Empire Tract
{{good article}}
{{Short description|Island in California}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox islands
| name = Empire Tract
| image = File:NASA Worldwind, USGS imagery map, Empire Tract, California.png
| image_size = 200px
| image_caption = USGS aerial imagery of the Empire Tract
| image_alt = Aerial image of an island.
| pushpin_map = United States Sacramento Delta#USA California#USA
| pushpin_label =
| pushpin_label_position =
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_relief =
| pushpin_map_caption =
| coordinates = {{coord|38|03|55|N|121|28|48|W|region:US-CA_source:gnis-223205|display=it|name=Empire Tract|notes=}}
| location = Northern California
| waterbody = Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta
| area_sqmi =
| length_mi =
| length_footnotes =
| width_mi =
| width_footnotes =
| coastline_mi =
| coastline_footnotes =
| elevation_ft = -10
| country = United States
| country_admin_divisions_title = State
| country_admin_divisions = {{flag|California}}
| country_admin_divisions_title_1 = County
| country_admin_divisions_1 = San Joaquin
| country_admin_divisions_title_2 =
| country_admin_divisions_2 =
}}
The Empire Tract is an island in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta in San Joaquin County, California, United States. It has been used for agriculture since the 1800s; in the early 20th century it was used to plant potatoes, and United States president Herbert Hoover operated a beet farm there. In the 1960s, natural gas deposits were discovered beneath the island. In 1936, it was connected to the mainland by the Eight Mile Road Bridge, across King Island. As with many islands in the Delta, the Empire Tract has experienced considerable subsidence, and is well below sea level.
Geography
It is part of San Joaquin County, California, and managed by Reclamation District 2029. Its coordinates are {{coord|38|03|55|N|121|28|48|W|region:US-CA_source:gnis-223205|display=inline|name=Empire Tract|notes=}}, and the United States Geological Survey measured its elevation as {{cvt|-10|ft|m}} in 1981. To the north is Terminous Tract (across White Slough), and to the northwest is Bouldin Island (across Little Potato Slough). To its west is Venice Island (across Little Connection Slough). To its southwest are Little Venice, Ward, Tinsley, and Fern Islands (across the Ward Cut, part of the Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel). To its southeast is the Rindge Tract, separated by Connection Slough, and to its east is King Island, separated by the approximately {{cvt|400|ft}} Honker Cut. The only road access to Empire Tract is the Eight Mile Road Bridge (29C-219), a two-lane bridge built in 1936, connecting to it from King Island. Ferry service runs between Empire Tract and Venice Island.
File:KJ_Delta_Aerials_2530_03_08_19.JPG taken looking south from the Terminous Tract; King Island is on the left and the Empire Tract is on the right.]]
History
In December 1912, Lee A. Philips, a capitalist of Stockton and Los Angeles, purchased several islands in the California Delta, including the Empire Tract, which began to be planted in that year by the Empire Navigation Company. In 1912, {{cvt|1,500|acres}} of barley had been planted on the Empire Tract. By 1913, the company planned to plant the tract with {{cvt|3310|acres}} of potatoes and only {{cvt|400|acres}} of barley.
In a 1923 report on the hydrography of the San Joaquin River, the Empire Tract was measured as having {{cvt|3680|acres}} of land in total, with {{cvt|3361|acres}} irrigated.{{rp|180}} Of these, there were still {{cvt|1973|acres}} of potatoes, but there were also {{cvt|865|acres}} devoted to growing fruit, {{cvt|481|acres}} to beans, and {{cvt|42|acres}} to hay.{{rp|180}} That year, {{cvt|600|acres}} of the tract were farmed by a partnership between Philip Giriodi, D. Stagi, and G. Lazzarino. The next year, Giriodi would file a lawsuit against the others for a dissolution of the partnership, claiming that they had refused to pay him his share of the profits. Two years later, the island was to be owned in its entirety by California Delta Farms, Incorporated. California Delta Farms would continue to own the Empire Tract for some years, but by 1946 the company was dissolved.
File:Hoover men Allan Herbert Sr Andrew 1950 (cropped).jpg
In the 1930s, United States president Herbert Hoover operated "extensive farming property" on the Empire Tract. In 1936, the Hoover Ranch, supervised by his son Allan Hoover, was the site of a "shooting affray" in which two men were killed in a dispute over wages for beets. Between 1931 and 1938, much of the island was devoted to farming sugar beets.{{rp|610}} By the 1950s, planting on the Empire Tract involved asparagus; a lawsuit involving {{cvt|813|acres}} of asparagus farmland was filed in 1955.
