Yerba Buena Island sits in the San Francisco Bay between San Francisco and Oakland, California. The Yerba Buena Tunnel runs through its center and connects the western and eastern spans of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. It has had several other names over the decades: Sea Bird Island, Wood Island, and Goat Island. The island may have been named after the pueblo of Yerba Buena, which was named for the plant of the same name that was abundant in the area. The plant's English and Spanish common name, Yerba buena, is an alternate form of the Spanish hierba buena, generally used to describe local species of the mint family.
The island is currently part of District 6 of the City and County of San Francisco. According to the United States Census Bureau, Yerba Buena Island and Treasure Island together have a land area of 2.334 km² with a total population of 2,500 as of the 2010 census.
Today the military reservation southeast of the Yerba Buena Tunnel belongs to the United States Coast Guard District Eleven. The US Coast Guard Sector San Francisco – Vessel Traffic Service tower is located on Signal Road Bldg. 278 atop the peak of the island.