San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park ⓘ

A “place” can be defined in a number of ways. It can be a spot on a map, a building, a structure, or anywhere that is filled with human meaning. History is written on the landscape through human structures and cultural landscapes. San Francisco Maritime is steward to a number of historical sites that preserve maritime history and tradition.

The Aquatic Park National Historic Landmark Historic District was envisioned in 1866 and built in the 1930s as a WPA project. It includes Aquatic Park Cove and beach, viewing stands, speaker towers, landscaped grounds, and the Aquatic Park Bathhouse . Originally designed for recreation, the district continues to allow an urban audience to enjoy a variety of scenic and recreational opportunities.

The Hyde Street Pier was an important link for travel across the San Francisco Bay before the Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge were built. Since the creation of San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, it has housed the park's colleciton of historic ships . The Haslett Warehouse was once part of the factories and indutries that dominated the waterfront around Black Point Cove. The building now houses the Visitor Center and Argonaut Hotel, and the exhibits inside provide context for understanding maritime heritage.

Like many artists during the Great Depression, the painters and sculptors who decorated the Aquatic Park Bathhouse found work through the Federal Art Project (FAP) , the visual arts arm of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) . In San Francisco alone, FAP artists painted numerous buildings—including iconic Coit Tower, the first publicly funded art project in the United States. The FAP drew from the city’s rich network of artists to execute its projects. For Aquatic Park, administrators Joseph Danysh and William Gaskin hired Hilaire Hiler as the artistic director for decorating the bathhouse. This was the park’s central building, designed by architect William Mooser III. Local artists Sargent Johnson , Beniamino Bufano , and Richard Ayer also joined the projects as supervisors. San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park continues to build on information about the artists and artist assistants known to have contributed to the Aquatic Park Bathhouse from 1935 to 1939. The former bathhouse is now the Maritime Museum , and the park works to ensure that the original artwork is preserved for the public to view and enjoy.

Ann Sonia Medalie (1896-1991) painted the unusual and intricate designs for plants and fish in the Maritime Museum lobby murals. She applied the colored glazes, gold leaf, and silver leaf to make the creatures shimmer. Latvian-born Medalie, who studied briefly at the Art Institute of Chicago, was herself a respected painter. Her long career took her around the United States, Mexico, South Africa, and Israel. Exquisitely detailed flowers, still lifes, and landscapes with fantastical touches were her specialty. Hilaire Hiler, who designed the Maritime Museum lobby murals, was not the only famed artist whose vision Medalie helped execute. She assisted Miguel Covarrubias and Diego Rivera with their murals for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, becoming good friends with Frida Kahlo.

Martin, Nicole. Mysterious Paint Can of San Francisco’s Maritme Museum . Home and Homelands Exhibition. National Park Service, 2024.

Charles Nunemaker created the beach-themed mural, Sepia Seascape, in the foyer of the women’s bathroom in the Maritime Museum. He also assisted on works throughout the building, including the carvings by Sargent Johnson.

Ann Rice O’Hanlon (1908-1998) painted an abstract panel, 24 inches by 4 feet in size, for one of the columns on the upper floor of the Aquatic Park Bathhouse. She executed it in the fragile medium of egg tempera, noting the piece had “a bit of an effect of a stained glass window in the dusk.” It is unclear, however, if this panel was ever installed. Rice O’Hanlon was an artist of note before the Aquatic Park project. In 1934, she completed a 38 by 11-foot fresco in the Memorial Hall of the University of Kentucky. Depicting the history of the state—and continuously discussed for its portrayal of African Americans—it was the largest fresco be painted by a woman in the United States.

"Oral history interview with Ann Rice O'Hanlon” by Mary McChesney, Smithsonian Archives of American Art. July 8, 1964.

University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center. Research Guides: Ann Rice O’Hanlon & The Memorial Hall Mural. University of Kentucy, 2024.

