In the beginning of 2004, Building 113/114 on Pier 70 ended almost 120 years of use as a machine shop. Since 1883, skilled workers had used forges, blacksmith shops, and machine tools in this building to make and repair the many thousands of metal items needed for large steel ships. Everything from small metal parts to large engines was built here.

An unreinforced brick building, the machine shop had survived the 1906 earthquake (with significant but not irreparable damage). Seismic safety concerns, however, finally required that the building cease operation as a worksite. The building will be closed and “mothballed,” awaiting the time when it can be retrofitted and given a new use.

These photographs were taken at the end of the building's working history as a machine shop. Employees of San Francisco Drydock were beginning the process of removing their equipment from the building and transporting it across 20th Street to other buildings where much of it will continue to be used for ship repair.