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Skaggs Island

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Geography
Location	Northern California
Coordinates	38°11′25″N 122°23′39″W / 38.1903615°N 122.39409°W / 38.1903615; -122.39409
Adjacent to	San Pablo Bay
Administration
United States
State	California

Skaggs Island Naval Communication Station is a former United States Navy installation located near California State Route 37 between Novato and Vallejo, California. It was a secretive, secure, and self-contained naval base, engaged in a number of communications and intelligence gathering functions for the Navy and other federal intelligence organizations. The 3,310-acre (13.4 km) site was purchased by the Navy in 1941, and closed in 1993. The antennas continued to be used for some time after that, but by 2013 they were removed along with all of the remaining buildings.

Skaggs Island

Skaggs Island was once a thriving tidal marsh next to San Pablo Bay. It is part of the Pacific Flyway for migratory birds and was used extensively by Native Americans until the 1800s, when federal legislation allowed the State of California to fill in wetlands. Senator John P. Jones, of Nevada, purchased 10,000 acres (40 km) for development by his brother. Chinese laborers, freed from railroad building work, were employed to construct levees to control flooding by Sonoma Creek. The area became a diked wetland area, converted to hay farms and salt ponds, before becoming a United States Navy electronic communications station between 1942 and 1993. The VORTAC radio navigation beacon (Identifier: SGD. Frequency: 112.10 MHz) remains operational. It is a medium-power facility, used by aircraft for low-level enroute navigation.

On March 31, 2011, Skaggs Island became part of the 13,000-acre (53 km) San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge, created in 1974 to protect migratory birds, wetland habitat and endangered species.

Skaggs Island was named for Marion Barton Skaggs, who financially helped the struggling Sonoma Land Company during the depression of the 1930s.

See also

• Two Rock
• AN/FRD-10, a High-frequency direction finding system at NSGA Skaggs Island during the cold war.

References

Footnotes

1. Sucheng Chan, Jeff Gillenkirk and James Motlow, Bitter Melon: Inside America's Last Rural Chinese Town, Heyday Books (1997), p. 19. ISBN 0-930588-58-4
2. ^ "Fifty Years in the Making". Naval Security Group Activity Skaggs Island Decommissioning Ceremony. June 18, 1993. p. 2. Retrieved July 18, 2020 – via Navy CT / SECGRU History.
3. "SGD Scaggs Island VORTAC". PilotNav. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
4. Peter Fimrite, "Skaggs Island: Ex-Navy base to wildlife service", San Francisco Chronicle (March 18 2011)

Sources

• "Skaggs Island". The Center for Land Use Interpretation. Retrieved May 26, 2011.

v t e Map: Islands of the San Francisco Bay Area

AlamedaAlcatrazAngelBairBay FarmBelvedereBird I.BrooksThe BrothersCastro RocksCoast GuardCorinthianGrecoGull R.HogHooksKent (off map)MareMussel RockRat RockRed R.San Pedro RockSeal RocksSeal RockThe SistersTreasureMarinYerba BuenaSkaggsStrawberryDrawbridge (islands of Suisun Bay and the Sacramento–San Joaquin River delta)BrewerBull (off map)BurdellCoonDayDeerEdgerlyGreen#1#2KnightLittleNeilsRussTubbsWoodBirdAramburuOgilvieSilvaSimmsJakesNewbyRichardson

v t e San Francisco Bay watershed
Outline	Hydrography Ecology List of tributaries List of lakes
Subdivisions	Major San Francisco Bay Suisun Bay San Pablo Bay Minor Golden Gate Grizzly Bay Richardson Bay San Rafael Bay Richmond Inner Harbor San Leandro Bay Former Yerba Buena Cove Mission Bay
Waterways	Rivers San Joaquin Sacramento Napa Guadalupe Petaluma Creeks (discharging into the Bay) Alameda Baxter Cerrito Codornices Coyote (Santa Clara) Coyote (Marin) San Leandro San Lorenzo Schoolhouse Temescal Sausal Redwood San Mateo Sonoma Corte Madera Arroyo Corte Madera del Presidio San Rafael Miller Novato Tolay San Francisquito Pacheco Alhambra Adobe Rodeo Refugio Pinole Garrity Rheem Karlson San Pablo Castro Wildcat Fluvius Innominatus Marin (Alameda County) Strawberry Easton Mission Creek Reservoirs Calaveras Reservoir Lafayette Reservoir Straits and estuaries Clifton Court Forebay Carquinez Strait Oakland Estuary Raccoon Strait Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel Watersheds Laguna Creek Watershed Guadalupe watershed
Parks and protected areas	Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge Eden Landing Ecological Reserve Hayward Regional Shoreline Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center Crown Memorial State Beach McLaughlin Eastshore State Park Emeryville Crescent State Marine Reserve Point Isabel Regional Shoreline César Chávez Park Brooks Island Regional Preserve Point Pinole Regional Shoreline Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge Coyote Point Recreation Area Middle Harbor Shoreline Park National Estuarine Research Reserve China Camp State Park San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park SF Bay Trail Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline Big Break Regional Shoreline Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve
Islands and peninsulas	Major islands Alameda Alcatraz Angel Treasure Island Yerba Buena Minor Brooks Bair Bay Farm Belvedere Brother Castro Rocks Coast Guard Greco Hooks Island Mare Red Rock The Sisters Marin Islands Roe Ryer Seal Islands Peninsulas/infill Albany Bulb Brisbane Baylands Point Isabel Foster City Fleming Point Hunters Point Sierra Point Steamboat Point
Wetlands	Baylands Belmont Chelsea Cordelia Crissy Field Hoffman Meeker Mowry Napa Sonoma Point Molate Salt ponds Seal Stege Steinberger Suisun Westpoint
Bridges and tubes	Bridges San Francisco–Oakland Eastern span replacement Richmond–San Rafael San Mateo–Hayward Dumbarton Dumbarton Rail Bridge (inactive) Golden Gate Benicia–Martinez Antioch Carquinez Leimert Park Street Fruitvale High Street Bay Farm Island Tubes Posey/Webster Street Transbay
Ferries	Angel Island–Tiburon Ferry Blue & Gold Fleet Golden Gate Ferry San Francisco Bay Ferry (WETA)
Ports and marinas	Port of San Francisco Oakland Seaport Port of Richmond Hunters Point Naval Shipyard Mare Island Naval Shipyard Port of Redwood City Berkeley Marina Oyster Point Marina/Park Westpoint Harbor Foster City Marina (proposed)
Other	History Delta and Dawn Discovery Site Humphrey the Whale San Leandro Oyster Beds Richmond Shipyards U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Bay Model Harold Gilliam Marincello Ecology Golden Gate Biosphere Reserve Cosco Busan oil spill Thicktail chub Delta smelt Conservation and Development Commission The Watershed Project Save The Bay Citizens for East Shore Parks Friends of Five Creeks Urban Creeks Council 1971 oil spill Greenbelt Alliance The Bay Institute Reber Plan San Francisco Baykeeper San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science Estuary Partnership Transportation Water Trail Transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area
Portal Category

• Communications and electronic installations of the United States Navy
• Installations of the United States Navy in California
• Military installations closed in the 1990s
• Islands of Sonoma County, California
• Islands of Northern California
• San Pablo Bay
• Wetlands of the San Francisco Bay Area
• National Wildlife Refuges in California
• Protected areas of Sonoma County, California
• Protected areas established in 2011
• Islands of the San Francisco Bay Area
• Closed installations of the United States Navy
• 1941 establishments in California
• 1993 disestablishments in California