Archives West Finding Aid

The Washington State Ferry system, the largest in the United States and the third largest in the world, is documented in this collection of photographs covering a brief, but significant period of time. In 1951, Washington State Ferries (then known as the Washington Toll Bridge Authority) came into existence with state of Washington Department of Transportation’s purchase of the domestic operations assets of the Puget Sound Navigation Company. These photographs show the ferries and ferry terminals and docks purchased and in operation between 1951-1955.

There were several types of boats were purchased from the Puget Sound Navigation Company. Those documented in this collection included a number of steel diesel-electrics from San Francisco, (the MV Illahee, MV Klickitat, MV Nisqually, MV Quinault, and MV Eneta i) ; wooden diesel-electrics including the MV Chetzemoka, MV Kehloken , and MV Klahanie ; steamers such as SS San Mateo and SS Shasta ; wooden diesel-powered boats built in the Northwest such as the MV Leschi, MV Skansonia and a former Great Lakes steamer, the MV Chippewa.

Although Native American carved canoes were used to travel the waters for centuries, ferry travel began in the late 1830's with the appearance of the SS Beaver , a side wheeler steamboat built in London for the Hudson Bay Company. From the 1850s to the 1930's, Puget Sound's historic Mosquito Fleet , consisting of over 2,500 small steamships and looking like a swarm of mosquitoes -- and thus its name -- steamed from port to port around Puget Sound. The calm years of the Mosquito Fleet lasted from the 1880’s to the early 1920’s when competition with rail and road transportation put the fleet out of business.

By 1929, the ferry industry had consolidated into two companies: Puget Sound Navigation Company and Kitsap County Transportation Company. Soon after, a strike in 1935 forced Kitsap County Transportation Company out of business, leaving the Puget Sound Navigation Company, commonly known as Black Ball Line, with primary control of ferry service on Puget Sound.

After World War II, increasing labor costs made private operation of the ferry system increasingly challenging. In the late 1940’s, ferry workers’ labor unions succeeded in securing higher wages from the Puget Sound Navigation Company. To meet new operating costs, the Puget Sound Navigation Company petitioned the Washington State Highway Department to allow a 30 percent fare increase. When the state refused its request, the Puget Sound Navigation Company tied up its boats, bringing much of cross-sound ferry service to a halt.

Recognizing that the ferries were a lifeline for many communities with a need for reliable ferry service to meet growing demand, the state began addressing the problem. In 1951, after numerous discussions with the state Legislature over fares and service, the Puget Sound Navigation Company sold all of its terminal facilities and ferries (with the exception of the Seattle/Port Angeles/Victoria, B.C. route) for $5 million to a newly-created Washington Toll Bridge Authority, now known as Washington State Ferries.

At the time of the purchase, the ferry system was only intended to provide temporary service until a network of bridges could be built connecting the west and east sides of Puget Sound. In 1959, however, the Legislature rejected the plan to build numerous bridges across Puget Sound and the Washington State Ferries system continues to grow and develop in the region.

[Content for this article was derived from Steven J. Pickens, Ferries of Puget Sound, Acadia Publishing, Charleston, S.C., 2005; The Washington State Department of Transportation <http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Ferries/yourwsf/History.htm>; and several internal links in HistoryLink.org <http://www.historylink.org/> and Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page >