Golden Hour, Puget Sound to Vancouver Island
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Description
A Washington State Ferries scenic guide photographed almost entirely in amber light, its cover a WSF vessel in silhouette against an orange sunset with the Olympic Mountains as a dark ridge behind it.
Washington State Ferries became the largest ferry system in the United States in 1951, when the state of Washington bought out Puget Sound Navigation Company — the old "Black Ball Line" — for $5 million following a labor strike that left commuters stranded. This fold-out scenic guide, issued sometime in the mid-to-late 1970s based on its bold condensed serif title type and warm amber photography, was part of WSF's effort to reframe a commuter utility as a tourist experience.
The three-column destination list on the cover traces the actual route geography: the western inlets (Olympic Peninsula, Hurricane Ridge, Hood Canal, Kitsap Peninsula), the mid-Sound islands (Vashon, Whidbey, Bainbridge, Lopez), and then the San Juan chain — San Juan Island, Shaw, Orcas — before landing on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. That last entry is the tell: WSF operated the Anacortes-to-Sidney route for decades, threading through the San Juans before crossing the international border to Sidney on the Saanich Peninsula, about 20 miles from Victoria. The route ran until it was suspended in 2020.
The interior photo spread follows through on that international pitch. One caption reads "Butchart Gardens, British Columbia" — the sunken garden that Jennie Butchart began cultivating around 1912 in the exhausted limestone quarry her husband's Portland cement company had dug out; the quarry had originally supplied cement for early Vancouver construction. Other photos are captioned at Marymere Falls near Lake Crescent, "backpacking near Cape Alava" (the westernmost point in the contiguous United States, reached only by a three-mile boardwalk), and "The Giants Graveyard, south of La Push" — a cluster of offshore sea stacks on the Quileute coast.
Researched with claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 on May 26, 2026. AI-assisted — verify before citing.
Details
- Publisher◇ AI
- Washington State Ferries
- Coverage◇ AI
- Puget Sound, San Juan Islands, and southwestern British Columbia
- Paper◇ AI
- glossy coated stock
- Print medium◇ AI
- offset lithograph
- Color◇ AI
- full-color
FeaturesAI
- fold-out brochure
- full-bleed cover photograph
- photo collage interior panel
- three-column destination index on cover
Condition notesAI
- fold creases at panel edges
- minor handling wear on cover edges
Highlights
- The cover vessel is a double-ended ferry — symmetric bow and stern — a design unique to Puget Sound that lets the boat load and unload at either end without turning, eliminating the need for turnaround slips at any terminal.p.1
- The three-column destination list ends on 'Vancouver Island' — a Canadian destination reachable because WSF's Anacortes-Sidney route crossed the international border, a fact the brochure buries quietly in the cover layout rather than advertising.p.1
- 'Butchart Gardens, British Columbia' appears in a guide from a Washington State agency because the Anacortes-Sidney ferry deposited passengers near Victoria; Butchart Gardens itself was a depleted limestone quarry before Jennie Butchart began transforming it in 1912, and the quarry's original cement had helped build early Vancouver.p.2
- The 'backpacking near Cape Alava' photograph references the westernmost point of the contiguous United States; during the likely date range of this guide (mid-to-late 1970s), a major archaeological excavation was underway just south at Ozette, unearthing a Makah village buried by a mudslide around 1700.p.2
- 'The Giants Graveyard, south of La Push' names a cluster of offshore sea stacks on the Quileute Reservation coast; La Push, at the mouth of the Quillayute River, is the only harbor on the entire outer Olympic Coast.p.2
Further reading
Washington State Ferries — Wikipedia
WikipediaOverview of WSF history including the 1951 state acquisition of the Black Ball Line and the system's growth into the largest ferry operation in the US.
Anacortes–San Juan Islands ferry — Wikipedia
WikipediaDetails on the route that connected Anacortes through the San Juan Islands to Sidney, BC — the international service that explains Vancouver Island's presence on this brochure's cover.
Butchart Gardens — Wikipedia
WikipediaHistory of Jennie Butchart's transformation of a spent limestone quarry beginning around 1912 into one of Canada's most-visited gardens.
Cape Alava — Wikipedia
WikipediaThe westernmost point of the contiguous United States, within Olympic National Park, accessible by a three-mile boardwalk and near the Ozette archaeological site.
Marymere Falls — Wikipedia
WikipediaA 90-foot waterfall near Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park, one of the area's most-visited short hikes.