Shirley Staschen (1914-1995) assisted Richard Ayer in executing his murals at the Maritime Museum. The murals of stylized tugboats on the third floor are her own creation. She also taught classes and worked on lithographs, mosaics, murals, and easel paintings for the Federal Art Project. Born in Oakland, California, Staschen engaged in art from an early age and briefly supported her family as a mechanic. In 1933, she joined a team of artists painting murals at Coit Tower. Her supervisor, Bernard Zakheim, painted her likeness onto a figure in his Library mural. A year later, during the 1934 West Coast Longshoreman’s Strike, Coit Tower came under controversy: communist symbols had been included in certain panels. Staschen and other artists picketed outside the tower to protest political interference with art. A proud bohemian, Staschen’s artistic circle included Zakheim and the poet Kenneth Rexroth. They organized the San Francisco Artists and Writers Union, a socially minded support group for artists during the Great Depression.

"Oral history interview with Shirley Staschen Triest” by Mary McChesney, Smithsonian Archives of American Art. April 12-23, 1964.

Shirley Staschen Triest, "A Life on the First Waves of Radical Bohemianism in San Francisco," an oral history conducted in 1995 and 1996 by Victoria Morris Byerly, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 1997.

Mohammed Zyani cut and prepared the pieces for Sargent Johnson’s large, sweeping mosaics on the Maritime Museum veranda. Zyani, a Moroccan, had worked on mosaics for the Grand Mosque in Paris with his father before coming to the United States as a rug merchant. When he sought work through the FAP, William Gaskin, the administrator overseeing Aquatic Park, asked him to craft sample work from a piece of bathroom tile. Zyani impressed Gaskin by efficiently cutting it in the shape of a star. Both Gaskin and Johnson spoke glowingly of Zyani’s skill. As Johnson said in a 1964 interview for the Archives of American Art, “He was first class. He could cut anything out of tile.”

"Oral history interview with Sargent Johnson” by Mary McChesney, Smithsonian Archives of American Art. July 31, 1964.

“Oral history interview with William A. Gaskin" by Lewis Ferbrache, Rudolph Shaffer School of Art. February 28, 1964.

Kenichi Horie is regarded as one of Japan’s most famous yachtsman. He is the first known man in history to make a non-stop solo crossing of the Pacific Ocean. At just 23-year-old, Horie sailed his 19-foot black plywood sloop, the Mermaid , from Osaka, Japan to San Francisco, California on a solo sailing voyage. His arrival through the Golden Gate on Sunday, August 12, 1962 was entirely unannounced. He had, in fact, left Japanese waters without any form of official clearance on May 12th, 1962. After sailing alone for 94 days, he arrived in San Francisco with no passport, no money, and little knowledge of English. Horie was briefly arrested during the confusion surrounding his arrival, but Mayor George Christopher saw to it that he was released and presented with a visa and the key to the city. In Kenchi Horie's book Koduko: Sailing Alone Across the Pacific , he says, "The crew matters the most," (p. 30) so when he set out to cross the Pacific Ocean he chose the best crew he could—himself. Just himself. When asked why he crossed the Pacific Ocean, he replied simply, "Well, I crossed it because I wanted to" (p. 15).

Horie later donated the Mermaid to the Maritime Museum, along with a commemorative tray on which the following is transcribed: "I would like for you - the people of this beautiful City of San Francisco, the City that I shall remember as the one that made my youth such a colorful event - to accept my most loved one, "The Mermaid." My entire youth was spent in carrying on a conversation with her. She was the one who gave me courage when I was lonely and weak. She is a lonely heart, too. I tried to encourage her when she was depressed by talking to her about the Golden Gate Bridge that she had longed to see. Both of us were tied together strongly by trusting each other with the impatience of young lovers. The two of us left Nishinomiya Port on the night of May 12, 1962. Putting entire confidence in the strength of this little lover of mine, we set sail into the vast ocean ahead of us...It is unbearable for me, now, to leave her behind in a foreign country. It pains my heart terribly to think that she is left behind alone. You will please be kind to her. Please be kind to my tired lover; please be good to her. Although she may look a bit unpainted and pale, I don't doubt that she is most serenely contented inside. She is injured all over, but she is immersed in the memories of her 94 days on high seas. Will you please speak to her, this lonely heart, when you are moved to do so. And will you please listen to her talk about the stars, the waves and the skies over the Pacific Ocean. And recall for a short moment, if you will, the deed of a young Japanese, who loved the yacht and the United States of America." (SAFR Catalog 3708) Horie's ship and the commemorative tray are both on display at the Maritime Museum in the main lobby.

