San Francisco BaySan Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
in
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
has been served by
ferriesA ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
of all types for over 150 years. Although the construction of the
Golden Gate BridgeThe Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, the structure links the city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to...
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 Creek Route ferries
One of the earliest ferry routes ran between
San FranciscoSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
and
OaklandOakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
on what was called the "creek route". The name derived from the Oakland landing site located at the foot of Broadway where
Jack London SquareJack London Square is a popular tourist attraction on the waterfront of Oakland, California. Named after the author Jack London and owned by the Port of Oakland, it is the home of stores, restaurants, hotels, an Amtrak station, a ferry dock, the historic Saloon, the cabin Jack London lived in the...
is today, fronting on what is today called the
Oakland EstuaryThe Oakland Estuary is the body of water separating the cities of Oakland and Alameda, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. On its western end it connects to San Francisco Bay, while its eastern end connects to San Leandro Bay.-Crossings:...
, an inlet of San Francisco Bay. The estuary, which in the 1800s included what is today's
Lake MerrittLake Merritt is a large tidal lagoon that lies just east of downtown Oakland, California. It is surrounded by parkland and city neighborhoods. A popular 3.1 mile walking and jogging path runs along its perimeter...
, was the "creek". In 1851, Captain Thomas Gray, grandfather of the famous dancer
Isadora DuncanIsadora Duncan was a dancer, considered by many to be the creator of modern dance. Born in the United States, she lived in Western Europe and the Soviet Union from the age of 22 until her death at age 50. In the United States she was popular only in New York, and only later in her life...
, began the first regular ferry service to San Francisco from the East Bay.
Service started with the stern-wheel Sacramento River packet
General Sutter and the small iron steam ferry
Kangaroo. 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. 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 RailroadThe San Francisco and Oakland Railroad was built in 1862 to provide ferry-train service from a San Francisco ferry terminal connecting with railroad service through Oakland. It subsequently was absorbed into the Southern Pacific Railroad . The track in Oakland was electrified in 1911 and extended...
(SF&O) in 1865.
Railroad ferries
The first railroad ferries on San Francisco Bay were established by the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad and the
San Francisco and Alameda RailroadIn 1863 A. A. Cohen, a prominent San Francisco attorney, together with Charles Minturn, an operator of river steamboats and bay ferries, E. B. Mastick, a prominent Alameda landowner, and others incorporated the San Francisco and Alameda Railroad to provide passenger and freight ferry-train service...
(SF&A) which were taken over by the
Central Pacific RailroadThe Central Pacific Railroad is the former name of the railroad network built between California and Utah, USA that formed part of the "First Transcontinental Railroad" in North America. It is now part of the Union Pacific Railroad. Many 19th century national proposals to build a transcontinental...
(CPRR) in 1870 to become an integral part of the
First Transcontinental RailroadThe First Transcontinental Railroad was a railroad line built in the United States of America between 1863 and 1869 by the Central Pacific Railroad of California and the Union Pacific Railroad that connected its statutory Eastern terminus at Council Bluffs, Iowa/Omaha, Nebraska The First...
. The earliest railroad ferries ran from Oakland Point and from
Alameda TerminalAlameda Terminal was a railroad station located in Alameda, California on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay.It was built in 1869 by the Central Pacific Railroad as part of the First Transcontinental Railroad project and was designated the western terminus of the line.The Pacific Railroad Act...
when
AlamedaAlameda is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located on Alameda Island and Bay Farm Island, and is adjacent to Oakland in the San Francisco Bay. The Bay Farm Island portion of the city is adjacent to the Oakland International Airport. At the 2010 census, the city had a...
when was still a peninsula. The ferry pier at Oakland Point was greatly enlarged to form the
Oakland Long WharfThe Oakland Long Wharf, later known as the Oakland Pier or the SP Mole was a massive railroad wharf and ferry pier in Oakland, California. It was located at the foot of Seventh Street....
