Ferries of San Francisco Bay

Not to be confused with San Francisco Bay Ferry.

San Francisco Bay in California has been served by ferries of all types for over 150 years. John Reed established a sailboat ferry service in 1826.[1] Although the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge led to the decline in the importance of most ferries, some are still in use today for both commuters and tourists.

The Southern Pacific Company's Bay City ferry plies the waters of San Francisco Bay in the late 19th century.

The Creek Route ferries

Contra Costa, in the foreground, was one of the earliest ferries built expressly for trans-bay service. Capital, in the background, formerly a Sacramento River steamboat, served the route from 1876 to 1896. Both were built by John Gunder North.

One of the earliest ferry routes ran between San Francisco and Oakland on what was called the "creek route". The name derived from the Oakland landing site located at the foot of Broadway where Jack London Square is today, fronting on what is today called the Oakland Estuary, an inlet of San Francisco Bay. The estuary, which in the 1800s included what is today's Lake Merritt, was the "creek". In 1851,[2] Captain Thomas Gray, grandfather of the famous dancer Isadora Duncan, began the first regular ferry service to San Francisco from the East Bay. [3] Service started with the stern-wheel Sacramento River packet General Sutter[2] and the small iron steam ferry Kangaroo.[4] Service was augmented in 1852 by Caleb Cope, the small ferry Hector powered by a steam sawmill engine, and the river packets Jenny Lind and Boston. Boston burned that year and was replaced first by William Brown's San Joaquin River packet Erastus Corning and then by Charles Minturn's river packet Red Jacket. In 1853, Minturn formed the Contra Costa Steam Navigation Company and had the ferry Clinton built expressly for trans-bay service. A second ferry, Contra Costa began operating over the route in 1857.[2] Contra Costa Steam Navigation Company acquired San Antonio Steam Navigation Company with ferries San Antonio and Oakland by merger before being purchased by the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad (SF&O) in 1865.[5]

Railroad ferries

Central Pacific ferry El Capitan was the largest ferry on San Francisco Bay when built in 1868.[5]

The first railroad ferries on San Francisco Bay were established by the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad and the San Francisco and Alameda Railroad (SF&A) which were taken over by the Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) in 1870 to become an integral part of the First Transcontinental Railroad. The earliest railroad ferries ran from Oakland Point and from Alameda Terminal when Alameda was still a peninsula. The ferry pier at Oakland Point was greatly enlarged to form the Oakland Long Wharf. These railroad ferries mostly carried passengers, not trains, although there was some ferrying of freight cars to San Francisco. When the Central Pacific re-routed the Sacramento to Oakland segment of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1876, a ferry across the Carquinez Strait was established, and the world's largest ferryboat, the Solano was built (later joined by a sister ferry, the slightly larger Contra Costa), to serve the crossing. This railroad ferry actually carried whole trains. These ferries became part of the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) when it assumed many of the facilities of its affiliate, the Central Pacific. These large train ferries were idled when a railway bridge was completed over the Carquinez Strait in 1930.

The Key System transit company established its own ferry service in 1903 between the Ferry Building in San Francisco and its own pier and wharf ("mole") on the Oakland shoreline, located just south of what is today the eastern approach to the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge.

Ferries began serving north bay rail connections with the Petaluma and Haystack Railroad in 1864. San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad (SF&NP) and Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railroad (P&SR) [6] ferries connected Petaluma River landing locations with San Francisco. North Pacific Coast Railroad (NPC) ferries connected Sausalito[7] with San Francisco, and SF&NP ferries later sailed from Tiburon. Some of these ferries operated on Northwestern Pacific Railroad (NWP) schedules from 1907 to 1938.[8]

The Napa Valley Railroad established service in 1865 and connected with ferry boat service in Vallejo, California. Monticello Steamship Company began operating ferries between Vallejo and San Francisco in 1895, and began coordinating with train schedules in 1905. Golden Gate Ferry Company gained control of Monticello in 1927 and, after merging with Southern Pacific, discontinued ferry service to Vallejo in 1937.[9]

