city, Alameda county, California, U.S. It lies on a 6.5-mile- (11-km-) long by 1-mile- (1.6-km-) wide island in San Francisco Bay, across the Oakland Harbor Channel from Oakland, with which it is connected by bridges and underground tunnels. The site was originally a peninsula that was part of Rancho San Antonio. Long the home of the Ohlone Indians, the locality was settled by the Spanish in the 1850s, and its name, which in Spanish means “grove of poplar trees,” was chosen by referendum in 1853. Alameda's growth was stimulated by a ferry service to San Francisco, the building of railroad bridges and terminals, and the establishment of one of the first municipally operated electrical-power plants in the United States. The Tidal Canal (1902) changed Alameda to an island with an industrialized waterfront dominated by shipbuilding, steel fabrication, and lumber milling. Port facilities attracted fishing and cargo vessels, and in 1940 it became the site of a large naval air station (now closed). The city is also home to many high-technology companies, earning it the nickname “Silicon Island.” Alameda was among the first communities in California to choose the council-manager form of government, which was adopted later by most California cities. The College of Alameda opened in 1970. The aircraft carrier USS Hornet, which first saw action in World War II and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1991, is maintained as a floating museum at Alameda Point. Inc. town, 1854; city, 1884. Pop. (1990) 76,459; (2000) 72,259.