. 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 StraitThe Carquinez Strait is a narrow tidal strait in northern California. It is part of the tidal estuary of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers as they drain into the San Francisco Bay...
was established, and the world's largest ferryboat, the
Solanothumb|right|300px|The ferry "Contra Costa", sister ship to "Solano" circa 1917The Solano was a large railroad ferryboat which operated across the Carquinez Strait between Benicia and Port Costa in California....
was built (later joined by a sister ferry, the slightly larger
Contra Costa), to serve the crossing. This
railroad ferryA train ferry is a ship designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train ferries are sometimes referred to as "car ferries", as...
actually carried whole trains. These ferries became part of the
Southern Pacific RailroadThe Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American 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 SystemThe Key System was a privately owned company which provided mass transit in the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Emeryville, Piedmont, San Leandro, Richmond, Albany and El Cerrito in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area from 1903 until 1960, when the system was sold to a newly formed public...
transit company established its own ferry service in 1903 between the
Ferry BuildingThe San Francisco Ferry Building is a terminal for ferries that travel across the San Francisco Bay and a shopping center located on The Embarcadero in San Francisco, California. On top of the building is a large clock tower, which can be seen from Market Street, a main thoroughfare of the city...
in San Francisco and its own pier and wharf ("
moleA mole is a massive structure, usually of stone, used as a pier, breakwater, or a causeway between places separated by water. The word comes from Middle French mole and ultimately Latin mōlēs meaning a large mass, especially of rock and has the same root as molecule.Historically, the term "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 RailroadSan Francisco and North Pacific Railroad provided the first extensive standard gauge rail service to Sonoma County and became the southern end of the regional Northwestern Pacific Railroad...
(SF&NP) and
Petaluma and Santa Rosa RailroadThe Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railroad was an electric interurban railway in Sonoma County, California, United States. It operated between the cities of Petaluma, Sebastopol, Forestville, and Santa Rosa...
(P&SR) ferries connected
Petaluma RiverThe Petaluma River is a river in the California counties of Sonoma and Marin that becomes a tidal slough near its mouth. It springs from farmlands southwest of Cotati and flows generally southward through Petaluma's old town and of tidal marshes to end in northwest San Pablo Bay.-History:The word...
landing locations with San Francisco.
North Pacific Coast RailroadThe North Pacific Coast Railroad was a common carrier narrow gauge steam railroad begun in 1874 and sold in 1902 to new owners who renamed it the North Shore Railroad and which rebuilt the southern section into a standard gauge electric railroad.The NPC operated in the northern California...
(NPC) ferries connected
SausalitoSausalito is a San Francisco Bay Area city, in Marin County, California, United States. Sausalito is south-southeast of San Rafael, at an elevation of 13 feet . The population was 7,061 as of the 2010 census. The community is situated near the northern end of the Golden Gate Bridge, and prior to...
with San Francisco, and SF&NP ferries later sailed from
TiburonTiburon is an incorporated town in Marin County, California. It occupies most of the Tiburon Peninsula, which reaches south into the San Francisco Bay. The smaller city of Belvedere occupies the south-east part of the peninsula and is contiguous with Tiburon...
. Some of these ferries operated on
Northwestern Pacific RailroadThe Northwestern Pacific Railroad is a regional railroad serving California's North Coast. The railroad currently runs on 62 miles of the 462 mile main line, stretching from Schellville, California to Eureka, California...
(NWP) schedules from 1907 to 1938.
The
Napa Valley RailroadThe California Pacific Railroad Company was incorporated in 1865 at San Francisco, California as the California Pacific Rail Road Company. It was renamed the California Pacific Railroad Extension Company in the spring of 1869, then renamed the California Pacific Railroad later that same year...
established service in 1865 and connected with ferry boat service in
Vallejo, CaliforniaVallejo is the largest city in Solano County, California, United States. The population was 115,942 at the 2010 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area on the northeastern shore of San Pablo Bay...
. 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.