Six decades after making history with the Mermaid , Kenichi Horie set sail once again on a solo voyage across the Pacific Ocean, this time in the opposite direction. Horie left San Francisco in a 19-foot sloop, the Suntory Mermaid III , on March 26, 2022 heading for Nishinomiya in Osaka Bay. He completed his journey after 69 days and 4,500 nautical miles. At 83 years old, Horie had made another record, now as the oldest man to have completed a solo voyage across the Pacific in a sailing vessel. Visit the Maritime Research Center's collection of items related to Kenichi Horie's voyage to learn more. Our relationship with Mr. Horie began with his historic voyage to our city, arriving in San Francisco on Sunday, August 12, 1962, and our staff working in Collections are honored to preserve and make available for research the many items associated with Mr. Horie.

The Yelamu , Ohlone , and Coastal Miwok peoples who lived around the San Francisco Bay navigated its waterways for thousands of years. Their maritime traditions are an important part of San Francisco’s heritage. These indigenous tribes relied on the coastal waters and marshes for food and other resources. They were adept mariners who built watercraft out of local varieties of tule reed. Long stalks of tule reed were harvested and spread out to dry for several days, then bound in large cigar-shaped bundles and slathered with bitumen or other resins. The bundles were tied together at the stern and bow to form a raised point, and a willow pole ran the length of the watercraft for longitudinal support. The tule boats were typically ten feet long and three feet wide in the center, though they could reach up to twenty feet long and six feet wide. Some boats featured rudimentary sails, allowing for longer voyages. The tule boats could hold as many as four people, each equipped with a double-bladed paddle. These light, buoyant vessels allowed people to fish and collect shellfish, mollusks, seabird eggs, waterfowl, abalone, and other important resources. The Ohlone and Yelamu navigated through the inland waterways and estuaries of the Bay, as well as over deep water to the rocky offshore areas as far as the Farallon Islands.

The whaling industry, centered until the 1870s in New Bedford, employed a large number of African Americans. This was in part due to the Quaker tradition of tolerance in the New Bedford area, but more importantly, to the large demand for manpower in an expanding industry requiring unusually large crews.

Some Black seamen in the business were Americans, from the Northeast and the South, some were from the West Indies, and a significant group was from the Cape Verde Islands off the African coast. Whatever their origin, Black seamen found acceptance as hard workers and skilled mariners in an industry that was physically demanding, dirty, and often financially unrewarding.

When the center of the industry moved to San Francisco in the 1870s, African Americans continued to form a large percentage of the crews. The whaling business was no doubt the largest employer of African Americans seamen on the West Coast until it ended shortly before World War I.

William T. Shorey (1859 - 1919) was a famous captain in the last days of whaling. He was born in Barbados, the son of a Scottish sugar planter and an Indian creole woman. Shorey began seafaring as a teenager and in 1876 he made his first whaling voyage.

Whaling brought him to California and he married the daughter from a leading African American family in San Francisco. In 1886 he became the only Black West Coast ship captain. Known for his skill and leadership, Shorey experienced many adventures and dangers at sea with multiracial crews before his retirement in 1908.

Over time, larger, steam-powered vessels took the place of obsolete sailing ships and Black seamen were forced to accept inferior employment on ships as cooks and stewards. The era of significant participation by Black seamen in whaling ended in 1923 when the Wanderer went aground off Nantucket, MA. Captain Shorey's wife, Julia Ann Shelton Shorey (1865 - 1944) was very active in the Black community in San Francisco in the late 1800's and early 1900's. For over sixteen years she served as the president of the Home for Aged and Infirm Colored People of Oakland, obtaining funding and assistance for older Black Americans. She also served in leadership positions for various Black women’s clubs and fraternal orders near San Francisco, such as the Household of Ruth, the Good Samaritans, and the Knaresborough Circle, where she helped organize meetings and charitable events. As a sea captain's wife she accompanied her husband on voyages to Hawai‘i, Mexico, and Russia. She described her experiences abroad to her home community in letters to the editor published in the Black-owned newspaper, The San Francisco Elevator.

