ALAMEDA  , a residential

city of Alameda county, California, U.S.A., on an artificial island about 5 M. long and r m. wide, on the E. side of San Francisco bay, opposite to and about 6 m. from San Francisco, and directly S. of Oakland, from which it is separated by a drainage canal, spanned by bridges . Included within the limits of the city is Bay Farm island, with an area of about 3 sq. m . Pop . (1870) 1557; (1880) 5708;.(1890) 11,165; (1900) 16,464, of whom 4175 were foreign-born; (1910, census) 23,383 . Alameda is, served by the Southern Pacific railway, and is connected by an electric line with Oakland and Berkeley . Its site is low and level and its plan fairly regular . Among the city's manufactures are terra-cotta tiles, pottery, rugs, refrigerators and salt . The city owns and operates the electric-lighting plant; the water-works system is privately owned, and the water supply is obtained from deep wells at San Leandro . A settlement existed here before the end of the Mexican period . In 1854 it was incorporated as a town and in 1885 was chartered as a city . In 1906 the city adopted a freehold charter, centralizing power in the mayor and providing for a referendum . The county was organized in 1853 .