In the Bible, God told Noah to build an ark. The ark Noah built was eight times longer than the arks in this 1895 photo of Belvedere Cove. Shorter they may be, but far more creature comforts they had. For example, the ark in center foreground, the Nautilus, consisted of four San Francisco streetcars that were barged across the bay and bolted to a large raft. Thus the Nautilus’ cozy interior had ample seating and enough windows to easily view the nearby hills of Tiburon.
The typical ark of those days had four rooms and a kitchen with numerous bunks being essential. That’s because several families owned most arks jointly and friends were frequent guests. Ark owners — from San Francisco, Oakland and throughout Marin — used their arks primarily for summertime fun. Once the season was over, powerboats would haul the arks under a Beach Road drawbridge into Belvedere lagoon to shelter them from winter storms.
According to Pictorial History of Tiburon, the early 1900s saw ark-fun at its highest. That’s when “Night in Venice” festivals were staged with prizes for best decor or best skit, the latter being staged by groups named “Descendants of Noah” or “Venetians of the West.” Research gives little idea of how many arks existed at any one time. The Sausalito News of May 18, 1894, reported, “Along with a number of yachts and small boats, that night there were 15 arks anchored in the cove between Belvedere and Tiburon. It made for a beautiful sight.”
But their numbers started to decline with the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906 when many arks were used to house those who’d lost homes in the disaster. And in 1928 the Beach Road drawbridge was eliminated in favor of a permanent crossing, trapping many arks in their wintertime refuge where they slowly deteriorated. However, a few remain to this day. In San Francisco, the Maritime National Historical Park at Hyde Street Pier has the restored six-room Lewis Ark and it’s available for public viewing. In Marin, Tiburon’s Historic Ark Row shopping venue boasts of two arks. One has been reconfigured into an office; and the other, at 116 Main St. in Tiburon, is Trattoria Servino’s friendly Enoteca Bar. And if you happen to go there, for super service, tell the barkeep: “Jim sent me.”