Black men were often found among the crews of British ships, and even some German and Scandinavian ships, calling at West Coast ports. Black faces appear in about one quarter of all the foreign flag crew photographs in the park's collections. In many cases the men are clearly cooks or stewards, but in a number of photos the men are clearly seamen living and working on terms of complete equality with other members of the crew. The majority of Black seamen in British ships were probably from the West Indies, but we do not have references for African Americans hired as seamen in foreign ships at New York and other East Coast ports.

Shipwrights and other shipyard workers were among the first workers in this country to be unionized. As was often the case, the existence of craft unions meant that African Americans were largely excluded from most major shipyards. The exception to this was in the South.

In 1902 at the Newport News shipyard in Virginia, about two thirds of the 5000 employees were African Americans. During the building boom of World War I, African American employment rose rapidly, again mostly in the South.

By 1919 there were 24,500 African American shipyard workers in the country, about 20% in skilled trades. During the period between the wars shipbuilding virtually ceased, throwing most shipyard employees out of work.

On the West Coast, the great shipbuilding program of World War II brought tremendous opportunities for African Americans in the industry. Prior to the war, African Americans comprised no more than 3%, or 1,800 workers, out of a workforce of approximately 60,000. By 1945, there were more than 700,000 workers in western yards, and about 7%, or 50,000, were African American men and women.

In the Bay Area, the total African American population rose from less than 20,000 in 1940 to over 60,000 in 1945. Shipbuilding jobs were the primary factor in this migration which has been called "...the most important event in the history of African Americans in the Bay Area."

Throughout most of its history, the Navy has followed a policy of employing Black Americans in all enlisted grades. They were active in both naval and privateer crews during the Revolutionary War. A brief period of discrimination ended with the War of 1812. From then until 1915, Black Americans served in the ranks of all naval vessels. During the Civil War, at least six Black Americans were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Only officer ranks were closed to them during this period.

In 1915, an executive order from President Wilson ordered segregation for all branches in the military. Until 1942, Black Americans were recruited only as messmen. Throughout World War II, opportunities for Black Americans gradually expanded and the first twelve Black officers were commissioned in 1944. In 1946, a Navy order finally ended official segregation throughout the Navy. Desegregation in practice took longer to achieve, but while progress was slow, it was significant.

Although the Navy had no commissioned Black officers in the 19th century, this restriction did not hold for the Revenue Service, the predecessor of the modern Coast Guard.

Captain Healy, a Black American, rose to the rank of Captain in 1883. From 1886 until 1895 Healy commanded the Bear , a steam barkentine, on patrols in the North Pacific, Bering Sea, and Arctic Ocean. The Bear was virtually the only law in these Northern regions, enforcing quotas in the sealing industry, protecting native people from exploitation, and keeping the peace among white settlers. She performed many feats of heroic rescue among the whaling fleet and the isolated outposts of trappers and hunters.

Captain Healy was known as a stern disciplinarian, and was accused of brutalizing his seamen on at least one occasion. Although formally exonerated from these charges, it is no doubt true that he was a hard man, performing a difficult and demanding duty.

Maritime history is filled with stories of great sailing ships, plying the massive oceans of the world, run by rugged, swaggering, masculine sailors. It may be that the 19th century sailing vessel was a male dominated and defined world, yet women are assuredly part of this rich history.

For different reasons women through the centuries have stepped outside the status quo, beyond societal definitions of what is suitably feminine. These reasons included responding to dire emergencies while at sea, patriotic wartime duty, economic necessity, a chance at a better life, search for adventure, devotion, and love.

Seagoing careers were closed to women during the sailing ship era. A woman might disguise herself as a man and assume a fictitious name; but if she was discovered, her career would be over. The only way for most women to take part in running a merchant vessel before 1900, when sailing ships reigned supreme, was through marriage or by being the captain’s daughter. The captain’s wife might have learned the art of navigation in a girl’s finishing school, or from her husband or one of the officers. Usually when a captain's daughter grew into her teens, she was forbidden to take part in sailor's work; she was expected to be a lady. The children were not allowed to go forward of the poop deck (the captain's deck at the stern or back end of the vessel). However, father may have looked the other way when his son sneaked forward to lend the sailors a hand. On British ships the captain could hire his wife as an officer or stewardess, or the first mate's wife might be the stewardess. The stewardess kept financial records, served meals, and cleaned the after-quarters. In emergencies the captain's wife might lend a hand. Caroline Mayhew , wife of Captain William Mayhew of the whaling ship Powhaton out of Martha's Vineyard, possessed a working knowledge of navigation and practical medicine. In 1846 when a small pox epidemic broke out aboard ship, she took over as captain in place of her stricken husband. She then ministered to him and the ailing crew, saving their lives.