Santa Fe and Western Pacific (WP) both ran passenger ferries connecting their east bay terminals to San Francisco; but both discontinued ferry service in 1933. Southern Pacific maintained a dominant position in Bay ferry service by gaining control of the South Pacific Coast Railroad (SPC) ferries in 1887,[10] the Northwestern Pacific ferries in 1929,[11] and the Petaluma and Santa Rosa ferries in 1932.[12] After the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge opened in 1936 and 1937, Southern Pacific passenger ferry service was reduced to three routes: San Francisco to Oakland Pier, San Francisco to Alameda Pier, and Hyde Street to Sausalito. Service to Sausalito was suspended in 1938 by order of the State Railroad Commission, and the last ferry to Alameda ran in 1939. Many of the large passenger ferries were idled until World War II, when they were mobilized by the federal government to transport military personnel around the bay and shipyard workers from San Francisco to Marinship and Richmond Shipyards. The last Southern Pacific ferry ran between Oakland and San Francisco on 29 July 1958.[13]

Auto ferries

Although earlier ferries had carried teams and wagons, Melrose was launched in 1909 as the first San Francisco Bay ferry built with an unobstructed lower deck specifically intended for automobiles, and an upper deck for passengers. Southern Pacific ferries Melrose and Thoroughfare were designated to carry automobiles to and from San Francisco on the original Creek Route in 1911. Southern Pacific built new facilities to shift auto routing to the Oakland Pier in 1921 and purchased three new Six Minute ferries. In 1922, Golden Gate Ferry Company (GG) began transporting automobiles between Hyde Street Pier in San Francisco and Sausalito in Marin County. Southern Pacific purchased three more auto ferries with a ferry route linking San Francisco with a Richmond, California connection to the Lincoln Highway in 1925. Golden Gate established another route between Hyde Street and Berkeley Pier in 1927. Southern Pacific built six diesel-electric ferries and gained control of Golden Gate's Golden-prefix ferries to form the subsidiary Southern Pacific-Golden Gate Company in 1929. Another auto ferry pier operated at the foot of Broadway. Southern Pacific-Golden Gate auto ferries ceased operation shortly after the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge opened. A few of the larger ferries were purchased by the Richmond-San Rafael Ferry Company to shuttle automobiles between Richmond and San Rafael, but most were sold for use in Puget Sound. The surviving auto ferries were idled when the Richmond–San Rafael Bridge opened in 1956.[14]

Air ferries

In 1914, a short-lived seaplane ferry ran between San Francisco and Oakland. From 1930 to 1933, a more successful transbay seaplane ferry was operated by Air Ferries Ltd. It ran from Pier 5 on the San Francisco waterfront to a shoreline barge docked at the foot of Franklin Street along the Oakland Estuary. It also operated between San Francisco and Vallejo. A fatal accident in 1933 put an end to the service.[15]

During the 1960s, SFO Helicopter transported passengers to and from the San Francisco and Oakland airports from various locales around the bay including the San Francisco waterfront and the Berkeley Marina.

Rebirth of ferries

With the building of the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge in the 1930s, the ferries went into a period of rapid decline. But as the population grew, the demand for ferries returned.

Ferry service from Marin County (discontinued in 1941) to San Francisco resumed in 1970.[16]

Ferry services from Vallejo to SF (discontinued in 1937) was resumed by Vallejo Transit in June 1986.[17]

Ferry service from Alameda and Oakland (discontinued in 1958) resumed immediately after the 1989 earthquake when the original Bay Bridge was damaged.

Harbor Bay Isle ferry service (from Bay Farm Island) began in 1992.

In 1999 the California Legislature established the San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority.

In 2007 Vallejo and Alameda ferry service consolidated under the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA).

Ferry service from San Mateo County (this time from South San Francisco/Oyster Point) to San Francisco resumed in 2012.

Ferries ran from northern San Jose to San Francisco in 1853[18] but this service has not been restarted, due to excessive silt around Alviso.

