With construction spanning over a decade and led by Chief Engineer of the State Harbor Commission, Frank G. White, Piers 1, 1½, 3 and 5, were opened in 1918.

Steel truss and timber-frame buildings, accommodating the loading and unloading of ships are built upon the piers, with open aprons for circulation.

These connections facilitated the growth of communities in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys and fostered California's agricultural business that led the state to become the richest in the nation, as well the fifth largest economy in the world.

The San Francisco waterfront piers played a crucial role in the Pacific theater during World War II.

With the outbreak of the war, San Francisco's waterfront became a military logistics center; troops, equipment and supplies left the Port in support of the Pacific theater.