By Larry Clinton, Sausalito Historical Society
The recent PBS documentary Citizen Hearst touched briefly on William Randolph Hearst’s stay in Sausalito, causing me to wonder what sort of impact the profligate newspaper publisher had on this village.
COURTESY PHOTO
W.R. Hearts, circa 1910
Over the years, the Sausalito News reported on many of Hearst’s activities. The first mention I found, in an 1886 unsigned social column, reads like a fit of publishing pique at the upstart owner of the San Francisco Examiner:
“It is said that Mrs. George Hearst intends to have her son begin work as a reporter upon his father's paper, the ‘Examiner.’ He is about to graduate from Harvard College and is heir to millions. His mother's intention is praiseworthy. But she would do well to have him learn journalism upon some paper not owned by his father, where he would receive no favoritism and be exposed to the stimulus of keen competition. It is a hard matter to make a good journalist of a college graduate with great expectations.”
As mentioned in the documentary, Hearst actually was expelled from Harvard in his senior year, after a long record of truancy and elaborate pranks on campus.
In April 1889, the paper took a more welcoming tone toward Hearst, reporting that he “has leased Seapoint from Mr. F. M Cartan for a period of one year we understand, with the privilege of purchasing if he so desires. Mr. Hearst is welcomed with open arms to our lovely town as a resident, and it is to be hoped he will permanently live here.”
Sea Point, described by Sausalito historian Jack Tracy, was “a magnificent home on a promontory built by Henry Cartans, a local distiller.” When Hearst moved into Seapoint, he brought along his mistress, Tessie Powers — a faux pas that was poorly received by the British colony that lorded over the Sausalito hills. However, he curried favor with the townsfolk through generous support of organizations such as the local chapter of the Native Sons of the Golden West, which was named Seapoint Parlor in honor of the Native Son.
While enjoying life in Sausalito, Hearst’s competitive drive led him to acquire a fast steamboat, which he entered into a number of races with other steam vessels on the Bay. Hearst must have been mightily miffed when his new toy failed its first test later that month, against the steamer San Rafael. “The launch and the steamer left Sausalito at 2:35,” reported the News, “but the San Rafael after a ten minutes run left the launch over a mile behind.”
After some tinkering with the engine, Hearst personally went aboard his steam launch for a re-match against the San Rafael, “when everything went with a jump” according to the News, and “The launch beat the San Rafael to the city by fully a quarter of a mile.” The News added: “Mr. Hearst although a young man has a marked individuality and the enterprise and ways, means and ends of his metropolitan journal, the Examiner, reflect his wonderful executive ability and will power.”
The following February Hearst exercised his purchase option and bought Seapoint for $11,000. The News gushed, “So pleased is he with this part of the country that he expended over $8,000 in improvements on his elegant home before he purchased it. When men like Mr. Hearst have such confidence in Sausalito there is no wonder property increases in value, and the demand for residence sites and suburban homes is active. There never was so great a demand, so early in the season and by so many, as there is at the present time for summer accommodations by those who wish to spend the season here.”
Jack Tracy’s Sausalito history, Moments in Time, recounts Hearst’s next ambitious plan for Sausalito:
“Since early childhood, when he first saw the palaces and museums of Europe, Hearst had dreamed of possessing a luxurious ‘castle’ filled with the finest art and sculpture in the world. It would become a lifelong obsession. In April 1890, construction began just below Seapoint on what was to be Hearst's castle, the first of many attempts to give form to a vision. But for reasons not entirely clear, work was stopped with only a retaining wall on Water Street and the foundations of the gatehouse completed.”
Eventually, Hearst built five castles, but that foundation is all that remains of his Sausalito dream. By 1943, with five "castles" including San Simeon, Hearst sold his promontory overlooking the bay.