Santa FeThe Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often abbreviated as Santa Fe, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The company was first chartered in February 1859...
and
Western PacificThe Western Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was formed in 1903 as an attempt to break the near-monopoly the Southern Pacific Railroad had on rail service into northern California...
(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 RailroadThe South Pacific Coast Railroad was a narrow gauge steam railroad running between Santa Cruz, California and Alameda, with a ferry connection in Alameda to San Francisco. The railroad was created as the Santa Clara Valley Railroad, founded by local strawberry growers as a way to get their crops...
(SPC) ferries in 1887, the Northwestern Pacific ferries in 1929, and the Petaluma and Santa Rosa ferries in 1932. After the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge and
Golden Gate BridgeThe Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, the structure links the city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to...
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 IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when they were mobilized by the federal government to transport military personnel around the bay and shipyard workers from San Francisco to
MarinshipMarinship Corporation was a shipbuilding company of the United States during World War II, created to build the shipping required for the war effort...
and
Richmond ShipyardsThe four Richmond Shipyards, located in the city of Richmond, California, United States, were run by Permanente Metals and part of the Kaiser Shipyards, and were responsible for constructing more ships during World War II than any other shipyard in the country. The shipyards are part of the Rosie...
. The last Southern Pacific ferry ran between Oakland and San Francisco on 29 July 1958.
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 ferriesSix Minute Ferry operated an automobile ferry service across Carquinez Strait on the main highway between Sacramento and Oakland, California. Each crossing near the present Interstate 80 bridge took approximately 6 minutes. As automobile travel became increasingly popular, the company ordered...
. In 1922, Golden Gate Ferry Company (GG) began transporting automobiles between
Hyde Street PierThe Hyde Street Pier is a historic ferry pier located on the northern waterfront of San Francisco, California, amidst the tourist zone of Fisherman's Wharf....
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, CaliforniaRichmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7, 1905. It is located in the East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a residential inner suburb of San Francisco, as well as the site of heavy industry, which has been...
connection to the
Lincoln HighwayThe Lincoln Highway was the first road across the United States of America.Conceived and promoted by entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, the Lincoln Highway spanned coast-to-coast from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco, originally through 13 states: New York, New Jersey,...
in 1925. Golden Gate established another route between Hyde Street and
Berkeley PierThe Berkeley Pier is a pier in Berkeley, California. When constructed, the pier extended 3.5 miles into San Francisco Bay from the end of University Avenue. Due to extensive filling of the bay and the creation of the Berkeley Marina, it presently extends only 2.5 miles...
in 1927. Southern Pacific built
six diesel-electric ferriesThe Steel Electric Class ferries became part of the Washington State Ferry System when Puget Sound Navigation Company was acquired in 1951. They were built on San Francisco Bay for service on Southern Pacific and Northwestern Pacific Railroad routes across that bay.-History:The Steel Electric...
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 CompanyThe Richmond-San Rafael Ferry Company began as the Richmond-San Rafael Ferry and Transportation Company, and is a defunct ferry service that provided a water transport link between Point Potrero in Richmond, California in Contra Costa County and San Quentin in Marin County across the San Pablo Bay...
to shuttle automobiles between Richmond and
San RafaelSan Rafael is a city and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area...
, but most were sold for use in Puget Sound. The surviving auto ferries were idled when the Richmond – San Rafael Bridge opened in 1956.
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.
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 MarinaThe Berkeley Marina is the westernmost portion of the city of Berkeley, California, located west of the Eastshore Freeway at the foot of University Avenue on San Francisco Bay...
.
Ferries today
The largest ferry system on San Francisco Bay today is operated by
Blue & Gold FleetBlue & Gold Fleet is a privately owned company in the United States providing ferry services in the San Francisco Bay Area of California.The company's vessels serve the following communities:* San Francisco* Oakland* Alameda* Vallejo* Sausalito...
. Others include
Red & White FleetRed & White Fleet is the business name for a vessel tour company operating in the San Francisco Bay Area of California.Red and White Fleet is San Francisco’s original sightseeing provider and has been cruising the Bay since 1892...