During the nineteenth century several women took on responsibilities that were considered exclusively in the realm of men, and gained worldwide attention for their heroic actions. Others, because of economic necessity, stepped beyond stereotypical roles as wives and mothers.

Dow, G. (1922). Flying Cloud [Illustration]. The Sailing Ships of New England. Boston: Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities. Fig 97.

Eliza Thorrold continued to operate the 44-foot steam tug Ethel and Marion on the San Francisco Bay after her husband, Captain Charles Thorrold, died from blood poisoning in 1893. Even though she controlled the tug, the law required that a licensed master be on board if the vessel was transacting business. Mrs. Thorrold, discussing her application for a tugboat master's license, in an interview published in the San Francisco Call newspaper, July 30, 1897: "I have long contemplated this move. In fact, my circumstances compel me to become the master of my own boat. As you know, my husband died several years ago and left me with five little children to support and only the tug Ethel and Marion to do so with. What I am unnecessarily obliged to pay for a master for the boat would support the entire family. Four years on the Bay has made me familiar with the practical handling of the boat, and all I want is a license to do what I am competent to do." By 1900 Eliza had sold the tug, and in 1915 she and her son opened a neighborhood ice cream and candy store which she operated until her death in 1935. In 1877 Mrs. Crapo was determined to be with her husband and insisted on sailing with him on a daring, 3000-mile long voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to England in a small, open boat. Her husband initially refused to let her accompany him, but she was determined to go. The two arrived safely in England and Thomas Crapo described their arrival: "The crowds gathered waiting for a chance to see us. Mrs. Crapo was the lion of the hour."

Alice Durkee , wife of Alfred Durkee who was captain of the Balclutha from 1894-1899, sailed with her husband on and off during his 30-year seafaring career. She gave birth to a daughter, Inda Francis, on board the ship. Julia Ann Shelton Shorey accompanied her husband Captain William Shorey on voyages to Hawai‘i, Mexico, and Russia. She described her experiences abroad to her home community in letters to the editor published in the Black-owned newspaper, The San Francisco Elevator. Occasionally she would bring her children on voyages too. While the Victorian ideal of family life divided the home from the workplace, Shorey combined the two when she brought her children with her husband to sea. In 1902, she commented to a newspaper that her three-year-old Victoria was “a remarkable sailor” and observed wryly: “She knows the ropes and has perfect command of her father.”

In 1562 Dutch widow Geert Jans inherited a shipyard from her husband and ran the yard. In 1770 Mary Lacy , disguised as a man, received her shipwright certificate in England and worked among male shipbuilders. In the 1940s Mrs. Fulton inherited and operated her husband's shipyard north of San Francisco. Aside from such exceptions, only widespread wars brought women to shipbuilding.

During the Age of Sail the best way for a woman to get a job aboard a ship was to disguise herself as a man. Women no longer have to masquerade as men to pursue a career on the water today, but still face many challenges in a male-dominated field. Despite these challenges, more and more women are pursuing their dreams, honing their skills, and making a living in maritime industries. Sue Milligan owned and operated the Henry Bay for sixteen years, fishing for rock cod in the waters east of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. "As soon as I saw the Henry Bay , I knew it was the boat I wanted. She was built in 1948, same year as me, and she drew about the same amount of water, five-foot three, so I bought her." Jan Tiura started working on tugboats in the mid-1970s. To gain experience and sea time she worked as a cook and deckhand and in 1979 was accepted into the Crowley training program for tug captains. She is now a captain in the Crowley Red Stack tug fleet. Her work includes moving barges, and docking and undocking ships. According to Jan, "The main advantage to this work is just being on the water. It's a unique world. You're out there at all hours, in all weather. It's the captain's job to make sure that we're going to survive." Nancy Wagner was one of the first women admitted to the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, NY in 1974. After spending years working at sea, she became the first woman from her class to earn an Unlimited Master's License. This license entitled her to sail as captain on any vessel anywhere in the world. In 1987, she was accepted into the San Francisco Bar Pilot's apprentice program. Captain Wagner remained the first and only woman harbor pilot on the Bay until she retired in 2015. In the spring of 2018, Wagner returned to Kings Point to receive a distinguished alumni award and delivered a speech to the graduating class. “Live your dream,’’ she said.