Ferries today

The largest ferry system on San Francisco Bay today is operated by Blue & Gold Fleet. Others include Red & White Fleet, Harbor Bay Ferry and Golden Gate Transit. Modern high speed ferryboats of this commuter system run between the Ferry Building in San Francisco and landings in Sausalito, Tiburon and Larkspur in Marin County.

Other commuter ferries, all owned by the Water Emergency Transit Authority (WETA) under the name San Francisco Bay Ferry, run from the city of Alameda and Jack London Square in Oakland (formerly run by Oakland-Alameda Ferry), Bay Farm Island/Alameda (formerly run by Harbor Bay Ferry) and Vallejo to the Ferry Building in San Francisco (formerly run by Baylink Ferry).

Tourist ferries run from pier 33 to Alcatraz Island, and from Fisherman's Wharf and Tiburon to Angel Island (seasonally).

List of ferryboats on San Francisco Bay

Past

Name[19] Operator In Service[19] Retired Gross Tons[19] Length (feet)[19] Horse- power[19] Notes
Alameda SF&A / CPRR / SP 1866 1898 813 193 350 side-wheel passenger ferry
Alameda SP 1914 1943 2302 273 2500 side-wheel passenger ferry; sold to USN as YHB-25 after wartime shipyard service[19]
Alvira Davie 1889 1916 469 144 200 stern-wheel passenger ferry
Amador CPRR / SP 1869 1904 985 199 300 side-wheel passenger ferry
Antelope SF&NP 1871 1888 581 202 side-wheel passenger ferry built 1848[8]
Bay City SPC / SP 1878 1929 1283 230 800 side-wheel passenger ferry
Berkeley SP 1898 1958 1945 261 1450 passenger ferry
Boston Gray 1852 1852
Bridgit Sacramento Northern Railway 1913 1914 186 freight car ferry
Caleb Cope Gray 1852 1852
Calistoga Monticello / GG / SP 1907 1939 2680 298 2600 built as Florida; rebuilt as auto ferry in 1927; sold to USN as YFB-21[19]
Capital CPRR / SP 1876 1896 1989 277 900 side-wheel passenger ferry: Steamboat built in 1866 by John Gunder North for the California Steam Navigation Company; on the Sacramento - San Francisco run until 1876.[20]:125
Cazadero NS / NWP 1903 1941 1682 257 1600 converted to barge in 1941[7]
City of Long Beach [21]
City of Sacramento Monticello / GG / SP 1918 1941 3016 297 5900 auto ferry; sold to Puget Sound Navigation; requisitioned for wartime shipyard service to Richmond yard 2[22]
Clinton Contra Costa / NPC 1853 1877 194 128 125 side-wheel passenger ferry; sunk in collision in 1877;[7] built by Domingo Marcucci[23]:15
Contra Costa Contra Costa / SF&A / NPC 1857 1882 449 170 150 side-wheel passenger ferry,[7] built by John G. North[24]:127–128,135
Contra Costa SP 1914 1930 Carquinez Strait train ferry
El Capitan CPRR / SP 1868 1925 982 194 250 side-wheel passenger ferry
El Paso SP / Richmond-San Rafael 1924 1956 1953 234 1400 auto ferry transferred from SP service in 1938
Encinal SP 1888 1930 2014 245 1000 side-wheel passenger ferry
Erastus Corning Brown 1852 1852 [2]
Eureka NWP / SP 1922 1957 2420 277 1500 rebuilt from Ukiah as side-wheel passenger ferry;[7] preserved at San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park[7]
Feather River WP 1913 1933 1578 218 2500 built as Edward T. Jeffery; sold to SP as Sierra Nevada in 1933[25]
