The ''City of Seattle'' was a side-wheel driven steam-powered

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

built in 1888. This vessel was the first ferry to operate on Puget Sound. ''City of Seattle'' was also used in the

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...

area starting in 1913. The ferry was known as ''YFB54'' when owned by the U.S. navy in World War II, and as ''Magdalena'' during naval service and for a time following the war. The upper works of the ferry have been mounted on a barge hull, and are now in use as a houseboat in Sausalito, California.

Design and construction

The ''City of Seattle'' was built in 1888 at Portland, Oregon by John Steffan and began regularly scheduled service on December 31, 1888. The ferry had a wide lower deck, called the "driveway", which carried wagons, horses and carts, as well as all passengers. On the upper deck there was a single pilot house, facing both ends, which was built around the smokestack.

Puget Sound service

The ferry's first owners were the West Seattle Land and Improvement Company which placed the vessel on a route running between Seattle and Milton, in West Seattle. The Seattle terminus was at a dock located at First Avenue and Marion Street. Originally the fare to ride the ''City of Seattle'' was 15 cents, but it was soon reduced to 5 cents as part the owners' strategy to encourage purchase of its real estate developments in West Seattle. In the summer of 1889, ''City of Seattle'' was making 10 trips daily on the route. The trip was popular and well-to-do persons began buying houses in West Seattle. A cable tramway was built to carry ferry passengers from the West Seattle dock up the bluff where the Improvement Company's main development projects were. The vessel was quick, and could often complete the run in less than 8 minutes. The ferry encountered some competition, first from the small steamer ''Garden City'', which made 17 trips per day, but that was more than the population at the time would support. Later more serious competition arose from ''Lady of the Lake''. The ''Lady'' offered fares at 4 cents per ride, and then ''City of Seattle'' offered 40 rides for a dollar. This went on until the ''Lady'' burned one night while hauled out for repairs. There was talk of arson, but no crime was ever charged. In 1907 ''City of Seattle'' was still on the same route, but demand had increased so much that a new and larger vessel was commissioned to handle the business. This was the ''West Seattle'', which was built at Tacoma and entered regular service on June 27, 1907 on the Seattle – West Seattle route. ''City of Seattle'' was then shifted to run to the Luna amusement park then located at

Duwamish Head Duwamish Head is the northernmost point in West Seattle, Washington, jutting into Elliott Bay. The Duwamish called it "Low Point" or "Base of the Point" (Lushootseed: sgWudaqs). A large boulder covered with petroglyphs once lay on the beach. The ...

. 1907 was the peak year for ferry transport on the Seattle-West Seattle run, with 103,000 passengers carried in July alone. After that, rising competition from the expanding network of street car lines over time proved too much for the West Seattle ferries, and ''City of Seattle'' was taken off the route in 1911.

California service

In 1913 the Improvement Company, through its subsidiary the Oregon & Washington Ferry & Nav. Co., sold ''City of Seattle'' to a California ferry concern, the Martinez and Benicia Ferry and Transportation Company, leaving only the ''West Seattle'' on the now money-losing route. After a hazardous voyage south in the tow of a

steam schooner Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. ...

, ''City of Seattle'' reached

and was placed on the ferry route from

Benicia Benicia ( , ) is a waterside city in Solano County, California, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It served as the capital of California for nearly thirteen months from 1853 to 1854. The population was 26,997 at the ...

across the Carquinez Strait to Martinez The new owners added second wheelhouse to the ferry, but never changed the vessel's name or the machinery. The ferry was also used on the route from Mare Island to Vallejo.

Naval service

During World War II the ferry was extensively rebuilt by the government. The ferry was taken into government service in 1944, renamed ''YFB54'' and used for the Mare Island service.Faber, ''Steamer's Wake'', at pages 158–159. The ferry was requisitioned-purchased by the U.S. Navy from the city of Martinez and delivered to the

Mare Island Naval Shipyard The Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY) was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates th ...

on August 10, 1944. The ferry was renamed ''Magdalena'' on September 9, 1944. The ferry was assigned to the 12th Naval District, based San Francisco, and placed in service on November 23, 1944. The vessel was used to provide ferry service between Mare Island and Vallejo, California until the end of the war. The ferry continued operation under the 12th Naval District command until October 14, 1946, when at Mare Island the vessel was taken out of service. Later the ferry was transferred to

Suisun Bay Suisun Bay ( ; Wintun for "where the west wind blows") is a shallow tidal estuary (a northeastern extension of the San Francisco Bay) in Northern California. It lies at the confluence of the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River, forming the ent ...

, and was struck from the Navy list on February 7, 1947. On December 25, 1947 ownership of the ferry was transferred to the United States Maritime Commission for disposal.Mooney, James L., ed., ''Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships'' (DANFS), Vol. 4, L-M.
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Later years

After the war, the vessel was acquired by the Mare Island Ferry Company and renamed ''Magdalena''. As of 1966 the ferry was owned by Sausalito resident Alexis Tellis, and registered as a yacht. The name was still ''City of Seattle'', and propulsion was still by sidewheels, but the steam engines had been replaced by diesel power. Later the vessel was placed on pilings, painted yellow, and used as a house and office for the owner of a

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

known as the Yellow Ferry Harbor in Sausalito, California.

Present state

The upper works of the ferry have been mounted on a concrete barge and are now in use as a houseboat at Sausalito, California. Mullins, Jessica, “Chinese look at Sausalito houseboats as model”, posted at buoyantlfe.net
(accessed 05-16-2011)

Notes

References

* Faber, Jim, ''Steamer's Wake – Voyaging down the old marine highways of Puget Sound, British Columbia, and the Columbia River'', Enetai Press, Seattle, WA 1985 * Kline, M.S., and Bayless, G.A., ''Ferryboats – A legend on Puget Sound'', Bayless Books, Seattle, WA 1983
Mooney, James L., ed., ''Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships'' (DANFS), Vol. 4, L-M.
* Newell, Gordon R. ed., ''H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest'', Superior Publishing, Seattle WA 1966
U.S. Dept. of the Treasury, Bureau of Statistics, ''Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States'' (for year ending June 30, 1909)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:City Of Seattle (Steam Ferry) Water transport in Seattle Ferries of Washington (state) Ferries of California 1888 ships Ships built in Portland, Oregon Steamboats of Washington (state) Steam ferries of Washington (state) Sidewheel steamboats of Washington (state) Steamboats of California Passenger ships of the United States Paddle steamers of the United States Ferries of the United States Navy World War II auxiliary ships of the United States