Port Chicago
A historical populated place in Contra Costa County, California, recorded by the U.S. Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System.
Location Record
Names and historical notes
Recorded by GNIS. Source wording is retained; these notes have not been independently verified by Forgotten America.
GNIS historical note
Located about 1.5 miles from the Port Chicago piers, at which an explosion on July 17, 1944, destroyed two ships, severely damaged another ship located 1500 feet away, killed 320 people, destroyed the pier, a locomotive and boxcars. Controversy still surrounds the incident. The United States Navy purchased the town after the explosion. (US-T121)
Also recorded as
- Bay Point
Source editions and recorded citations
Feature ID 1659423. Description/History extract: August 28, 2026. All Names extract: September 30, 2026. Retrieved October 22, 2026. Only populated fields are displayed.
GNIS citation text may identify a source series rather than a specific page. It is reproduced below without implying that its underlying documents were inspected.
- Map U.S. Geological Survey 1981-12-31 00:00:00 Geographic Names Phase I data compilation (1976-1981) Primarily from U.S. Geological Survey 1:24,000-scale topographic maps (or 1:25K, Puerto Rico 1:20K) and from U.S. Board on Geographic Names files.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), Historical Features.