Long Description:"Originally named the Ukiah to commemorate the railway's recent
extension into that city, the boat was built by the San Francisco
and North Pacific Railroad Company at their Tiburon yard. The
Eureka has been designated a National Historic Landmark.
Early history
The ship originally carried commuters between San Francisco and
Tiburon during the day and hauled railroad freight cars at night.
In 1907, Ukiah was re-routed to the Sausalito–San Francisco Ferry
Building route by its new owners, Northwestern Pacific
Railroad.
As automobiles became more common, motorists wanted to "drive
across the bay". Since there were no bridges on San Francisco Bay
at the time, the Ukiah was able to meet this demand via a refitted
lower deck designed to handle vehicles. The deck above (also
enclosed) was expanded for passengers.
World War I and name change
During World War I, Ukiah carried munition-filled rail cars for
the war effort. Overloading of the ship caused hull strains so
severe that the government paid for complete rebuilding of the
ship. Shipwrights at the Southern Pacific yard labored for two
years--eventually replacing all of its structure above the
waterline. This kind of reconstruction was called "jacking up the
whistle and sliding a new boat underneath." The refurbished ferry
was christened Eureka in honor of the Northern California city,
which also happened to be the new northern termination of the
Northwestern Pacific Railroad.
As a passenger ferry, she could carry 2,300 passengers and 120
automobiles. At that time, she was the biggest and the fastest
double-ended passenger ferry boat in the world--299.5 feet long
(90.76 m), with an extreme width of 78 feet (23.6 m) and gross
tonnage of 2,420 (5,324 kg).
1920s through retirement
Between 1922 and 1941 Eureka was on the Sausalito commuter run.
As the largest of the Northwestern boats, Eureka made the heaviest
commuter trips - the 7:30 from Sausalito and the 5:15 from San
Francisco. Each trip averaged 2,200 passengers. During this period
the upper deck included seating areas, a magazine stand, and a
restaurant that served full meals.
Eureka was primarily a passenger boat, carrying very few cars.
After 1929, though, she sometimes made an extra run from the Hyde
Street Pier in San Francisco, carrying autos on Sundays.
Completion of the Golden Gate Bridge between San Francisco and
Marin in 1937 doomed ferry service. Northwestern Pacific first cut
service, then abandoned ferries altogether in 1941.
During the war years, Eureka joined a number of bay ferries in
the work of transporting troops from Camp Stoneman in Pittsburg, up
the Sacramento River, to the Port of Embarkation piers in San
Francisco.
By the 1950s Eureka served by linking Southern Pacific's
cross-country trains, which terminated at Oakland, with San
Francisco until 1957, when she snapped an engine crank pin. That
service was discontinued the following year. In 1958, Eureka joined
the fleet of historic ships now at the National Historical
Park.
In the late 1990s it was used as a main filming location for the
TV-show Nash Bridges.
In October of 1999, Eureka entered San Francisco Drydock for a
$1 million restoration project focusing on the vessel's
superstructure--the above-water portions of the vessel. A
significant portion of that restoration was the replacement of the
boat's "kingposts"--four large wooden structures which support the
paddlewheels and upper decks.
Design
Although a number of large ferryboats survive in the U.S.,
Eureka is the only one with a wooden hull. She is one of the most
impressive remaining examples of traditional American wooden
shipbuilding.
Beneath her upperworks, the round-bottomed hull is 42 feet (12.7 m)
wide by 277 feet (83.9 m) long. The house rests on a platform
extending 18 feet (5.5 m) from the hull on either side.
Her walking beam engine was originally powered by coal boilers
that were converted to oil in 1905. The engine was built in 1890 by
the Fulton Iron Works in San Francisco. It is the only walking beam
engine in the United States preserved in a floating vessel.
With the increased length of five feet, Eureka became the
largest wooden passenger ferry ever built. She was certified to
carry 3,500 people." Wikipedia