Kalakala Named to National Register of Historic Places

The historic art-deco ferry Kalakala has been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The register, managed by the National Park Service, is the nation's official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation. Kalakala was added the register on March 22, 2006. Built in 1935, the Kalakala featured a rounded, bulbous nose that tapered to a pointed stern resembling a jet contrail. During the Great Depression and the years after World War II, she symbolized Seattle’s emergence as an industrial city. She was a favorite of photographers. And passengers regarded a ride as more of an excursion than a commute.

In 1967, Kalakala was sold to a seafood company, and wound up in Alaska. She was beached and her interior gutted to make way for processing equipment. In 1984, a Seattle sculptor, Peter Bevis, discovered the rusting hulk, and after 15 years of work, he refloated her and brought her to Seattle. Unable to find backers in Seattle, she was sold to retired engineer Steve Rodrigues, who formed the Kalakala Alliance Foundation to restore and operate her as a floating museum. The vessel is now in Tacoma. (Photo credit: Washington State Historical Society)