Originally known as Black Point Cove, Aquatic Park has long been enjoyed by the people of San Francisco. Beginning in the 1860s, swimmers used the sandy beach and sheltered cove for recreation, even as industrial buildings and train tracks along the shoreline began expanding into the area. Over the next 50 years, local recreation clubs, including the Dolphin Club and South End Club, rallied public support to transform this area from an industrial zone into a waterfront park. The city’s Board of Supervisors passed a resolution in 1914 that marked a turning point in this long campaign. Black Point Cove was designated as the “site for the proposed aquatic park,” preserving it from future commercial development. Today, this historic district supports recreational opportunities from rowing to swimming, to spending a relaxing day with family and friends, with the Aquatic Park Bathhouse at the center of the action

The dream to create an Aquatic Park came to fruition in 1935, thanks to funding from the Works Progress Administration (WPA). This federal program, created under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was designed to create community in a time of crises. The WPA would regenerate both public sites and the spirit of the American people. “We are definitely in an era of building,” Roosevelt said, “the best kind of building—the building of great public projects for the benefit of the public and with the definite objective of building human happiness.” From 1936 to 1939, the WPA constructed the Aquatic Park Bathhouse. For its time, the Bathhouse represented the pinnacle of modernity. It contained an emergency hospital, restaurant, concession stand, skylights, showers activated by photoelectric “eyes,” and lockers and dressing rooms that could accommodate hundreds of swimmers. The adjacent bleachers provided seating for thousands to enjoy the waterfront park. A beautiful promenade followed the curve of the sandy beach along the water’s edge. Tens of thousands of excited San Franciscans attended the dedication ceremony on January 22, 1939. The decades-old dream for Black Point Cove had been achieved. WPA officials proclaimed, “Here thousands of happy youngsters find protected play-ground in the water and on the shore. Here thousands of wearied adults may sink into warm, embracing sand, content to just lie and relax, and revel in the beauties spread before them.”

Creating Aquatic Park was a cooperative effort. William Mooser II , a member of a distinguished family of San Francisco architects, supervised the $1.5 million architectural extravaganza. His son, William Mooser III , designed the Bathhouse and other structures in the park. He used the Streamline Moderne style, defined by sweeping lines, curved facades, stainless steel railings, and porthole windows.

The art in the Bathhouse was as modern as the architecture. It created a fantastic, nautical world through vibrant paint, tile, and sculpture. Hilaire Hiler , the project’s art director, depicted the mythic continents of Atlantis and Mu on the lobby walls. His designs feature surrealistic fish, which Ann Sonia Medalie executed and embellished. Sargent Claude Johnson , the most prominent African American artist working for the WPA in Northern California, carved the green slate on the main facade. He also designed the tile mosaic on the veranda, assisted by Mohammed Zyani . Richard Ayer designed and created murals reminiscent of steamships on the bathhouse's third floor, with the aid of Shirley Staschen . Ayer also designed the building's terrazzo tile flooring. Sculptor Beniamino Bufano created fanciful statues of animals from granite and marble.

With great fanfare and much acclaim, the Aquatic Park Bathhouse opened for the public on January 22, 1939, but the euphoria did not last. The city had decided to lease most of the Bathhouse to private businessmen, who promptly opened the Aquatic Park Casino. This exclusive restaurant and nightclub discouraged public use of the building. When a group of schoolboys brought their sack lunches to the veranda, they were ordered to leave by the concessioner. Prominent signs read “Private – Keep Out.” The public outcry was intense. Sargent Johnson walked away from the project. His beautiful tile mosaic on the veranda remains unfinished. Beniamino Bufano moved his statues, stating, “I would rather have kids playing over my statues than to have drunks stumbling over them. And I’m no teetotaler, either.” An investigation soon followed, and the city was found guilty of mismanagement. The concessioner was ousted, and the doors padlocked. The building opened again briefly in 1941 to showcase historic ship models. This collection, owned by Alma Spreckels , was part of the Museum of Science and Industry she had proposed for the building.

