Streamline ferry Kalakala rolls on in song

It was 26 years ago this month when the iconic ferryboat Kalakala returned to the Seattle waterfront – after a long exile serving as a cannery in Alaska – to a glorious welcome home.

The story of the vessel’s unlikely resurrection in November 1998 went downhill from there, of course, and the Kalakala was ultimately scrapped.

However, thanks to two Seattle men, the spirit of the beloved streamlined vessel now lives on in song.

The Resident Historian is a twice-weekly podcast from KIRO Newsradio's Feliks Banel. Each episode includes either Feliks's Wednesday history feature from Seattle's Morning News, or the weekly Friday morning installment of the history and geography series All Over The Map.