"San Rafael 1877-1901"
Marin History Museum Collection. 2004.19.1
There’s a nerdish excitement to opening up a nondescript box from the Marin History Museum’s collections. I recently got handed one of those mystery containers to process. Being a geek of both history and art, I was stoked to find something that ticked both of those boxes: a 1955 print of a painting depicting a sidewheel steamboat under a full head of steam, with the words “San Rafael” painted on its side. I quickly discovered that this was a ferry with a relatively short but nonetheless fascinating history. And the artists responsible for bringing it to life had an equally strong connection to California history.
The artwork is a nostalgic silkscreen print featuring bright, bold colors. It was created in 1955 by Dorothy Cooper and Beverly Hackett, two Bay Area natives who relocated to Nevada County, California, and collaborated on depictions of Gold Rush-era history, including Nevada City’s old Chinatown, the classic San Francisco cable car, and the famous steamboat Chrysopolis that ran between Sacramento and San Francisco in the latter half of the 19th century.
The San Rafael itself had an interesting origin story: commissioned in 1877 by the North Pacific Coast Railroad, it was built all the way over in Brooklyn, New York, then shipped in pieces to be assembled here in the Bay Area. By 1878, it was chugging passengers between Sausalito and San Francisco during Marin's bedroom-community days.
Then came the night of November 30, 1901. A dense fog floated over the bay, and…. you can guess where this is going.
The San Rafael left Lombard Street Wharf, headed for Sausalito. Another ferry, the Sausalito, was coming into San Francisco from Marin. Near Alcatraz Island, the two had a horribly unpleasant meeting. The bow of the Sausalito shot through the San Rafael’s dining room, and despite both crews’ best efforts, the San Rafael was lost, sinking 120 feet to the bottom of the bay. The incident, claiming as its victims three people and a horse, was the worst in the Bay’s ferry history, and inspired the opening of Jack London’s The Sea Wolf.
Meanwhile the Sausalito was retired in the 1930s and became the clubhouse of the Sportsmen Yacht Club in Antioch. As for the San Rafael, attempts were made over the years to raise the steamboat, to no avail. And yet it remains preserved in historical photographs, and in full color prints like this one, which is now reunited with the rest of our cataloged collection.
What might pop up next in our ongoing collections cataloging? I’m feeling the nerdish excitement again just thinking about it.
Steve Fait is a volunteer with the Marin History Museum and a history docent
at China Camp Village.