Dashing Dungeness Dreams

The delayed start of crab season in the San Francisco Bay Area due to toxins from an algae bloom has denizens of the delicious Dungeness near tears. Late fall crab feeds are practically part of the DNA of many northern Californians.

Historically Native Californians up and down the coast either boiled their crab catches in sand pits or broiled them over open fires. The commercial fishing industry began in the San Francisco at the time of the Gold Rush in the late 1840s, and by the 1860s a nascent crab industry was being operated from Meiggs’ commercial Wharf in San Francisco. Over time, the industry moved northwest along the Bay toward today’s Fisherman’s Wharf.

While we await the arrival of our succulent pincered friends, we thought we would tantalize taste buds with crab-laden menus of yore from the CHS Collections. We feel your pain.

Alison Moore
Strategic Initiatives Liaison
amoore@calhist.org