Yesterday

Prehistory to 1962
Steam engines and paddlewheels

Today

1968 to Today
Diesels and catamarans

Tomorrow

Tomorrow to ...
High speed boats

New: On the Today page, new ferry services from San Francisco to Richmond and South San Francisco to Harbor Bay.

New: On the Today and News pages, A Golden Gate ferry hit the wharf behind the Ferry Building, injuring two passengers.

New: The 26-July-1912 Ferry Tales column from the San Francisco Call.

On the Preserved Ferries page, thank you to Roger Cain for aerial photos that he took of the remains of the San Leandro and of the Klamath, which is preserved in Stockton.

New: On the News page: The Port of San Francisco has accepted a plan put forth by the National Park Service to refurbish Piers 31, 31½ and 33 as a home for Alcatraz Ferry service and potential new services to other parks on the bay. Hornblower Cruises is the current concessionaire for Alcatraz service, but its contract expires next year and it is facing competitive bidding and new terms for the franchise. One requirement is to operate one-hour bay cruises.

Future ferry lines may go to Fort Baker in Marin and to the Rosie the Riveter World War II Homefront National Historical Park in Richmond.

We visited New Orleans in July 2014 and took a ride on a New Orleans ferryboat.

New: On the Today and News pages, Facebook launches a private ferry service to carry workers from San Francisco to the Port of Redwood City.

New: On the Today and News pages, Google launches a private ferry service to carry workers from San Francisco to the Port of Redwood City.

New: On the News page, a BART strike put great demand on transbay ferries.

New: On the News page, low ridership on the South San Francisco-Oakland Ferry service.

New: On the News page, a Sausalito ferry hits a small boat. One passenger on the small boat has died. A Delta ferry shuts down for maintenance.

New: On the News page, the 14-June-2012 BART shutdown results in four boats being added to the Alameda-Oakland route.

New: On the Today page, a a new Alameda-Oakland-South San Francisco service

Updated: On the Preserved Ferries page, an update on ferry Kalakala, which got damaged in a storm. Kalakala started life on San Francisco Bay as the Key System's Peralta.

New: On the Today page, the Delta auto ferry Real McCoy II has all sorts of problems.

New: The 24-July-1912 Ferry Tales column from the San Francisco Call.

See many images and ads for the Monticello Steamship Company, which operated fast ferries from Vallejo to San Francisco.

Back on October 19, 2010, Ken Bastida of KPIX, Channel 5 interviewed me about ferryboats for his Good Question feature. It aired on 17-November-2010.

There are some nice vintage movies and some nice shots taken around the Eureka that day at the Hyde Street Pier.

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2010/11/16/good-question-when-did-ferries-first-cross-san-francisco-bay/

W. A. Coulter was a staff artist for the San Francisco Call, who specialized in marine subjects. See some of his and ferry drawings.

Ferries Fresno and San Leandro survived until recently, but the owners could not find a buyer and they are gone, now. Thank you to Gene Poon for determining their fate.