Vallejo's Waterfront in the 1930s

Vallejo had a thriving waterfront in the early decades of the twentieth century. This photograph shows the intersection of Georgia and Santa Clara Streets, looking west. By the mid 1930s the city's population was about 30,000. Although the Great Depression put thousands out of work nationwide, Vallejo fared much better due to the steady flow of work at the Mare Island Navy Yard. In the '30s Vallejo referred to itself as "the City of Cash" because of the large federal payroll at Mare Island.