By Larry Clinton, Sausalito Historical Society
While clicking through online copies of the Sausalito News recently, I came upon this intriguing headline:
“Sabotage Try Foiled In Sausalito.”
The July 1944 story goes like this: “The old Empire Garage building at 775 Bridgeway Boulevard, Sausalito. Bridgeway was the scene of an attempt to sabotage the Marinship war effort Wednesday night, July 12, when saboteurs entered the third floor of the building and spread oil on a number of packing cases containing vital electrical equipment.”
PHOTO FROM SAUSALITO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
The Village Fair as it looked from 1960-77
At that time, the large upstairs space had been taken over by Marinship authorities and was being used to make wooden templates for cutting sheets of steel according to engineers’ specifications.
The News recounted: “The attempt was frustrated by prompt action of Officer F. E. Graham of Prospect Avenue, a member of the Marinship police force. Graham first detected the presence of an intruder when he found the lock had been pried off a third story door. He entered and in the darkness could not immediately see the oil. Apparently the person or persons had already fled upon hearing his approach. Acting Lieut. Bolton Hall of Marinship Plant Protection Division was immediately notified. More careful inspection disclosed the oil. If the fire had been started, it is believed that even prompt fire fighting efforts might not have prevented serious loss. Additional protective measures have now been taken at other Marinship warehouses to prevent any further efforts at sabotage. Full investigation is underway by the FBI. Ten years in jail and $lO,OOO in fines are penalties facing such attempted saboteurs under both federal and state statutes. All Marinship officers are fully armed at all times, with definite instructions to defend government property from sabotage.”
There are no further mentions of sabotage in the paper, so this episode remains an unsolved mystery. But the article piqued my curiosity about that location:
In June 1935 the Sausalito News reported that 700 people crowded the garage for a sport show that featured boxing, wrestling, fencing and other events. One wrestling match was between “Kid” Capley and Rolf Pedersen of Sausalito. Rolf was better known as “Swede” Pedersen, a Golden Gate Bridge construction worker and fireman who became a legendary Sausalito historian and raconteur. Swede’s Beach at Hurricane Gulch is named for Pedersen, who pilfered bootleg whiskey that had been stashed there during Prohibition.
The garage was closed for a while after the war but reopened in February 1946. Announcing the new enterprise, the News reported: “The garage building in which the new enterprise is located was built in the middle twenties by the late Clinton Mason, and was known as Mason’s Garage. The garage was later operated by Bert Gazzola and Yates Hammett and known as the Empire Garage. When the latter owners moved to the Ferry Garage, the structure lay idle for some time during the depression years, and made a brief stab for fame when its top floor was converted into a Chinese gambling establishment.”
A year later the News reported: “Heath Ceramics, a new Sausalito industry, is located on the top floor of the Empire Garage building on Bridgeway.”
The Historical Society’s Doris Berdahl, writing in this paper in 2009, recalled: “The building became the birthplace of the Trade Fair, which showcased local artists along with then-avant garde furniture, pottery, jewelry, handwoven fabrics and other arts and crafts.
“When the Trade Fair moved to the ferryboat Berkeley, then moored on the Sausalito waterfront, a kind of natural evolution took place at the former garage site. New owners pioneered the concept of transforming a once-industrial building into an attractive shopping arcade, setting the stage for the later development of Ghirardelli Square and The Cannery in San Francisco. Small boutiques, selling unusual, often imported, merchandise not found anywhere else, began to fill the old place, converting its former automobile ramps into walkways and stairs. These ascended to the top floor past lush plantings, fountains and waterfalls. A favorite feature for many years was the lower ramp, dubbed Little Lombard Street. “
Another feature was a pictorial retrospective assembled by the Historical Society. After the expansion of the Casa Madrona Hotel in the late 70s eliminated Little Lombard, the Society moved the exhibit across the street to the Ice House during the City’s 1993 centennial, and established that relic as a visitor’s center.
Today, 769 Bridgeway is the home of Bacchus and Venus wine shop and tasting room.
You can view back issues of the Sausalito Sun and Marinscope at https://cdnc.ucr.edu.