, Harbor Bay Ferry and
Golden Gate TransitGolden Gate Transit is a public transportation system serving the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in California, United States. It mainly serves Marin and Sonoma Counties, and also provides limited service to San Francisco and Contra Costa County.Golden Gate Transit is one of three...
. Modern high speed ferryboats of this commuter system run between the
Ferry BuildingThe San Francisco Ferry Building is a terminal for ferries that travel across the San Francisco Bay and a shopping center located on The Embarcadero in San Francisco, California. On top of the building is a large clock tower, which can be seen from Market Street, a main thoroughfare of the city...
in San Francisco and landings in Sausalito,
TiburonTiburon may refer to:Places* Tiburon, California* Tiburón Golf Club Naples, Florida* Tiburón Island, an island in the Gulf of California* Tiburon Peninsula, a peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area of California...
and
LarkspurLarkspur Landing is the main Golden Gate Ferry terminal in Larkspur, Marin County, California. The terminal is a regional hub receiving heavy service from throughout the North Bay for commuter ferries to downtown San Francisco....
in Marin County.
Other commuter ferries run from the city of
AlamedaAlameda is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located on Alameda Island and Bay Farm Island, and is adjacent to Oakland in the San Francisco Bay. The Bay Farm Island portion of the city is adjacent to the Oakland International Airport. At the 2010 census, the city had a...
and
Jack London SquareJack London Square is a popular tourist attraction on the waterfront of Oakland, California. Named after the author Jack London and owned by the Port of Oakland, it is the home of stores, restaurants, hotels, an Amtrak station, a ferry dock, the historic Saloon, the cabin Jack London lived in the...
in Oakland by Oakland-Alameda Ferry, Bay Farm Island/Alameda by Harbor Bay Ferry and
VallejoVallejo is the largest city in Solano County, California, United States. The population was 115,942 at the 2010 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area on the northeastern shore of San Pablo Bay...
to the Ferry Building in San Francisco by Baylink Ferry.
Tourist ferries run from pier 33 to
Alcatraz IslandAlcatraz Island is an island located in the San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. Often referred to as "The Rock" or simply "Traz", the small island was developed with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison, and a Federal...
, and from Fisherman's Wharf and Tiburon to
Angel IslandAngel Island is an island in San Francisco Bay that offers expansive views of the San Francisco skyline, the Marin County Headlands and Mount Tamalpais. The entire island is included within Angel Island State Park, and is administered by California State Parks. It has been used for a variety of...
.
Past
| Name |
Operator |
In Service |
Retired |
Gross Tons |
Length (feet) |
Horse- power |
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 USNThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
as YHB-25 after wartime shipyard service |
| 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 |
| Bay City |
SPC / SP |
1878 |
1929 |
1283 |
230 |
800 |
side-wheel passenger ferry |
BerkeleyThe Berkeley was one of several ferryboats of the Southern Pacific Railroad that operated on San Francisco Bay between the Oakland Pier and the San Francisco Ferry Building for sixty years...
|
SP |
1898 |
1958 |
1945 |
261 |
1450 |
passenger ferry |
| Boston |
Gray |
1852 |
1852 |
|
|
|
|
| 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 USNThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
as YFB-21 |
| Capital |
CPRR / SP |
1866 |
1896 |
1989 |
277 |
900 |
side-wheel passenger ferry |
| Cazadero |
NS / NWP |
1903 |
1941 |
1682 |
257 |
1600 |
converted to barge in 1941 |
| City of Long Beach |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| City of Sacramento Asbury Park was a high-speed coastal steamer built in Philadelphia, PA, and intended to transport well-to-do persons from New York to summer homes on the New Jersey shore. This vessel was sold to West Coast interests in 1918, and later converted to an automobile ferry, serving on various routes...