In 1955, levee failures on the Empire Tract and nearby Venice Island would cause both to flood; while 75 men were working on the islands at the time, 73 were successfully evacuated by the Army with amphibious vehicles, and two were picked up in helicopters.
In the late 20th century, natural gas deposits were discovered underneath several Delta islands (such as the Union Island gas field and the Rio Vista gas field). The Union Oil Company of California drilled a {{cvt|9400|ft}} exploratory well on the Empire Tract in September 1964, but failed to find oil. The next year, the Signal Oil and Gas Company drilled another well. By 1973, the Union Oil Company was leasing land in the Empire Tract area to extract natural gas.
In 2008, The Modesto Bee published an analysis of the Delta area's subsidence, which gave projections for elevations in the year 2100. The Empire Tract was expected to have the lowest elevation of any island or tract in the Delta, at around {{cvt|30|ft}} below sea level. In 2012, a water treatment plant was finished to divert water from the San Joaquin River for use in farming the Empire Tract; construction had begun in 1996.
= Ferry and bridge =
File:KJ Delta Aerials 2530 03 08 19 (cropped).JPG
Prior to 1936, travel to and from the island was done by boat; in 1926, a ferry was being operated along the same path later taken by the bridge, at the expense of California Delta Farms Incorporated. At that time, the ferry went from easterly King Island (which was itself in the process of being connected to the mainland via a drawbridge); despite "adverse conditions surrounding the operation of the ferry", it was heavily trafficked, and gravel roads on the Empire Tract itself allowed transportation to and from the ferry slip. The construction of a bridge was recommended at the time by a report submitted to the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors that year. A proposal was made for the construction of a county-operated ferry at the same location, whose cost was estimated at $1500 (${{formatprice|{{inflation|US|1500|1926|r=0}}}} in {{inflation/year|US}}). In 1928, a permit for construction of this ferry was approved by the War Department. Contracts for building the ferry were awarded to Bundeson & Lauritzen, shipbuilders of Pittsburg. In 1935, construction began on a bridge to replace the ferry; work was completed the following year, allowing vehicle access to the island outside of the ferry's operational hours. By 1952, USGS maps of the area show the bridge to King Island and the ferry to Venice Island. In 1954, it was reported that the construction of another bridge, connecting an "Empire Tract" to a "Lower Jones Tract" was proposed (it is not clear which islands were being referred to, as the Lower Jones Tract is some {{cvt|5|mi}} south of the Empire Tract and McDonald Island is between them). As of 1999, regular ferry service operated between the Empire Tract and Venice Island.
References
{{reflist|refs=
| url = http://snugharbor.net/images2011/maps/1957_thompson-dissertation.pdf
| title = The Settlement Geography of the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California
| first = John
| last = Thompson
| year = 1957
| publisher = Stanford University
| access-date = 16 June 2021
| archive-date = 24 June 2021
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210624200517/http://snugharbor.net/images2011/maps/1957_thompson-dissertation.pdf
| url-status = live
}}
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86211736/bond-men-visit-phillips-companys/
| date = 11 January 1913
| page = 6
| title = Bond Men Visit Phillips Company's Island Holdings
| newspaper = The Evening Mail
| location = Stockton, California
| via = Newspapers.com
| access-date = 17 November 2021
}}
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86211835/king-bean-in-the-ascendency/
| date = 25 February 1913
| page = 7
| title = King Bean In The Ascendency
| newspaper = Stockton Daily Evening Record
| location = Stockton, California
| via = Newspapers.com
| access-date = 17 November 2021
}}
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86212428/giriodi-sues-for-an-accounting-of-farm/
| date = 29 February 1924
| page = 13
| title = Giriodi Sues For An Accounting Of Farm Partnership
| newspaper = Stockton Daily Evening Record
| location = Stockton, California
| via = Newspapers.com
| access-date = 17 November 2021
}}
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86212175/delta-report-accepted-open-campaign-to/
| date = 30 October 1926
| page = 5
| title = Delta Report Accepted; Open Campaign To Support Roads, Ferries And Bridge
| newspaper = Stockton Independent
| location = Stockton, California
| via = Newspapers.com
| access-date = 17 November 2021
}}
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86212090/union-oil-drills-fifth-producer/
| date = 18 July 1973
| page = 21
| title = Union Oil drills fifth producer
| newspaper = Tracy Press
| location = Tracy, California
| via = Newspapers.com
| access-date = 17 November 2021
}}
| author = United States Geological Survey
| title = United States Department of the Interior Geological Survey
| map = Terminous Quadrangle, California
| year = 1952
| scale = 1:24000
}}
| author = California State Automobile Association
| title = Coast and Valley: Bay Area to Southern California
| year = 2007
| scale = 1:560,000
