Historically Alameda was a peninsula rich in natural resources, where Native peoples gathered food and materials from bay salt marshes, abundant oak forests, and nearby shorelines. From the early 1800's, the western tip of the peninsula now known as Alameda Point became farmland before becoming an industrial center and ferry and rail transit hub. Alameda became an island in 1902 after completion of a tidal canal proposed to improve tidal flow through the Estuary from San Leandro Bay and deepen the channel for large vessel traffic. For a brief two months in autumn of 1869, Alameda Point was the final terminus of the transcontinental railroad, where rail passengers from across the country boarded the ferry Alameda for the final leg of their journey to San Francisco from workshops of Alfred A. Cohen's San Francisco and Alameda Railroad. In 1936, the City of Alameda sold the western portion of the island and adjacent submerged lands to construct the Naval Air Station, then the largest naval air station in the nation. In 1997, the government decommissioned the Naval Air Station, and since then the land and facilities have become a mixture of civilian uses including new parklands and trails such as a section of the San Francisco Bay Trail.