San Francisco made an assortment of boats and ships with styles such as Chinese junk brought over by immigrants. The National Historic Park has over 100 small boats in its collection maintained by traditional craftsmanship. Many of them are fishing vessels.
The pier is noted to be an important crossing point before the Golden Gate Bridge was built in 1937. US Highway 101 crossed by car ferry here connecting the northern side of the San Francisco Bay’s roads. The Eureka was closed for the season when I visited, but the schooner C.A. Thayer, built for the lumber trade was open. It was built in 1895 and sailed until 1950 to catch cod in the latter half of its life, making it the last commercial sailing boat on the west coast.
Steam-powered paddle tug Eppleton Hall was also closed. It was used in the mid-19th century and had two independent engines for each paddle meaning it could turn on a dime. It worked in England until 1968 and went to San Francisco with its own engines in 1970. Another tug, Hercules, was built in New Jersey and made its maiden voyage around South America to make it to San Francisco. It towed barges and logs up and down the west coast from Panama to Alaska from 1907 to 1924.
The other big boat here is the Balclutha, built in Scotland in 1886. It was an iron and steel cargo vessel that brought coal from Europe and grain from California until 1903. It made shorter annual trips to Alaska bringing supplies to the frontier state and salmon back south. The ship was part of the Hollywood Navy in the 1930s with fake gun ports painted on one side and used in the background of several films.
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