EUREKA - San Francisco, CA
Posted by: 
Gryffindor3
N 37° 48.583 W 122° 25.300
10S E 550907 N 4184861
The EUREKA is a paddleboat that is maintained by the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.
Waymark Code: WM7QKZ
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 11/23/2009
Views: 14
From Wikipedia: "The Eureka is a side-wheel paddle steamboat, built in 1890, which is now preserved at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park in San Francisco, California. Originally named the Ukiah to commemorate the railway's recent extension into the City of Ukiah, 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.
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.
View of the seating area on Eureka's upper deck. The magazine shop is visible to the right behind the glass. The restaurant was on this level at the far end of the deckAs 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.
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 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."
Visit Instructions:
To post a visit log to this waymark you need to visit and write about the actual physical location. Any pictures you take at the location would be great, as well.