Puget Sound Ferries: From Canoe to Catamaran

By Carolyn Neal and Thomas Kilday Janus

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1892724197
• ISBN13: 9781892724199
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Amer Historical Pr
• Length: 220 Pages
• Weight: 2.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 13.0" x 0.8" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A well-written, thorough history

This is a very engaging and comprehensive history of passenger transportation on Puget Sound. The book reflects wide-ranging and careful research, provides ample and informative illustrations and archival photos, and is written with clarity and wit. The tale begins with the way the complex and convoluted form of Puget Sound combined with the lack of roads to make the waters the natural and most efficient passageways for Native Peoples and, later, for newly arriving settlers as well. The authors trace how ferry routes developed to serve dozens of large and small settlements perched on the shores around the Sound in the latter half of the 1800s, and how the ubiquitous vessels of the "Mosquito Fleet" provided links between those scattered locations. The 20th Century brought the advent of automobiles, better roads, and concentrations of populations and jobs, which combined with business consolidations to supplant some ferry routes and to begin a move away from small, entrepreneurial transport services to fewer routes and larger ferries able to carry cars. The authors follow the story into its next phase, with the growth of a near-monopoly system (the "Black Ball" line) and the subsequent political and social tumult that resulted in the State's May 1951 takeover of key ferry routes, vessels and docks. The role of the current public transport system, both for commuters and occasional riders, is portrayed and also illuminated by the historical account. Interesting enhancements include samples of regional art depicting ferries, a chapter on the unique Art Deco "streamlined" ferry Kalakala, and a "commuter's diary" offering a frequent passenger's perspectives and some contemporary photos from various ferry routes. An extensive bibliography and a chapter-by-chapter bibliographic annotation point to resources for those interested in reading more about topics explored in the book. This book is both readable and informative, with a broad scope and substantial depth. It should be of great interest to anyone seeking to understand how the Seattle region ferry system evolved and factors that likely will affect the system's future.