Overlooked gem: Maritime park finally gets chance to shine
Past the western edge of San Francisco’s famed Fisherman’s Wharf, past the tourists pounding the pavement at all hours of the day and night, the 19th century ships and sandy beaches of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park can be easy enough to overlook.
And overlooked the park often is — by locals who shun tourist-friendly Fisherman’s Wharf and by visitors who don’t venture to where the bustle of Jefferson Street fades to sand.
The park’s caretakers — employees of the National Park Service — are trying to change that, launching a series of events designed to get the public to the park. The latest offering? A family fun day Saturday morning in the shadow of the park’s Maritime Museum.
The monthly event is a test program of sorts, said Lou Sian, an organizer from the Park Service. Attendance could have been better — only a dozen or so people showed up — but it’s the effort and the community outreach that counts, she said, though acknowledging there’s more work to be done.
More than 20 visitors showed up for the same event in September, and the park is taking things one step at a time, for now.
“Do they know about us?” Sian said of the public. “What can we do to make people feel welcome here?”
As hearty swimmers in the background braved air temperatures in the 60s, with the water surely no warmer, park employees led the handful of families that did show up through a nautical field day of sorts, complete with rescuing sinking ships and beanbag races.
“My name is Aidan,” a 3½-year-old introduced himself, dusting off miniature corduroys. But now, he added, his name is “Missouri,” after the battleship.
His adopted moniker, explained his mother, Narahya Byrne, came from the toddler’s latest obsession, historical battleships, “which we’re really, really into right now.” The toddler, who sure knows his ships, was referring to the battleship Missouri, best known as the site of Japan’s negotiated surrender which brought World War II to a close.
The 50-acre Maritime park is home to more than half a dozen historic vessels moored at the Hyde Street Pier, from the 1891 scow schooner “Alma” to the 1915 steam schooner Wapama.
Building off the momentum of the 2016 centennial anniversary of the National Park Service, the park’s caretakers are trying to lure passersby with a combination of the history and the simple pleasures of the sea, plus scenic westward views of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Attendance and visibility are problems parks across the country grapple with. But when they’re taken away, as in October 2013, when the federal government shut down more than 400 national parks, people take notice.
“If we don’t have people coming to the parks, who’s going to stand up and advocate for us?” Sian said.
As his 4-year-old son, Christopher, ditched his pants to frolic in the frigid bay, San Francisco resident Tim Cordell reflected on growing up in Pacifica, where “all the hills were empty” and “there were places where we could run and hide and play.”
That’s what he sought for his son at the park.
Asked if his son would be interviewed, Cordell said he’d try, but no promises. Turns out he was too busy playing in the sand.