|
Monticello / GG / SP |
1918 |
1941 |
3016 |
297 |
5900 |
auto ferry; sold to Puget Sound Navigation; requisitioned for wartime shipyard service to Richmond yard 2 |
| Clinton |
Contra Costa / NPC |
1853 |
1877 |
194 |
128 |
125 |
side-wheel passenger ferry; sunk in collision in 1877 |
| Contra Costa |
Contra Costa / SF&A / NPC |
1857 |
1882 |
449 |
170 |
150 |
side-wheel passenger ferry |
| Contra Costa thumb|right|300px|The ferry "Contra Costa", sister ship to "Solano" circa 1917The Solano was a large railroad ferryboat which operated across the Carquinez Strait between Benicia and Port Costa in California....
|
SP |
1914 |
1930 |
|
|
|
Carquinez Strait train ferry |
| El Capitan El Capitan was a side-wheel steam-powered passenger ferry operated on San Francisco Bay. The ferry was built for the Central Pacific Railroad in 1868 in anticipation of completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad. The ferry offered connecting service to San Francisco for train passengers...
|
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 |
|
|
|
|
EurekaThe Eureka is a side-wheel paddle steamboat, built in 1890, which is now preserved at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park in San Francisco, California. Originally named the Ukiah to commemorate the railway's recent extension into the City of Ukiah, the boat was built by the San...
|
NWP / SP |
1922 |
1957 |
2420 |
277 |
1500 |
rebuilt from Ukiah as side-wheel passenger ferry; preserved at San Francisco Maritime National Historical ParkThe San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is located in San Francisco, California, USA. The park includes a fleet of historic vessels, a visitor center, a maritime museum, and a library/research facility...
|
| Feather River Sierra Nevada was a steel-hulled steam-powered passenger ferry operated on San Francisco Bay. The ferry was built for the Western Pacific Railroad as Edward T. Jeffery in 1913 and subsequently renamed Feather River. The ferry offered connecting service to San Francisco for Western Pacific train...
|
WP |
1913 |
1933 |
1578 |
218 |
2500 |
built as Edward T. Jeffery; sold to SP as Sierra Nevada in 1933 |
| Fresno |
SP |
1927 |
1940 |
2468 |
243 |
1800 |
diesel auto ferry |
| Garden City |
SPC / SP |
1879 |
1929 |
1080 |
208 |
625 |
side-wheel passenger ferry |
General Frank M. CoxeThe General Frank M. Coxe is a steam ferry which was built for the United States Army to provide transportation services among several military facilities which ring California's San Francisco Bay....
|
United States ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
|
1922 |
1947 |
539 |
144 |
|
military personnel ferry |
| General Frisbie |
Monticello |
1901 |
1927 |
|
|
|
passenger ferry |
| General Sutter |
Gray |
1851 |
1852 |
|
|
|
|
| Gold |
P&SR |
1903 |
1920 |
334 |
140 |
200 |
stern-wheel passenger & freight ferry built in 1883; burned 8 November 1920 |
| Gold |
P&SR / NWP |
1921 |
1935 |
317 |
155 |
150 |
stern-wheel passenger & freight ferry built as Fort Bragg in 1899 |
| 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 |
| Golden Dawn |
Key /GG / SP |
1905 |
1937 |
612 |
180 |
2000 |
former Key System passenger ferry San Francisco rebuilt as auto ferry |
| Golden Era |
Key / GG / SP |
1908 |
1937 |
673 |
194 |
2000 |
former Key System passenger ferry Fernwood rebuilt as auto ferry |
| 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 |
| 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 |
|
|
|
|
| James M. Donahue |
SF&NP / NWP |
1875 |
1921 |
730 |
228 |
|
side-wheel passenger ferry |
| Jenny Lind |
Gray |
1852 |
1852 |
|
|
|
|
| Kangaroo |
Gray |
1851 |
1852 |
|
|
|
|
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Melrose Melrose was the first San Francisco Bay ferry designed to carry automobiles. Southern Pacific Transportation Company and predecessor railroads had been operating ferries between San Francisco and Oakland, California since 1862...
