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down the Bay and burst into tears. Crowley was notified and including the longest ride from the Ferry Building to Vallejo, LEFT: Crowds stroll by the Yacht
went to her relief. The young woman said that her husband which was an hour and forty-five minutes. Harbor at the Panama-Pacific
was on board, and that was enough for the boatman. He By 1910, San Francisco’s population had grown to 416,912 International Exposition in 1915.
helped her on his boat, powered up to the vessel, and put the people, which was a 22 percent increase since 1900, and the This great fair was San Francisco’s
reintroduction to the world after the
lady on the schooner, where she promptly fainted, without Crowley brothers kept their focus on emerging opportunities devastation of the 1906 earthquake
having thanked him. in the maritime marketplace. and fire, which made it the perfect
Many years earlier, in 1872, when Dave Crowley Sr. was The outbreak of World War I in 1914 ushered in a new opportunity for Tom Crowley to
plying his boatman skills on the ocean, Emperor Norton era for them. The brothers provided much-needed services to debut his first passenger services
made his famous proclamation urging the building of a the war effort by supplying coal, groceries, and other goods to visitors wishing to tour the San
Francisco Bay.
bridge to connect people and goods between San Francisco to battleships and cargo vessels coming into port, along with
and Oakland, which ended up being prescient. The idea of the standard help providing towing and ship-assist work. OPPOSITE: After that successful
bridges linking north-, south-, and eastbound communities The Crowleys had their eyes firmly set on the future and first foray into the tour business,
gained greater interest as automobiles gained popularity. The continued to invest and expand their Pacific operations after Crowley kept his two sightseeing
ferryboats, which were the workhorses of the Bay, continued the war, including a tug-and-barge business in Puget Sound boats, Crowley No. 18 and No. 17,
to carry the bulk of supplies and people to myriad destinations, and tugboat service in Los Angeles Harbor in the 1920s, as in operation for other events such
as the arrival of the US naval fleet
(left and top right). Meanwhile,
he maintained his main maritime
transport business at Howard Street
Wharf (bottom right).

30 • Red and White Fleet