I would like to tell you about one of the best kept secrets in the Bay Area. A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to go to the Pardee Home Museum for Tea on a Saturday morning. There were seven of us who met in front of the house in Oakland at 10:30 in the morning.

We were greeted by Caroline, she took us into the house and gave us a marvelous tour. She told us that her great, great grandmother was the Pardee’s seamstress and lived in the house and that, when she was a child, she visited the Pardee sisters often with her mother.

The house was built in 1868-69 by Enoch Pardee, who came to California looking for gold and became an eye doctor in San Francisco. When he built his home it was in a forest by itself and had a carriage house and water tower, which is still there today. He had an active pubic life during the 1870’s and 1880’s, including being Mayor of Oakland, State Assemblyman and State Senator. Enoch’s only child, George C. Pardee, followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming an eye doctor and Mayor of Oakland and, in 1902, he became Governor of California. Later he became President of EBMUD, the local water department and they honored him with the naming of the Pardee Dam. Governor Pardee is remembered by many as the “Earthquake Governor,” because of his remarkable leadership during the great quake of 1906, the worst tragedy in California history.

George’s wife, Helen, was a collector and it is this collection which is viewed when you tour the house.

The Governor and his wife had four daughters but only two survived. The daughters’ names were Helen and Madeline and they lived in the house as single women for years after their parents died in the 1940’s and they kept it exactly as it was.

When Caroline opened the closets to show us the clothes, she was showing the dresses that her great great grandmother had made so many years ago.

The Pardee Home Foundation was formed in 1981 with the goal of preserving the home and everything in it as a public museum.

After our wonderful tour, we were guided into the lovely dining room complete with a lace tablecloth and linen

Did you know that the San Francisco Bay Ferry Boats sailed the Bay for almost 150 years before the bridges took over? It all started with the Gold Rush that brought people from all over the world to the Bay Area. The ferries were a big part of the means by which people got around the Bay and held a great fascination and affection for all who boarded them daily. It can be said that in the early days the Bay Area could be reached easier by sea than by land. It was the ferry routes that held the region together. The ferry services grew with San Francisco and nearby cities. Today you can take a ferry across the Bay, but it is an alternate form of transportation.

Although the last commuter runs stopped in 1939 after the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opened, the Southern Pacific continued passenger ferry service until 1958.

It wasn’t until the 1980’s that ferry service resumed, helping with traffic congestion on the Bay Area Bridges.

Of all the lighthouses built during the days of the U.S. Lighthouse Establishment, the most expensive was the St. George Reef Lighthouse. It was built in 1891, took ten years to build, and the cost was $752,000. St. George Reef is nine rocks extending over 6½ miles northwest from Point St. George. The largest rock is northwest Seal Rock; this is where they built St. George Reef Lighthouse, which is 9½ nautical miles from the Battery Point Lighthouse.

The weather on the reef was so bad it took a decade to finish building. Men did not like being assigned to this lighthouse and said it was almost like being sent to the brig. Of the list of 80 keepers and assistant keepers from opening day until 1930, 28 asked for transfers, 2 died, one went to the hospital, 1 drowned, 2 left due to illness, one broke a leg, 3 were dismissed, 2 quit and 6 left with no explanation. The lighthouse is now abandoned and the light is not operating. It was removed and is on exhibit at the Del Norte Historical Society’s museum in Crescent City.

A lighted navigational buoy replaced the old lighthouse; it’s on top of a 42 foot structure and can be seen 13 miles on a clear night. Under the main light is a smaller light of lower intensity that will come on if the main light goes out. The buoy cost $435,000 and is powered by two generators and batteries and has a radio beacon. The buoys are painted red.

There is a preservation society that is trying to restore the lighthouse and for a while they were offering helicopter trips to see it, but it has since been determined the helicopter trips are unsafe.
 

We are back from our month at Battery Lighthouse and we had a marvelous time.  It was as good if not better than the first time. 