Fresno SP 1927 1940 2468 243 1800 diesel auto ferry
Garden City SPC / SP 1879 1929 1080 208 625 side-wheel passenger ferry
USAT General Frank M. Coxe United States Army 1922 1947 539 144 military personnel ferry
General Frisbie Monticello 1901 1927 passenger ferry[9]
General Sutter Gray 1851 1852 [2]
Gold P&SR 1903 1920 334 140 200 stern-wheel passenger & freight ferry built in 1883; burned 8 November 1920[6]
Gold P&SR / NWP 1921 1935 317 155 150 stern-wheel passenger & freight ferry built as Fort Bragg in 1899[6]
Golden Age GG / SP 1928 1937 779 227 1200 diesel auto ferry
Golden Bear GG / SP 1927 1937 779 227 1200 diesel auto ferry
Golden Coast GG / SP 1903 1937 616 175 1200 auto ferry built as Yerba Buena; then Harry E. Speas[19]
Golden Dawn Key /GG / SP 1905 1937 612 180 2000 former Key System passenger ferry San Francisco rebuilt as auto ferry[19]
Golden Era Key / GG / SP 1908 1937 673 194 2000 former Key System passenger ferry Fernwood rebuilt as auto ferry[19]
Golden Gate GG / SP 1922 1937 598 207 1300 diesel auto ferry
Golden Poppy GG / SP 1927 1937 779 227 1200 diesel auto ferry
Golden Shore GG / SP 1927 1937 779 227 1200 diesel auto ferry
Golden State GG / SP 1926 1937 780 227 1200 diesel auto ferry
Golden Way Key / GG / SP 1907 1937 1138 189 2000 former Key System passenger ferry Claremont rebuilt as auto ferry[19]
Golden West GG / SP 1923 1937 594 214 1300 diesel auto ferry
Grace Barton Whitney 1890 1916 194 100 60 stern-wheel passenger ferry
Hayward Key 1945 requisitioned for wartime shipyard service
Hector Gray 1852 1852 [2]
James M. Donahue SF&NP / NWP 1875 1921 730 228 side-wheel passenger ferry[8]
Jenny Lind Gray 1850 1853 61 [24]:139 [2] Wrecked by an explosion in April 13, 1853.[24]:139
Kangaroo Gray 1851 1852 [2]
Klamath SP / Richmond-San Rafael 1924 1956 1952 234 1300 auto ferry transferred from SP service in 1938
Lagunitas NS / NWP 1903 1921 767 280 400 stern-wheel freight car ferry[7]
Las Plumas WP 1957 diesel railcar ferry
Lake Tahoe SP 1927 1940 2468 243 1800 diesel auto ferry
Louise SF&O / CPRR 1870 1877 368 148 125 side-wheel passenger ferry
Mare Island Berkeley 1870 1877 338 124 125 side-wheel passenger ferry
Marin SF&NP / NWP 1909 1934 101 97 passenger ferry built as Requa and renamed after repairing fire damage in 1911[8]
Melrose SP 1909 1931 2662 273 1340 side-wheel auto ferry
Mendocino NWP 1927 1939 2467 243 1800 diesel auto ferry
Napa Valley Monticello / GG / SP 1910 1940 2185 231 2600 auto ferry
Newark SPC / SP 1877 1923 1783 268 1200 side-wheel passenger ferry rebuilt as Sacramento in 1923[19]
New Orleans SP 1924 1938 1952 234 1400 auto ferry sold as Russian River in 1938
Oakland San Antonio / Contra Costa / SF&O / CPRR 1859 1874 418 200 side-wheel passenger ferry
Oakland CPRR / SP 1875 1940 1672 265 200 side-wheel passenger ferry built as a side-wheel steamboat Chrysopolis in 1860, by John G. North;[19] rebuilt as a double ended ferry-boat in 1875 by Patrick Henry Tiernan;[26]:151 destroyed by fire in 1940.[24]:34–40, 136, 142
Ocean Wave Santa Fe 1901 1933
Peralta 1857 1857 [27]
Peralta Key 1926 1933 passenger ferry; burned 6 May 1933
