These ships were beached near what was then a small Mexican village called Yerba Buena.
Many of the ships that dropped anchor there never moved.
The Buried Ships of Yerba Buena Cove by Michael Warner et al.
These were left to rot where they stood.
Many ships lay abandoned with not even a watchman on board.
People drove stakes in the ground and built platforms on top of the water.
Others pulled their ships to a convenient spot and intentionally sunk them to claim the land.
The Niantic Hotel in 1850
The most famous example is the whaling shipNiantic.
The nicer ships were turned into permanent structures.
Many ships went up in flames and sank in the bay.
So the bay was filled up with earth from the nearby hills and the ships were forgotten.
But they continue to come up whenever a new foundation is laid or a tunnel is dug.
The vessel was so huge that they had to tunnel through it.
It is estimated that there are still between 40 and 70 ships buried underneath the streets.
San Francisco in 1851 at the height of the California Gold Rush.