|
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 |
| 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 Chrysopolis |
| Ocean Wave |
Santa Fe |
1901 |
1933 |
|
|
|
|
| Peralta |
|
1857 |
1857 |
|
|
|
|
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Piedmont |
SP |
1883 |
1940 |
1854 |
257 |
257 |
side-wheel passenger ferry |
| Ranger |
Chipman & Aughinbaugh |
1853 |
1854 |
29 |
|
|
passenger ferry destroyed by boiler explosion 8 January 1854 |
| Red Jacket |
Minturn |
1852 |
1857 |
|
|
|
|
| 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 |
| 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 ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
|
| San Mateo |
SP |
1922 |
1940 |
1782 |
217 |
1400 |
auto ferry |
| San Pablo |
Santa Fe |
1900 |
1933 |
1535 |
|
|
passenger ferry |
| San Pedro |
Santa Fe |
1911 |
1933 |
1720 |
|
|
passenger ferry; became USNThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
YFB-46 |
| San Rafael |
NPC |
1877 |
1901 |
692 |
220 |
|
side-wheel passenger ferry sunk in collision in 1901 |
| 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 |
| Sausalito |
NPC / NS / NWP |
1894 |
1932 |
1766 |
256 |
1200 |
side-wheel freight car and passenger ferry |
| 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 |
| Shasta |
SP |
1922 |
1940 |
1782 |
217 |
1400 |
auto ferry |
| Sierra Nevada Sierra Nevada was a steel-hulled steam-powered passenger ferry operated on San Francisco Bay. The ferry was built for the Western Pacific Railroad as Edward T. Jeffery in 1913 and subsequently renamed Feather River. The ferry offered connecting service to San Francisco for Western Pacific train...
|
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 thumb|right|300px|The ferry "Contra Costa", sister ship to "Solano" circa 1917The Solano was a large railroad ferryboat which operated across the Carquinez Strait between Benicia and Port Costa in California....
|
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 |
| Tamalpais |
NPC / NS / NWP |
1901 |
1941 |
1631 |
245 |
1800 |
side-wheel passenger ferry; sold to USNThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
in 1941 as floating barracks at Mare Island |
| Telephone |
WP |
1912 |
1913 |
|
|
|
|
| Thoroughfare |
CPRR / SP |
1871 |
1909 |
1012 |
248 |
400 |
side-wheel freight car ferry |
| Thoroughfare Melrose was the first San Francisco Bay ferry designed to carry automobiles. Southern Pacific Transportation Company and predecessor railroads had been operating ferries between San Francisco and Oakland, California since 1862...
|
SP |
1912 |
1935 |
2604 |
273 |
1300 |
side-wheel auto ferry |
| Tiburon |
SF&NP / NWP |
1884 |
1925 |
1248 |
240 |
|
side-wheel passenger ferry |
| 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 ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
|
| Yosemite |
SP |
1923 |
1939 |
1782 |
217 |
1400 |
auto ferry |
Present
- Bay Breeze (Alameda Harbor Bay)
- Chinook (Golden Gate - not yet in service)
- Del Norte (Golden Gate)
- Encinal (Alameda/Oakland)
- Gemini (Alameda/Oakland)
- Intintoli (Vallejo Baylink)
- Marin (Golden Gate)
- Mare Island (Vallejo Baylink)
- Mendocino (Golden Gate)
- Napa (Golden Gate)
- Peralta (Alameda/Oakland)
- Pisces (Alameda/Oakland)
- San Francisco (Golden Gate)
- Solano (Vallejo Baylink)
- Sonoma (Golden Gate)
- Vallejo (Vallejo Baylink)
- Zelinsky (Blue and Gold)
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 PlataThe Río de la Plata —sometimes rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth, and occasionally rendered [La] Plata River in other English-speaking countries—is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and...
. Seventeen were purchased by the
Puget Sound Navigation CompanyThe Puget Sound Navigation Company was founded by Joshua Green in 1913. It operated a fleet of steamboats and ferries on Puget Sound in Washington and the Georgia Strait in British Columbia...