| publisher = American Automobile Association
}}
| url = https://www.sjgov.org/uploadedfiles/sjc/departments/lafco/msr-soi/final%20san%20joaquin%20reclamation%20%20districts%20msr%20w%20exhibits_v2reduced.pdf
| title = Municipal Service Review: Selected San Joaquin County Reclamation Districts
| last =
| first =
| website = San Joaquin Local Agency Formation Commission
| publisher = E Mulberg & Associates
| date = 18 March 2018
| access-date = 24 February 2021
| quote =
| archive-date = 14 March 2021
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210314171930/https://www.sjgov.org/uploadedfiles/sjc/departments/lafco/msr-soi/final%20san%20joaquin%20reclamation%20%20districts%20msr%20w%20exhibits_v2reduced.pdf
| url-status = live
}}
| url = https://www.sjmap.org/mapdocs/FrontCounter_Reclamation_Districts.pdf
| title = Reclamation Districts Map
| last =
| first =
| website = San Joaquin County Geographic Information Systems
| publisher = San Joaquin County
| date = 16 September 2020
| access-date = 24 February 2021
| quote =
| archive-date = 24 November 2020
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201124001947/http://www.sjmap.org/mapdocs/FrontCounter_Reclamation_Districts.pdf
| url-status = live
}}
| url = https://www.sjgov.org/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=32709
| title = Eight Mile Road Bridge Deck Rehabilitation at Honker Cut
| author = San Joaquin County
| date = 23 June 2020
}}
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89114737/650000-is-paid-for-king-island/
| date = 5 April 1946
| page = 3
| title = $650,000 Is Paid For King Island
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| location = Modesto, California
| via = Newspapers.com
| access-date = 17 November 2021
}}
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=VdNAAQAAIAAJ&dq=%22island%22&pg=RA3-PA181
| title = Hydrographic Investigation of San Joaquin River, May, 1923
| author = California Division of Water Rights
| date = May 1923
| publisher = California State Printing Office, F.J. Smith, Superintendent
| via = Google Books
}}
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89113790/other-suggestions/
| date = 9 November 1926
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| location = Stockton, California
| via = Newspapers.com
| access-date = 17 November 2021
}}
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89114060/notes-of-board-of-supervisors/
| date = 18 February 1928
| page = 11
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| location = Stockton, California
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| access-date = 17 November 2021
}}
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89114133/bay-builders-low-bidders-on-ferries/
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| access-date = 17 November 2021
}}
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89115220/funds-lacking/
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| access-date = 17 November 2021
}}
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89115006/honkey-cut-bridge-job-is-nearly-done/
| date = 1 September 1936
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| location = Stockton, California
| via = Newspapers.com
| access-date = 17 November 2021
}}
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89114594/mike-dwyers-line-on-the-sportsman/
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| access-date = 17 November 2021
}}
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89116043/portraits-of-a-place-and-its-history/
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| title = Portraits of a place – and its history
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| location = Sacramento, California
| via = Newspapers.com
| access-date = 17 November 2021
}}
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89114499/hoover-dedicates-new-school-named-for-hi/
| date = 4 August 1954
| page = 14
| title = Hoover Dedicates New School Named for Him
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| via = Newspapers.com
| access-date = 17 November 2021
}}
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}}
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}}
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| access-date = 17 November 2021
}}
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| access-date = 17 November 2021
}}
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89115382/2-san-joaquin-trial-wells-are-scheduled/
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| title = 2 San Joaquin Trial Wells Are Scheduled
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| access-date = 17 November 2021
}}
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}}
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| access-date = 17 November 2021
}}
| url = http://static.fmgsuite.com/media/documents/0f790bb0-eccc-4524-ae94-15eaabe7bd67.pdf
| title = Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta Recreational Boating Map
| year = 2012
| publisher = Contra Costa County Watershed Program
| first1 = Vivian
| last1 = Matuk
| first2 = Doug
| last2 = Macmillan
| first3 = Christianne
| last3 = Parry
}}
}}
{{Islands of Suisun Bay and the Sacramento–San Joaquin River delta}}
{{San Francisco Bay watershed}}
{{Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta}}
Category:Islands of Northern California