Pier 90 Grain Silos

The story

In 1923, the Port of San Francisco poured 190 vertical feet of concrete into Cargo Way, erecting a grain terminal engineered to hold and export California barley. For six decades, grain moved through its hoppers and along elevated catwalks into ships moored along Islais Creek. Then came the Loma Prieta earthquake on October 17, 1989. The shaking severely compromised the waterfront structures, killing grain operations on the spot and leaving the complex abandoned.

Decades of salt air stripped away paint, rusted the iron catwalks, and shattered every pane of glass, leaving a towering concrete skeleton on the southern waterfront. Street artists eventually transformed the towering cylinders into an unofficial multi-story canvas, and in 2014, the facade was outfitted with 'Bayview Rise,' a large-scale illuminated art installation. As the structure decayed further, archivists even launched 3D-scanning projects to digitally preserve the graffiti-covered terminal before it was lost.

Now, the clock has finally run out. The Port of San Francisco filed demolition permits to dismantle the 190-foot concrete cylinders and clear the landside structures. You aren't just looking at a piece of maritime decay—you're watching the final chapter of a brutalist relic before the wrecking ball takes it down.