Highrise #61

**Union Ferry Depot** **Art by:** Chris Hytha **Story by:** Mark Houser Transcontinental railroad travelers ended their westward journey not by train but by boat at this station, which handled up to 47 million passengers a year. When the 1906 earthquake struck, it stopped the 22-foot clock, but the terminal and tower survived largely intact, much to the relief of refugees forced to flee across the bay. New York architect A. Page Brown snagged the job after designing a tomb for Charles Crocker, president of the Southern Pacific Railroad, which supplied most ferry traffic. Politicians worried over the bidding, and Brown's payment was frozen during construction; before the dispute was resol...View all