Petaluma P&SR 1884 1914 264 135 250 stern-wheel passenger & freight ferry built as Resolute in 1884; burned 22 March 1914[6]
Petaluma P&SR / NWP 1914 1935 448 148 250 stern-wheel passenger & freight ferry built in 1914 using the engine of the burned ferry Petaluma[6]
Piedmont SP 1883 1940 1854 257 257 side-wheel passenger ferry
Ramon Sacramento Northern 1954 600 freight car ferry[28]
Ranger Chipman & Aughinbaugh 1853 1854 29 passenger ferry destroyed by boiler explosion 8 January 1854
Red Jacket Minturn 1852 1857 [2]
Redwood Empire NWP 1927 1939 2470 243 1800 diesel auto ferry
Rosalie Davie 1893 318 137 350 passenger ferry
Russian River Richmond-San Rafael 1938 1956 1952 234 1400 former auto ferry New Orleans purchased in 1938
Sacramento SP 1923 1954 2254 268 1400 side-wheel passenger ferry rebuilt from Newark in 1923[19]
San Antonio San Antonio / Contra Costa / SF&O 1858 1871 659 side-wheel passenger ferry
San Jose Key
San Leandro Key / SP 1923 1958 1653 225 1325 passenger ferry requisitioned for wartime shipyard service and then to United States Army[29]
San Mateo SP 1922 1940 1782 217 1400 auto ferry
San Pablo Santa Fe 1900 1933 1535 passenger ferry[30]
San Pedro Santa Fe 1911 1933 1720 passenger ferry; became USN YFB-46[30]
San Rafael NPC 1877 1901 692 220 side-wheel passenger ferry sunk in collision in 1901[7]
Santa Clara SP 1915 1945 2282 273 2500 side-wheel passenger ferry requisitioned for wartime shipyard service to Marinship
Santa Rosa NWP 1927 1939 2465 243 1800 diesel auto ferry
Saucelito NPC 1877 1884 692 220 side-wheel passenger ferry burned at San Quentin in 1884[7]
Sausalito NPC / NS / NWP 1894 1932 1766 256 1200 side-wheel freight car and passenger ferry[7]
Sehome Monticello 1909 1918 passenger ferry built as stern-wheel Mountain Queen in 1877; rebuilt with side-wheel propulsion in 1889; rebuilt with propeller in 1914; sunk in collision with General Frisbie[9]
Shasta SP 1922 1940 1782 217 1400 auto ferry
Sierra Nevada SP / Richmond-San Rafael 1933 1956 1578 218 2500 formerly WP passenger ferry Feather River purchased 1933; requisitioned for wartime shipyard service to Richmond yard 1; converted to auto ferry when sold by SP in 1947
Solano CPRR / SP 1879 1930 484 Carquinez Strait train ferry
Sophie MacLane SF&A 1858 1864 242 148 side-wheel passenger ferry
Stockton SP 1927 1940 2467 243 1800 diesel auto ferry
Tamalpais NPC 1857 1900 365 150 side-wheel passenger ferry built as Petaluma of Saucelito[7]
Tamalpais NPC / NS / NWP 1901 1941 1631 245 1800 side-wheel passenger ferry; sold to USN in 1941 as floating barracks at Mare Island[7]
Telephone WP 1912 1913 [25]
Thoroughfare CPRR / SP 1871 1909 1012 248 400 side-wheel freight car ferry
Thoroughfare SP 1912 1935 2604 273 1300 side-wheel auto ferry
Tiburon SF&NP / NWP 1884 1925 1248 240 side-wheel passenger ferry[8]
Transit CPRR / SP 1875 1934 1566 314 500 side-wheel freight car ferry
Washoe SF&O / CPRR 1864 1878 580 250 side-wheel passenger ferry
Yerba Buena Key requisitioned for wartime shipyard service to Richmond yard 3 and then to United States Army
Yosemite SP 1923 1939 1782 217 1400 auto ferry

