2 Aug 1969: Last Day of the Coronado Ferry

Going through the latest box of items, I found these two event covers that piqued my curiosity, as they happened right here in San Diego: 


They were issued to mark the Last Day of Operation of the famous Coronado Ferry.  That last day was apparently 2 Aug 1969.  One cover was addressed and the other had a tiny newspaper clipping where the address should go.  Looking closer, that second cover had the full newspaper article from the local San Diego Union-Tribune.  All pages and columns of that article were included.  Here was the cover photo:

 

 There were some interesting details mentioned:

- The usual 25-cent pedestrian fee was being reduced to 10 cents until the last ferry trips were completed
- The police and other authorities were supervising for safety reasons.  People has asked if they could host parties (no), and they had to stop people from riding back and forth all day to hog a spot on the last trip
- "Anyone thinking of taking souvenirs does so at the risk of jail time."
- "When those last lines are made fast, it will mark the end of an era in which we have carried 250 million passengers over 33 years of service."

The cachet lists five ships, the M.V. Crown City, the M.V. San Diego, the M.V. Coronado, the M.V. Silver Stand and the M.V. North Island.  The article described the last two ships as the Crown City (skippered by Capt. Donald Bettencourt) tying up at the San Diego side and the San Diego (skippered by Capt. Fred Koch) tying up on the Coronado side.

They were running a tight schedule that night.  "At 11:59pm, the two ferries would become property of the state of California" and two minutes later at 12:01 am, the new San Diego-Coronado Bridge would be opened to traffic.

I moved to San Diego in 1987 and the Coronado Bay Bridge had been a major landmark for almost 20 years before that.  It is hard to picture a day before it was there, dominating the bay.  But this cover tells that tale.  I could keep going, researching the other ferries mentioned in the cachet, but for now, my peek into that envelope altered my walk down memory lane.  Always look closely at the collectibles that pass through your hands.





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