Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park

We found the museum to be small but very interesting. We had some trouble finding it but we were glad we did.
I would recommend it to anyone interested in the history of the East Bay during WW2, just don’t expect to spend more than about 45 minutes there…

Worth a visit. THe people who work here are so nice too. I overheard some of them teaching a mother and her little girl what’s the best way to dress up like Rosie the Riveter. Definitely coming back!

Was in Richmond and saw the sign for the museum. Wonderful couple of hours looking through the exhibits and watching a film. Both very enjoyable and informative.

I have been to the museum twice now, the first time was with a museum-​adverse husband and the second with my WWII era parents. Both times were quite successful.
My husband and I enjoyed our first visit for about 30 minutes. There was a nice balance of photos, short video, reading and «hands on» activities, as well as lovely displays and sculptural elements to keep us entertained while educating us about WWII ship building activities in general and the effect on the Bay Area and Richmond specifically. The location is also lovely and thought provoking. During this visit we also drove to some of the satellite sites to further immerse ourselves in the local WWII history. A very pleasant couple hours of doing discovering something different in view-​inspired locations.
My parents and I spent about 3 hours in the museum and surrounds as they were interested in everything, including the short videos and the talks by real «Rosies and Roberts» who were there to share stories of their time on the shipyards. Our time was also spent eating at the restaurant next door, Assemble. This restaurant offers very high quality cocktails and food in a unique and upscale environment.

Great park, informative monument, plenty of free parking, miles of beautiful shoreline walking in both directions.

We can do it!
My honey and I took the self-​guided auto tour that begins at the Rosie the Riveter Memorial (
) and then takes you to the Ford Assembly Plant and finally to Shipyard No. 3 and the SS Red Oak Victory ship (
). I thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon history lesson!
You can download the self-​guided auto tour guide online (
) or pick up a hard copy near the Rosie the Riveter Memorial at Marina Bay Park. The guide also includes directions for a walking tour. The auto tour takes between one and four hours, depending on the time you spend at each landmark, if you visit the Visitor’s Center (located at 1414 Harbour Way South, Suite 3000) and if you take a tour of the SS Red Oak Victory. The walking tour takes about 2 hours.
The Memorial is open from dawn to dusk. The Visitor’s Center is open year round from 10:00 am — 5:00 pm, with Ranger Tours at 2:00 pm each day. The SS Red Oak Victory is open Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays and Sundays during the summer, from 10:00 am — 3:00 pm.
More information:
(National Parks Website)
(Rosie the Riveter Trust)
As I already mentioned regarding the Rosie the Riveter Memorial, this is a must visit for locals and visitors to the area.

I love seeing historic sites and parks located in places off the tourist path… and you can’t get much further away from the tourist path than Richmond. It makes this park feel more intimate, like your own little serendipitous discovery.
The park is very well-​kept and pays tribute to Richmond’s WWII history in a dignified way. I wish there were more sites like this around the museum-​deficient Bay Area.

This is the first national monument or park that I have been to that has not been on land owned by the National Park Service. All of the structures within the park are part of the City of Richmond. The current visitor’s center is at the Richmond City Hall lobby.
This is a great place to go to learn about World War II and Richmond, CA role in the World War II Home Front. I really wasn’t familiar with the history of Richmond prior to visiting this national historic park. Richmond was home to over 56 war industries and during that time the population of the city grew from 24,000 people to 100,000 people (as people were recruited by Kaiser) in 3 years.
The park monuments talked not only about Americans uniting during this time but also the large role that gender and racial discrimination played. The national historic park doesn’t try to sugar coat anything. The quotes, letters, and pictures are all very telling of what it was like during that time. It talked of how hypocrisy was being dealt with on the home front and how jobs were finally being created for woman and people of color, but how wages were very unequal. Obviously this isn’t any new information, but it was nice to see everything displayed so beautifully and factually. Much more interesting than reading it in a history book.
Aside from the Rosie the Riveter section, there is the WW I Kaiser Shipyard. This shipyard produced over 747 ships from 1941 to 1945. Another place to visit is the Ford Assembly Plant. Up until WW II, the Ford Assembly Plant produced cars, but during the war, President Roosevelt banned automobile production for civilians and this plant instead produced tanks and jeeps. Shipyard #3 & SS Red Oak Victory Ship is another stop. There I learned the ships were built in as quickly as 5 DAYS (the SS Robert E. Peary Liberty Ship) rather than the year it took to make ships of a similar size prior to the war. The SS Red Oak Victory Ship is still being restored. It was not open on the day I visited (it’s only open Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 3pm).
Several more sites are supposed to open to the public in the future including the Kaiser Hospital, Maritime and Ruth Powers Child Development Center, and Atchison Village.
Definitely worth a visit if you are interested in the history of the area during WW II.

