Recently , evidence of the local trade in Northern California was unearthed when a historic oven used in Fort Bragg from 1909 until 2003 was discovered to be built with " hundreds of century-old bricks , many stamped with the name of the California brick factory from which they had come : Richmond , Stockton and Corona . " Press coverage states that " these bricks had come north from San Francisco as ballast on lumber ships . In the years after the 1906 quake , Fort Bragg sent tons of timber to the city to be used in rebuilding . Coming home , the ships used bricks from Bay Area factories for weight and for new construction in Fort Bragg . " Eventually , however , steam-powered vessels proved more dependable than sail , and railroads gained greater penetration of the coastal regions . Sailing vessels continued to compete with steamships and railroads well into the 20th century , but the last purpose-built sailing lumber schooner was launched in 1905
1906 quake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
West Coast lumber trade