Beginning in the late 19th century, Judson Powder Works manufactured dynamite at the northwest foot of the hill. The company had been forced to move from San Francisco and then nearby Fleming Point in Berkeley because of continuing accidental explosions. The eucalyptus trees now on the hill were planted by the dynamite manufacturers to catch debris and muffle sound of these explosions. The stop on the transcontinental railroad tracks just to the west was called Nobel Station, after the inventor of dynamite.