:
- City of Sacramento
- Fresno (renamed Willapa)
- Golden Age (renamed Klahanie)
- Golden Bear
- Golden Poppy (renamed Chetzemoka)
- Golden Shore (renamed Elwha)
- Golden State (renamed Kehloken)
- Golden West
- Lake Tahoe (renamed Illahee)
- Mendocino (renamed Nisqually)
- Napa Valley (renamed Malahat)
- Peralta (renamed Kalakala)
- Redwood Empire (renamed Quinault)
- San Mateo
- Santa Rosa (renamed Enetai)
- Shasta
- Stockton (renamed Klickitat)
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 ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. 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. The
City of SacramentoAsbury Park was a high-speed coastal steamer built in Philadelphia, PA, and intended to transport well-to-do persons from New York to summer homes on the New Jersey shore. This vessel was sold to West Coast interests in 1918, and later converted to an automobile ferry, serving on various routes...
operated on the Seattle-Bremerton route in the 1940s, then on the
Horseshoe BayHorseshoe Bay is a West Vancouver community of about 1,000 permanent residents. Situated right on the western tip of West Vancouver, at the entrance to Howe Sound, the village marks the western end of Highway 1 on the British Columbia mainland....
-
NanaimoNanaimo is a city on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It has been dubbed the "Bathtub Racing Capital of the World" and "Harbour City". Nanaimo is also sometimes referred to as the "Hub City" because of its central location on Vancouver Island and due to the layout of the downtown...
route from 1952 to 1963 as the
MV KahlokeAsbury Park was a high-speed coastal steamer built in Philadelphia, PA, and intended to transport well-to-do persons from New York to summer homes on the New Jersey shore. This vessel was sold to West Coast interests in 1918, and later converted to an automobile ferry, serving on various routes...
, and finally on the
Horseshoe BayHorseshoe Bay is a West Vancouver community of about 1,000 permanent residents. Situated right on the western tip of West Vancouver, at the entrance to Howe Sound, the village marks the western end of Highway 1 on the British Columbia mainland....
-
LangdaleLangdale is a small community on the Sunshine Coast of southern British Columbia. It is set in a verdant environment characteristic of many small BC communities. Its main feature is the BC Ferries terminal that links the Sunshine Coast to Vancouver via Horseshoe Bay, with connecting foot-passenger...
route from 1964 to 1976 as the
MV Langdale QueenAsbury Park was a high-speed coastal steamer built in Philadelphia, PA, and intended to transport well-to-do persons from New York to summer homes on the New Jersey shore. This vessel was sold to West Coast interests in 1918, and later converted to an automobile ferry, serving on various routes...
. The
Peralta, rebuilt as the MV
Kalakala, operated on various
Puget SoundPuget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
crossings and on the Seattle-
VictoriaVictoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
-
Port AngelesPort Angeles is a city in and the county seat of Clallam County, Washington, United States. The population was 19,038 at the 2010 census. The area's harbor was dubbed Puerto de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles by Spanish explorer Francisco de Eliza in 1791, but by the mid-19th century the name had...
route. The
City of Long Beach, renamed the
City of Angeles, operated out of
Port AngelesPort Angeles is a city in and the county seat of Clallam County, Washington, United States. The population was 19,038 at the 2010 census. The area's harbor was dubbed Puerto de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles by Spanish explorer Francisco de Eliza in 1791, but by the mid-19th century the name had...
and the
Stockton, which became the
Klickitat, operated on the
KeystoneKeystone, Washington may refer to:*Keystone, Adams County, Washington, an unincorporated community in Adams County*Keystone, Island County, Washington an unincorporated community in Island County...
-
Port TownsendPort Townsend is a city in Jefferson County, Washington, United States, approximately north-northwest of Seattle . The population was 9,113 at the 2010 census an increase of 9.3% over the 2000 census. It is the county seat and only incorporated city of Jefferson County...
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.
External links