Transportation Companies now held a duopoly over Seattle and environs cross-sound ferry operations. A rapid increase in the Alki-Manchester ferryboat fleet, as announced place.43 that day, never took

The Alki-Manchester Ferry continued operations as before the sale. Crosby’s son, Harold, directed the ferry’s operations under the Puget Sound Company’s governance. The Kitsap Company directed its eyes toward the Alki shore. Between 1930 and 1935, the Kitsap ferry Line acquired a small parcel of land along the Alki shore west of the Lighthouse.44 Alki-Manchester dock and east of the Alki No record has been found that explicitly states the Kitsap Company’s intent behind acquiring this property. A fair inference is that land was acquired to initiate a competing service and/or relocation of the Fauntleroy Ferry service, in whole or in part, to Alki. In the alternative, perhaps, the acquisition was a strategic action to control land resources to block Alki ferry expansion.

As the year turned to 1930, the number of automobiles registered in Seattle grew to 100,000.45 But business conditions were eroding. The onset of the Great Depression no doubt caused suspension of any Kitsap Company Alki expansion or relocation plans. Such plans were never revived.

### The Ferry Ends – The Dock Continues

The 1926 acquisition of the Crosby Direct Line Ferries by the Puget Sound Navigation Company was marked by a continuing increase in automobile ownership and potential ferry patronage. In 1930, the City of Seattle automobile registration had risen by one- third from 75,000 five years previously. The City’s population had grown by 27,500 to 365,000.46 In its early years, the Alki ferry was playing into the hand of a growth industry. But the dawn of the Great Depression drastically changed the context of the ferry’s business and operations.

With the “Great Depression”, the growth rate of registered automobiles and population plateaued. Seattle’s 1935 population was unchanged from that of 1930 and the number of registered automobiles grew by 10,000, or 10%. Puget Sound ferries were no longer serving a growth industry, as they had since the first 1906 car ferry. National economic conditions had collapsed and incomes fell. Nationally, per capita personal income fell from $700 per year to under $500 in 1935. Adjusted Gross Domestic Product fell by 11% over the five years ending 1935. The number of employed fell from 45.5 million to 42.3 million in the five years ending 1935, while the number of unemployed more than million.47 doubled to 10.6 million from 4.3

Ferry workers, in response to economic circumstances, demanded recognition of their union, increased wages, overtime pay, short contact periods enabling frequent requirements.48 bargaining, shorter work days and minimum staffing Absent from worker demands were job security and minimum employment level guarantees resulting from assured minimum sailing frequencies. The ferry operators faced static or falling demand, pricing inelasticity and an imperative to reduce costs. They asserted ongoing

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