Every day as I gave my historical talk it reminded me of the talk I give when I show our museum. It is so interesting the ties it has. One of the things I talked about each day was the story that still remains the worst shipping disaster on the Pacific Coast. What is interesting is the Brother Jonathan (picture shown below) was a side wheeler; I did not know side-wheelers traveled in the ocean. The ship left San Francisco on July 28, 1865, with a payload of gold (some for treaty payments for Indian tribes in the Northwest), 244 passengers, 2 camels, 1 horse and 1 dog. The captain of the ship, Samuel J. DeWolfe, expressed that he felt the load was too heavy, but was told they would be fine. The first two days were fine, then they hit heavy seas off of St George Reef northwest of Crescent City.  The Captain tried to turn around but hit submerged rocks and sank within 45 minutes.  Only one lifeboat made it to shore with 19 people. 

The remains of the ship were not found until 1993 and it wasn’t until 1996 that some crates of gold coins were recovered. The big safe with most of the treasure has never been found.  The Crescent City Museum has one of the gold coins on display. 

Because of this terrible tragedy at sea, Point St. George Lighthouse was built in 1891, 3 miles northwest of Battery Point Lighthouse. I will tell you more about this lighthouse next month.

Hello from Battery Point Lighthouse. We found out why the couple who had been on the waiting list for three years didn't come, they read that the Lighthouse was haunted. Yes it is, but they are happy ghosts and I think they are happy we are back for the month of July. We were delighted to return and have met many wonderful people from all over the world. A couple of days ago, we showed a group of Amish people around the house and they gave us their addresses so we can correspond. They were delightful and appreciated the time we took to give them the history of the Lighthouse. We have had visitors from India, Germany, England, Taiwan, Canada, Australia and many other places. It is all nautical history, history of the lighthouse and of the ships that were caught off-guard and sunk to the bottom of the ocean.  

Our stay is half over and I am sad it is going by so fast. 

The schedule is very interesting, the lighthouse is open 7 days a week from 10am to 4pm, but because of the tides it might only be open 1 or 2 hours a day or not all. Twelve hours a day we are surrounded by water, an island in the ocean. 


                            

Thanks to our RV friends and Sportsmen members, they have kept us in crab, which we appreciate. 

More to come next month.

Battery Point Lighthouse, Crescent City, California

Once again, I would like to give you the history of our 4S weekend. This year it is going to be held at the Stockton YC, July 13-15.

This will be the 59th year we have come together. It all started in 1953 when four yacht clubs, Sportsmen, Sacramento, Stockton, and San Joaquin got together for an Over the Bottom Race. The host club would serve sandwiches at the end of the race. We have come a long way since 1953. Now it’s a three day event with games, food, entertainment and fun.

The 4S is a wonderful event where old friendships are renewed and new friendships are made. It is a weekend like no other. I highly recommend everyone attend, you will have a marvelous time.

I am sorry to say this year Keith and I will not be able to attend the 4S. We have been invited back to the Battery Lighthouse to be the July Lighthouse Keepers. The couple who were on the waiting list for three years were not able to go, so they called the Hammer’s. We enjoyed it so much last year that we said right away we would be there!

The Lighthouse was built in 1856 and is Cape Cod style of architecture with a single tower in the center of the house. I will give historical tours each day and Keith will take care of the gift shop. If you are around Crescent City in July, come by and I will give you a tour and introduce you to our residence ghost.

I plan to once again keep a daily journal to keep track of all the people we meet from all over the world. I will report this to you in the September historical article. I will not write for the August newsletter because of being on the island.

On Opening Day, Keith and I went to the Club to clean the museum and open it for visitors.  A friend of Lou Zobb came by for a visit to see the Ferry and museum. When Lou arrived, his friend, Rod Plaisted, had already had a tour of the Ferry and came down to the museum.

What a very interesting man! I didn’t ask him his exact age, but he is a World War II Vet. He was in the Naval Air as a young man. He proudly talked about his grandfather who was a master ship builder at the Fulton Ship Yard. His grandfather’s name was George Washington Douglas. He told me how he showed him to caulk a wooden vessel in 1929.

He told me stories of when he was 13 years old and he rode the ferry to the 1939 World’s Fair at Treasure Island. He would board the ferry with his best friend at the end of Black Diamond Boulevard on “Pittsburg Day.” He remembers seeing Benny Goodman, Gene Cupa (the famous drum player), Harry James and his orchestra, and Lionel Hampton. He would board the ferry to come home at 5:30.

