When constructed in the late 1880’s, the Treadwell machine shop was the most modern machine shop north of San Francisco. It was a long, narrow building that dominated the wharf and was equipped with state-of-the art metalworking lathes, tools, and equipment. Skilled machinists serviced and repaired large pieces of machinery – locomotives, ore cars, and anything mechanical. Offered more outside work than it could handle, the shop also repaired the machinery of cannery tenders, commercial vessels, and boats of the U.S. Coast Guard.