Transportation

Transportation was vital. Barges loaded dynamite at a wharf built a half-mile east of Hercules Station; another “Acid Wharf”, extending from the small point of land jutting into the bay, handled feedstocks and general freight. In 1899, a second railroad arrived a mile up the valley, providing competition for rail 

shipments. 

Pinole, with two passenger railroad stations, was also the gateway for travel to the larger cities of the Bay Area. San Pablo Avenue, the 1865 stage road connecting the two towns, followed the hills south to Oakland and east towards Sacramento.  It was designated in 1927 a segment of United States Route 40, the Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental improved road. In 1959, Interstate Highway 80 was constructed through the hills on a route parallel to US 40, bisecting the Hercules Works property.