Rod has always been interested in the railroads, so much so that he built his own railroad in his backyard.  He calls his railroad the Clayton & Bay Point Railway Co. He is the Chairman, President, and Chief Operating Officer.

He also told me a bit of railroad history. The Sacramento Northern Railway (S.N.R.) had four parlor cars, but the ‘Moraga’ was the only one with an open gated vestibule at the trailing end. He liked it so much, he built a 30 inch gauge model in his Concord backyard.

The S.N.R. ran from San Francisco to Chico by way of Sacramento. The ‘Moraga’ was an extra fare car that ran with several electric coaches with the ‘Comet’ drum on the rear.

We really enjoyed visiting with Rod, I am sure he has many other stories he could tell.

According to the book, The Ferry Building, by Nancy Olmsted, there were 22 electricians, who rotated shifts so that within any 24 hour period an electrician was always on duty at the Ferry building.  

The Ferry Building operated the electrical system for the piers, foghorns, bells and many waterfront lights. There were stevedores loading ships all night long; it was crucial to keep it all operating. There was a Fire Marshall who drove along the waterfront checking on possible hazardous cargo. The Port kept a matron on duty all night in the ladies waiting room.

By 1927, all kind of technological changes had to be made to accommodate the family automobile. Five Ferry slips had become ten, with Southern Pacific using 9 and 10 exclusively for automobile ferries.  

By 1939, Southern Pacific figures on Ferryboat passengers’ service were way down. In 1920, there were 22,657,418 transbay passengers carried in this service, compared to 9,937,488 in 1938, even though the population in East Bay Cities and San Francisco increased 50 percent. 

The bridges were built and people found they didn’t want to take the time for those wonderful rides across the Bay.  This was the beginning of hurry up!

Literally millions of people commuted on the Bay in the 1930’s. Many of them became good friends and celebrated many occasions on the ferries. 

Food was very important to the ferry riders. In 1938, you could order Pot Roast of Beef for 45 cents, Homemade Corned Hash was 40 cents, a cup of Beans was 25 cents, and a piece of Homemade Pie 10 cents. 

The ferryboat passengers were able to get quick smooth connections to where they were going.

The ferry system worked so well because the schedule of ferryboats was matched by the schedule of streetcar and cable car connections to most of the city. In 1930, 43 ferryboats transported a total of 47 million passengers and more than 6 million automobiles across the Bay. 

It was often said that ferryboat passengers had more fun on their twice daily trips than any other commuter.

It was only the early ferries like our Sausalito that were all wood. The interiors of these boats were all made by highly skilled craftsmen. The interior panels were made of only the finest hardwoods, with carved trim with intricate designs. Take time to look around and notice the fine craftsmanship of our ferry. This type of fine craftsmanship was only found on the passenger ferries built before 1900.

Another feature of many of the finer passenger ferries was a set of glass windows where the passengers could view the main engine in motion while the vessel was under way. It was always the hope of youngsters making a ferry trip that they could get a seat close to the windows so they could watch, with great fascination, the engine working while they were underway.

The gazing through the windows came to an abrupt end one day in 1922 when our Sausalito, making a run from San Francisco to Sausalito, had the misfortune to have her walking beam break in a critical spot, and the main connecting rod tore loose taking with it a good portion of the center hurricane deck. At the same time, the walking beam slammed down into the cabin, panicking the passengers. Shortly after that, all of the windows which allowed a view of the engine were boarded up. Much of the fascination of the ferryboats was removed when the windows were covered and the passengers lost one of the most exciting pastimes when making a trip across the Bay.

I found this article in an old bulletin dated February 1939 and thought you might enjoy reading it. This was happening 73 years ago. 

“There was a fine turnout of about 50 at the January 16th meeting and committees were appointed to serve for this year. There was also a proposal of the greatest importance to Sportsmen Inc. discussed at great length and with great enthusiasm and a standing vote was taken which was unanimous in favor of acquiring a certain property, dredging a suitable harbor and moving the Sausalito, provided all of this could be accomplished on terms and price agreeable to the membership. This program is already bearing fruit. 

On February 4, a deposit was made on 5 acres of the Yates property pending title search and delivery of deed. Since then the papers were received and taken to Chas. Fisher, our attorney. There was a slight discrepancy, so they were sent back for correction. Your officers are not doing this business in any haphazard manner.”