Holiday Ferry Lines: Ninety Years Of Waiting For The Boat

With the inauguration of cross-sound ferry service in 1923, Edmonds found itself in a new role: Gateway to Puget Sound.

Prior to 1920, passenger steamers were the main mode of transportation between Seattle, Edmonds and Everett. In the 1920s, the combination of paved roads, frequent bus service (provided by the ), and the growing popularity of the automobile marked the beginning of the end for traditional passenger steamers.

The Joyce Brothers of Mukilteo were quick to note this trend. They saw auto ferries as the wave of the future, and moved quickly to capitalize on it. They approached the City of Edmonds with a proposal to lease a portion of the municipal City Dock for cross sound ferry service. The lease was signed and finalized in 1922.

With the lease in place, the Joyce Brothers had a ferry built at Clinton, naming it The City of Edmonds. But this boat was different than the passenger steamers that had gone before: In addition to 125 passengers, it boasted a car deck capable of carrying 12 automobiles!

The inaugural run was set for May 17. Edmonds declared a town holiday, and the schools and shingle mills closed for the occasion. Unfortunately, The City of Edmonds experienced mechanical problems and was out of service that day (sound familiar?). But the celebration went on as planned, with the backers substituting a 100-passenger launch. Festivities included bands playing on both sides of the Sound, a picnic, and a baseball game between the Edmonds Town Team and the Yost Auto Company Team. The City of Edmonds was back in service within a few days, and regular runs began on May 20.

In addition to the Edmonds-Kingston run, 1923 also saw Edmonds become the mainland terminus for ferry service to Port Ludlow and Victoria. With the installation of a ferry across Hood Canal at the same time, travelers now had a direct route to the Olympic Peninsula.

The foot of Main Street was now the gateway to the Olympics.

The next few years saw travelers flocking to the ferries. Cross-sound travel became an immediate rage. For Edmonds this meant a crush of travelers passing through town, and long lines of cars waiting to board the ferries became an indelible part of community life.

Originally independent operations, the ferry lines were purchased and consolidated in 1928 by the Puget Sound Navigation Company (also known as the Black Ball Lines). In 1951, the State of Washington bought out all Puget Sound Navigation’s lines, with the exception of the Seattle-Port Angeles-Victoria B.C. run. On June 1, 1951 the Washington State Ferries officially began operation with reflagged Black Ball vessels. (For a detailed history read The Sound and the Ferry: The Birth of Washington State Ferries on History Link)

Edmonds remains an important link in the Washington State Ferry System. Thousands of cars and passengers pass through each year, and ferry lines remain a fact of life. Despite vessels capable of carrying hundreds of cars and sailings as often as every 30 minutes, on busy holiday weekends travelers still wait for hours in lines extending for miles.