Before you go, print the «Self Guided Auto Tour» pamphlet online at:
Copies are also available in the temporary visitor’s center in the Richmond City Hall lobby.
This National Historic Site is actually a collection of public parks and historic buildings. The Rosie the Riveter Memorial at the Richmond Marina features pictures, letters, and quotes from women who worked in ship building during the war. A short walk away is the Ford Factory, a fabulous huge building, now being converted into some sort of mall and inaccessible to the public. I was surprised by how beautiful and peaceful the whole marina area was.
Shipyard 3 is in another location with multiple buildings including a large warehouse. At Shipyard 3, there is the Red Oak Victory ship, built in the Richmond Shipyard during the war. It is in the process of being restored by volunteers. Getting to Shipyard 3 and the Red Oak require driving through a very industrial section of Richmond, which was cool too.

A peaceful and scenic spot with lots of great history. Good place for bike-​riding or picnicking.

We got to check out the Rosie the Riveter Memorial before my guided trip to Brooks Island since it was on the way.
First time there, the memorial is pretty cool. So more than 16 million American men & women were in the military during WW2, many millions were on the Home Front-​in factories, hospitals & schools. These women were known as «Rosies» after a popular song of the day «Rosie the Riveter».
You can read many of their stories on the Memorial and the sidewalk near the Memorial.
This is a FREE National Historic Park that everyone should check out once. It takes maybe minimum 15 minutes to see it.
Still for me to find & see in Richmond regarding Rosie the Riveter NHS:
SS Red Oak Victory
Whirley Crane
Richmond Shipyard No. 3
Lucretia Edwards Park — stopped at briefing to take some pics
Ford Assembly Plant Building
Sheridan Observation Point — took some pics
Barbara & Jay Vincent Park
Shimada Peace Memorial Park
SF Bay Trail Esplanade Wayside Exhibits
Kaiser Field Hospital

The Rosie the Riveter Park actually takes up the entire Marina park area. You will find stories about the tremendous changes that occurred in this country during World War II at various stations. Very educational, but not overwhelming, and a great afternoon for the kids. On one end of the marina is Amini’s Deli (and store) where you can sandwich up and Salute restaurant if you want to sit down to eat. In the middle of the marina is the Rosie monument and the outer tip is a great playground at Lucretia Edwards park.
The views are wonderful and there are plenty of tables and bbqs set up for a nice group thing on the bay. It’s connected to the Bay Trail that so you can also bike in from Berkely.
The marina area is lovely and well paved for the stroller, wheelchair set. Early evening is delightful and you can find many families out strolling on weekdays. Weekends get busier but never crowded. It can get windy and cold at times, so be prepared.
The City of Richmond holds their fourth of July fireworks here on the third of July (long story). The traffic’s a little crazy but it’s a nice low key way to ring in the forth without being packed in like sardines.

No matter what you may think of the City of Richmond, you’ll appreciate this memorial honoring women who contributed to the war effort on the home front.
Rosie the Riveter Memorial Park is located on the actual site of the Kaiser Shipyards, which were the largest and most productive of World War II. Women made up 27% of the 100,000 Richmond Kasier shipyard workforce.
The website
will give you detailed information about the 6 million «Rosies» and specific information about this memorial in Richmond.
The memorial is still a work in progress. The memorial is a somewhat abstract design of a ship. The «mast» contains photos of the Rosies and the sidewalk contains quotations from various women.
This memorial may not be a destination place if you don’t live nearby, but it is a moving tribute to a somewhat forgotten piece of history.
NOTE: There is a nearby historic site SS Red Victory Ship, but we weren’t able to see it, despite going there during «open» hours. Update to follow.

The actual name of this site is Rosie the Riveter/​World War II Home Front National Historic Park. Out of all of the Natl. Park sites in the Bay Area, this is one of the newer and therefore one of the least interactive. This waterfront park was established as a memorial site for the female work force during WWII. The park isn’t very big, but easy to navigate. What space they do have is beautifully designed, and has a nice open feel to it.