Docktown's Historic Yacht Club Building is a Redwood City Icon

The oldest and most endearing structure by far at Docktown is the iconic water tank atop the Peninsula Yacht Club, used not only for staging sailing expeditions and races, but community dinners and parties, yoga classes, drum circles, pool tournaments, movie nights, and community meetings, even hosting weddings, baby showers, and funerals.

The tank's mysterious origins are not without clues.

Former Marina Operator Fred Earnhart and former Harbor master Paul Porri say the tank was built to supply water to the schooners that rode the creek into the heart of Redwood City in the early days when the wharves and turning basin were located near the present day City Hall. If true, the tank, and the building below it represent the last vestige of this rich maritime history.

Others have suggested it was part of the leather tannery operations, established next to the creek by IM Wentworth in the 1870s on the property now occupied by Toys R Us and Kohls. Wentworth had overextended himself and sold it to Joseph Frank and his sons for in 1879 for $7500, a lot of money at a time when lots were selling for $100 an acre. But leather was an important commodity and the tannery prospered under the Frank family and became the largest employer in Redwood City, turning out leather for thousands of boots and other leather goods.

Water is needed in making leather. But the tannery had its own, much larger tower, which survived the fire in 1968 that destroyed the rest of the tannery. And the squat little tank at Docktown can be seen in the distance in a photo from 1917 on land the Tannery did not acquire until 1932, rendering this explanation impossible.

By then the city was growing up. The downtown harbor had been paved over and the port moved downstream to its present location. Silting had become a problem and dredging too expensive and the railroad and highways had stolen the creek's thunder. The long spacious wharves at the Tannery were the last to go.

The tank itself sat vacant for many years until J. Franklin Salaman and his partner Warren Cash established a boat harbor on the site. Salaman's father, who had worked for  Franks Tannery since he was 13, teamed up with Hotel Magnate Ben Swig to purchase the tannery properties and develop them in 1959, and gave or sold Docktown to "Jay" and his brother Joseph Waldo Salaman. (Other properties in the portfolio included the Kaiser Hospital site, Mervyn's Plaza, Creekside Plaza, and the Freeway right of way.)

Jay and Cash  had visions of creating the most modern harbor in the south bay.  Salaman  leased the creek waters from the city, while Cash once again dredged out the mud, and together they built what was then known as Redwood Harbor, with covered berths, a boat landing, a crane, and boat yard. There were plans for a miniature railroad around the yards.

With the water tank empty and available, Salaman removed some of the pillars from the tower and created a building he used for the harbor office, which later became the office of a boat dealer and then a real estate company.

A boating enthusiast himself, Salaman was one of the founders of the Peninsula Power Cruising Club, whose members cruised  bay waters in the days when gasoline was cheap and conservation not yet trendy. As more of the members acquired sailboats the club transformed into the Peninsula Yacht Club.

Meanwhile the creek bottom again filled with mud, and dreams of a dynamic boat harbor on the creek diminished as better harbors were established downstream.

Cash left, and  Salaman eventually traded a lease to the marina to his bookkeeper Fred Earnhardt in payment for gambling debts and other obligations, and turned his attention to his other properties, and society friends in San Francisco where he owned a home in Dolores Heights.

With his wife Maureen, a cancer crusader, he became involved in alternative health care, leading to his arrest for trying to smuggle laetrile into the US from Mexico. It's not clear if there was any connection to the mysterious loan of $50,000 in gold coins from Taroub Rusnak that would eventually lead to her acquisition of half of Docktown from Jay's second wife after he died.

In the meantime, looking for a new home, the Yacht Club moved into the small building that had been constructed around the water tower in the early 1980's, and continued to expand and improve the property,

Because of the relationship with Salaman the club always paid very affordable rates for rent, on the condition that members maintain and improve the building on their own dime, and they added the bar, a dance floor/reading library, kitchen, back bar, and other improvements. The design on the tank, created by one of its members, has been painted and repainted mostly recently in 2013.

Time marches on. Fred Jr. took over the lease on the harbor after his father died. It had become evident that the tidal waters, which retreated to mud flats twice a day, were better suited for flat bottom houseboats, floating homes, and small boats that could be utilized for residences, and Earnhardt encouraged the transition because it was more profitable.

By the time he gave up the business in Feb of 2013 there were about 100 residences on the creek, and while a few sailboats still endured the indignity of sitting in the mud when the tide was out, most of the serious sailors were keeping their boats at Pete's and the Municipal pier.

As the leaseholder for the creek the city took over operation of the Marina. By now the land was the property of Joseph Waldo Salaman's children, Jodi and Franklin, and the successor to Jay Franklin, Taroub Rusnak who acquired a half interest for $500,000 in 2010 after forcing Jay's widow into a sheriff's sale over the unpaid debts arising from the loan of the gold coins. The owners now want to develop the property, which it has been reported, could bring them upwards of $20 million.

The Inner Harbor Precise Plan now being developed, is supposed to determine the future of Docktown and other properties in the area, mostly owned by the city. That the floating residences sit on the water, complicates things since they require access via the land the owners now want to develop.

But the city owned lands behind Docktown make a land swap feasible. That would allow the city to develop a greenbelt park with public access along the creek next to the houseboats, some of whom might move further downstream to open up space for kayak and boat rentals and other public amenities.

This plan would also allow the city to retain the iconic old building with the tank on top of it, which should be designated as a historic building, and preserved as an integral part of the city's historical maritime heritage and link to its colorful past.