin



then (1919)


now (2005)

From close by the Albion Castle is truly a beautiful place...



The Albion Castle was established as a historic landmark in 1974.

You can drive by it for years without even knowing it is there...I did!


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HUNTERS POINT NAVAL SHIPYARD & INDIAN BASIN


shipyard in the 1930s

in 1942

in 1948



The Mountain Spring And Water Company


present flow from springs



Water from the spring that runs into the caverns beneath the Albion Castle has been bottled as drinking water since the Albion Ale and Porter Brewery closed in 1919. The Mountain Spring And Water Company continued to bottle water from the springs located in the caverns beneath the Albion Castle into the 1990s. Here is a promotional photo from the Mountain Spring And Water Company entrance taken in 1961.

This water bottling operation was a major inconvenience to the Navy Shipyard operation, which can be construed by this text from the EPA's website article CALIFORNIA EPA ID# CA1170090087:

In 1987, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), trichloroethylene and other solvents, pesticides, petroleum hydrocarbons, and metals including lead were confirmed at a number of shipyard locations. This finding and the shipyard's proximity to an off-site drinking water source (the aquifer used by a water bottling company), resulted in the EPA placing Hunters Point Shipyard on the National Priorities List in 1989. However, subsequent Navy investigations indicate that the aquifers beneath Hunters Point Shipyard and those used by the water bottling company do not appear to be connected. In 1991, the Department of Defense listed the shipyard for closure.


The Hunter's Point Power Plant



The Hunter's Point Power Plant was first established in the 1930's. It is an oil-fired power plant. It is 'dirty' power plant and slated to be closed sometime in the near future. It will undoubtedly take many many years for the site it is on to be cleaned.

The Albion Castle

other sites


 
These images, taken in 1917 & 1915, shows the Albion Ale and Porter Brewery Companies tower next to the Hunter's Point Elementary School. These images show how the buildings once extended


The Albion Castle was built as a brewery in 1870. During Prohibition it was closed down since they could not sell their beer. Parts of the building burned down during that time. The castle was rebuilt by a sculptor in 1939. The wall and the caves are from 1870, but most of the wood is from 1939.

The building consists of a 6 story square tower attached to a small building and castle ruins which run into the terraced gardens. There are tons of great spaces to hang out in. There are also some caves and underground pools fed by fresh spring water. The caves were dug as part of the brewery in 1870


Who is Paul de Jong?
Paul de Jong is a former tenant of the Albion Castle, which is his only affiliation to the property.
If you took pictures while you were visiting or if you have stories to tell about the Albion Castle I am very interested in hearing them. Here is my contact info:


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