Originally built in 1879, the ferry boat Vallejo taxied on San Francisco bay from 1898-1947. Saved from being scrapped in 1949 by artist Jean Varda, the Vallejo became home to artists, beatniks, and hippies in the houseboat community of Sausalito. Varda, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, Alan Watts and a host of bohemians lived and partied on the Vallejo in the '50's, and '60's. I had the opportunity to visit an artist client who was living aboard in 1986 (b/w photo). By that time the boat was a dilapidated wreck, a survivor of the Sausalito houseboat wars of the late seventies when the city put an end to anchor-outs and squatters. After being bought by a corporation in 1999, work began to restore and remodel it into an incredible, historic houseboat that floats in it's original berth, now behind security gates.
6 Comments
Sid Marcy
5/7/2016 09:09:46 am
Is it true the Vallejo has a steel hull?
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Joseph Greco
5/7/2016 09:34:57 am
Sid.....Thanks for the historical perspective. According to Wikipedia (see link in main text) the Vallejo has a wooden hull and was later fitted with an outer fiberglass hull in 2012.
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Sid Marcy
5/9/2016 09:37:28 pm
Joseph...Thank you, I see the information you referenced.
Jason Williams
1/28/2017 08:11:00 am
The Vallejo never had a wooden hull. It was constructed of riveted iron plates. I was the diver on a project that placed the existing vessel into a new steel hull that was constructed in Shanghai China.
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1/6/2018 06:32:49 pm
Hello, I enjoyed the photos and articles. I'm researching some items I found hidden in a card purse in the wall of my house. One of the items was a Oregon and California RR ferry ticket. Some of the other items date from 1879. If possible, I would like to somehow verify that the ferry ticket is from the ferry that was later renamed the Vallejo ferry. There are photos of the ticket and the other artifacts in the linked Facebook post above. The ticket number was 7153.
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Joseph Greco
1/6/2018 08:37:38 pm
Thanks for commenting Paul. I checked out your photos ; great find!
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