Present

Golden Gate Ferry Sonoma, approaching the Ferry Building in San Francisco

Old Ferries, New Locales

Several ferries that had seen service on San Francisco Bay were relocated after the bay bridges were built. Yosemite was sold to the Argentina-Uruguayan Navigation Touring Company, renamed Argentina, and served a route crossing the Rio de la Plata. Seventeen were purchased by the Puget Sound Navigation Company:[19]

Golden West was promptly resold to San Diego and renamed North Island for service between San Diego and Coronado. Golden Bear was salvaged for parts after being damaged when a towline parted off the Oregon coast on 15 November 1937. The others went on to serve in the waters of northwestern Washington and southwestern British Columbia. After serving seven years as Elwha, Golden Shore was sold to San Diego in 1944 and renamed Silver Strand on the San Diego-Coronado route.[19] The City of Sacramento operated on the Seattle-Bremerton route in the 1940s, then on the Horseshoe Bay-Nanaimo route from 1952 to 1963 as the MV Kahloke, and finally on the Horseshoe Bay-Langdale route from 1964 to 1976 as the MV Langdale Queen. The Peralta, rebuilt as the MV Kalakala, operated on various Puget Sound crossings and on the Seattle-Victoria-Port Angeles route. The City of Long Beach, renamed the City of Angeles, operated out of Port Angeles and the Stockton, which became the Klickitat, operated on the Keystone-Port Townsend route until 2007. Mendocino (renamed Quinault) and Redwood Empire (renamed Nisqually) were retired in 2003 and scrapped in 2009. Santa Rosa was renamed Enetai, returned to San Francisco Bay in 1968, and is preserved at Pier 3.[8]

Notes

  1. ↑ Hogle, Gene NAC Green Book of Pacific Coast Touring (1931) National Automobile Club p.41
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Ford (1977) pp.18-19
  3. ↑ Port of Oakland-History
  4. ↑ Forgotten Pioneers: Irish Leaders in Northern California, Thomas F. Prendergast, The Minerva Group, Inc., 2001, p.261
  5. 1 2 Ford (1977) pp.22-27
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Stindt (1985) p.128
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Dickson (1974) p.139
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Stindt (1978) p.256
  9. 1 2 3 "San Francisco Bay Ferryboats - Yesterday". Joe Thompson. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
  10. ↑ Ford (1977) p.59
  11. ↑ Kneiss, Gilbert H. Redwood Railways (1956) Howell-North p.137
  12. ↑ Schmale, John & Kristina Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railway (2009) Arcadia Publishing ISBN 978-0-7385-5959-9 p.9
  13. ↑ Ford (1977) pp.201-209,284-285&289
  14. ↑ Ford (1977) pp.90,131,162-173&342
  15. ↑ History Net, Jay Wright (1998?)
  16. ↑ http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Silver-Anniversary-for-Golden-Gate-Ferry-3026509.php
  17. ↑ http://www.baycrossings.com/dispnews.php?id=1583
  18. ↑ http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Jenny-Lind-ferry-disaster-commemoration-4431617.php
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Ford (1977) pp.340-348
  20. ↑ Scott, Erving M. and Others, Evolution of Shipping and Ship-Building in California, Part II, Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine, Volume 25, February 1895, pp.122-129; from quod.lib.umich.edu accessed March 10, 2015
  21. ↑ Little-known ferries of Puget Sound
  22. ↑ History of the MV Langdale Queen, ex-MV Kahloke, ex-SS City of Sacramento, ex-SS Asbury Park
  23. ↑ Scott, Erving M. and Others, Evolution of Shipping and Ship-Building in California, Part I, Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine, Volume 25, January 1895, pp.5-16; from quod.lib.umich.edu accessed March 10, 2015
  24. 1 2 3 4 MacMullen, Jerry, Paddle-Wheel Days in California, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1970.
  25. 1 2 Ford (1977) p.197
  26. ↑ E. M. North, Evolution of Shipping and Shipbuilding in California VI, February 1899, The Overland Monthly, Vol. XXXIII, January - June 1899, Overland Monthly Publishing Company, San Francisco, 1899.
  27. ↑ Ford (1977) p.20
  28. ↑ Demoro, Harre W. (1986). California's Electric Railways. Glendale, California: Interurban Press. p. 14. ISBN 0-916374-74-2.
  29. 1 2 Peter Fimrite (2005-04-28). "Ferry tale -- the dream dies hard: 2 historic boats that plied the bay seek buyer -- anybody". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-10-31.
  30. 1 2 "Bethlehem Steel Company, San Francisco CA". Tim Colton. Retrieved 2011-07-22.

References

External links

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