The installation was constructed during the period 1944-1945, It occupies filled marsh land, The original buildings were of semipermanent construction, concrete slab on concrete caped wood piles.
The original occupant of the installation was the Army Air Forces, who designated the site as the "Alameda Intransit Depot" under the Army Air Forces Pacific Overseas Air Terminal and Materiel Service Command. Operations under the original occupant covered the period 1945-1948. In 1948 the installation was deactivated and remained in that status until 1951.
Reactivation in 1951 included a complete change in mission. It was then that the Alameda Medical Depot was established at the original site, Medical supply operations continued until mid-year 1955. Construction of the present cold storage facilities was also a part of the reactivation plan. On 15 October 1951 the San Francisco Quartermaster Market Center moved into the facility as a tenant of the Alameda Medical Depot under the provisions of Department of the Army General Order 92, dated 25 October 1951. The mission of this center was procure, store and distribute perishable food.
With the deactivation of the Alameda Medical Depot, the Quartermaster General, Washington D. C., assumed jurisdiction (1955) and created the Alameda Administration Center, the installation's identity until 30 June 1962.
With the reorganization of the Department of the Army, the installation became Alameda Annex, Sharpe General Depot; and finally on 21 August 1962, Alameda Annex, Sharpe Army Depot. Its mission was described as:
Provides support services to Headquarters, Oakland Region, Defense Subsistence Supply Center (DSSC), Defense Supply Agency (DSA) for operation and maintenance of facilities, local headquarters command administration, local logistic service, field maintenance, and dispensary operations. Maintains repository of specification files covering former Quartermaster Corps type material. In addition, furnishes support services for other activities in accordance with existent joint use agreements. The principal warehouse facility is the cold storage plant utilized by the Oakland Region, DSSC, DSA.
During this period, the installation reported having that following on-site capacity:
Effective 3 September 1963, the Alameda Annex, Sharpe Army Depot, was redesignated as the Defense Alameda Facility, Alameda, California, and was established as a Primary Level Field Activity of the Defense Supply Agency.
Effective 1 January 1964 the Defense Alameda Facility was disestablished. The physical facilities were transferred to the Naval Supply Center Oakland. This site later became the Alameda Annex, Fleet Industrial Supply Center, Oakland. This base was operationally closed on 30 April 1997 under the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission actions. It was conveyed to the City of Alameda in July 2000.
US Army Center of Military History Historical Data Cards
