From the 1850s the area was used for shipbuilding and repair , butchery and meat production , and oyster and clam fishing . Beginning in the mid-1800s , in attempts to make this area suitable for building , Mission Bay like most of the shoreline of the city of San Francisco , was used as a convenient place to deposit refuse from building projects and debris from the 1906 earthquake . As the marsh stabilized with the weight of the infill , the area quickly became an industrial district . With the addition of the railroad , Mission Bay became the home to shipyards , canneries , a sugar refinery and various warehouses
1906 earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
Mission Bay (San Francisco)