By Thomas Valdriz
The slaughtering of animals is a topic that most rational human beings tend to avoid. The majority of the public would rather not know the stages of the production that a given cut of beef went through to get from the farm to the fork. The desire to physically and mentally distance oneself from the production of meat is a characteristic that most Americans feel, and has been a pervasive sentiment throughout the history of the San Francisco Bay Area. Since in the late 1860’s, popular support to keep abattoirs away from heavily populated locations has pushed Bay Area municipalities to pass ordinances requiring abattoirs to relocate outside of residential and downtown commercial districts. The relocation and subsequent reorganization of abattoirs created spatial and psychological distantiations that enabled consumers and laborers to dissociate themselves from the products and negative externalities of meatpacking. The urban to rural transformation as well as the spatial reorganization of Bay Area beef abattoirs has been made possible through the utilization of improved transportation technologies and production techniques; both of which have enabled consumer and wage laborer alike to distance themselves from the perceived horrors of industrialized beef production.
The San Francisco Bay Area experienced unprecedented growth in the 19th century due in part to the discovery of gold and the American belief of Manifest Destiny. The growing population of San Francisco, which tripled between 1860-1870, and doubled between 1870 and 1890[1] brought about new market opportunities for entrepreneurs daring enough to move their operations westward. Many enterprising butchers, cattlemen, and laborers established themselves in the San Francisco Bay Area with the hopes of filling the needs of consumers and to earn a living. Although abattoirs were able to meet ever-increasing consumer demands, the immense scale of industrial beef production and production’s inherent negative externalities soon became too much for the populace to handle. What was once a public nuisance became a topic of real concern, especially for public health advocates who feared increased pollution and lack of sanitation would lead to the future spread of diseases[2].
In the early years of San Francisco Bay Area history slaughtering was typically performed in areas neighboring the downtown market district in order to sell fresh meat and animal byproducts directly to consumers.[3] Abattoirs sold a variety of commodities ranging from meat (fresh, salted, and smoked), hides, tallow, and bones, however, the inefficiencies of early meat processing created many waste products and the inherent nature of the industry brought a notoriously foul odor to nearby neighborhoods.[4] Slaughterhouses plagued both laborers and local residents alike; the noxious smells of meat production could be detected from miles away, leading many Bay Area residents to voice their concerns in both local and state government.
Specialized slaughterhouse reservations became an increasingly common landscape feature of many Bay Area cities beginning in the mid to late 1800’s. In 1866 the California Supreme Court passed legislature requiring San Franciscan abattoirs to vacate the central business district.[5] Although municipalities were not legally allowed to divide or assign land into areas subject to particular planning restrictions until the 1920’s, large-scale abattoirs looked for large plots of land in the fringes of large cities in order to have room to expand operations and to distance their facilities from residential areas.[6][7]
Given the constraints established by the municipalities and California state law, private corporations were given the freedom to build as they pleased, locating their facilities nearby running water (to dump garbage) and along railroad lines. [8] As unpleasant as slaughterhouse districts in the mid to late 19th century may have been, both policymakers and residents alike understood the crucial products and services that abattoirs provided. Distancing the public from negative externalities like pollution, disease, and vermin while also accommodating the needs of industrial meat processing was made possible through the use of new innovations in transportation.
Sources:
[1] US Census Bureau. Historical Census Populations of Counties and Incorporated Cities in California, 1850–2010. Mar. 2013. Raw data. Washington D.C.
[2] “Butchertown of Oakland Filthy.” The San Francisco Call 7 Mar. 1908, 103rd ed., sec. 98: 10. Print.
[3] O’Brien, Tricia. “Butchertown.” San Francisco’s Bayview Hunters Point. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Pub. 2005. 27-33. Print.
[4] Bowcock, Robert H. Butchertown: A Collage of a San Francisco Institution during 1850-1969. San Francisco, CA: Robert H. Bowcock, 2004. 59. Print.
[5] Sacramento Daily Union. “The Slaughter-House Case.” Sacramento Daily Union 22 Sept. 1884, 52nd ed., sec. 24: 4. Print.
[6] Groth, Paul. “Working, Shopping, and Living Downtown From the 1850’s To 1900: The C.B.D., Cottage Districts, and Slums.” Lecture. American Cultural Landscapes 1600-1900. University of California, Berkeley. 1 Nov. 2013.543. Print.
[7] Robichaud, Andrew, and Erik Steiner. “Trail of Blood: The Movement of San Francisco’s Butchertown and the Spatial Transformation of Meat Production, 1849-1901.” Spatial History Project. Stanford University, 1 Apr. 2010. Web. 1 Dec. 2013.
[8] Walker, Richard. “Industry Builds Out the City: The Suburbanization of Manufacturing In the San Francisco Bay Area 1850-1940.” Manufacturing Suburbs: Building Work and Home on the Metropolitan Fringe. By Robert D. Lewis. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University, 2004. 99. Print.
The working class city 