With the increasing involvement of the United States in World War II, the city leased Aquatic Park to the U.S. Army. Troops from the 216th Coast Artillery were quartered in the building. Later, the headquarters of the Fourth Anti-Aircraft Command, responsible for the defense of the Pacific Coast, was established there. When war ended in 1945, the military transferred the property back to the city.

Shortly after the city resumed control of the building, the San Francisco Senior Center leased the ground floor of the Aquatic Park Bathhouse in 1947. This is the oldest, private, non-profit Senior Center in the United States. Today, the Senior Center offers classes and other activities to over 2,000 seniors each year.

Karl Kortum , a man with an abiding love of ships and the sea, had the inspired idea of transforming the upper floors of the vacant Bathhouse into a maritime museum. Working with part of Alma Spreckels’ collection, he led the foundation of the San Francisco Maritime Museum in 1951. The building was public once again. Over the next decades, Kortum further developed the Maritime Museum to include a fleet of historic ships docked at nearby Hyde Street Pier . He also led the preservation and rehabilitation of adjacent properties, like Victorian Park and the Haslett Warehouse , that would also highlight maritime exhibits. In 1988, all these sites, along with Aquatic Park and its former Bathhouse, became part of San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park .

In 2006, the Maritime Museum was closed to begin a multi-year rehabilitation of the building's exterior, murals, and adjacent bleachers. Subsequent projects, completed in 2010 and 2017, restored the vibrancy of murals in the lobby and third floor. Planning is still underway for new exhibits throughout the museum. In the meantime, small exhibits on the building’s early history and artistic influences can be seen onsite.

Hyde Street Pier is a historic ferry pier at the west end of Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. Constructed by the Golden Gate Ferries, Ltd., the pier began as a single-slip ferry landing for automobile ferry service to Sausalito.

The first ferry run departed Hyde Street Pier on May 28, 1922. As the demand for ferry service across the Bay increased, an additional ferry slip was added. In 1927, the pier was extended several hundred feet, and two more slips were constructed for ferries connecting to Berkeley. The first ferry on the Berkeley run departed on June 16, 1927. In 1928, the ferry company merged with Southern Pacific Railroad to form the Southern Pacific-Golden Gate Ferries, Ltd (SP-GG).

In 1933, the City directed the SP-GG Ferries to rip out the two original piers, which faced northwest towards Fort Mason , because of ferries’ potential impact on the planned Aquatic Park . These slips, which had served the Sausalito run, were removed in 1934 and replaced by a single new slip farther north along the pier.

The construction of bridges across the Bay eventually doomed ferry service from Hyde Street. The Bay Bridge to Oakland was completed in 1936, and the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937. Ferry ridership soon plummeted as a result. The last ferry departed Hyde Street Pier on July 25, 1938.

During World War II, the U.S. Army took control of the pier. They used the pier slips for tying up military vessels, including leased ferryboats and riverboats that transported troops to the army’s Port of Embarkation piers in Fort Mason. Following the war, the military returned the pier to the Harbor Commission.

During the 1950s, plans emerged for converting the pier into a site showcasing historic West Coast merchant vessels. Efforts spearheaded by the San Francisco Maritime Museum Association culminated in the creation of San Francisco Maritime State Historical Monument in September 1957. Initial funding for acquiring and restoring the ships was authorized by the State Legislature. Funds for rehabilitating Hyde Street Pier followed later.

The State received a 40-year lease from the San Francisco Port Authority for Hyde Street Pier on April 18, 1961. Extensive reconstruction of the pier took place in 1962 and 1963. The Maritime State Historical Park formally opened to the public on October 5, 1963.

Hyde Street Pier and its collection of historic ships remained a California State Park unit until September 16, 1977, when it was transferred to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. On June 27, 1988, Hyde Street Pier—along with the Aquatic Park Historic District and Maritime Museum —became San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park , an independent unit of the National Park Service. The park has used Hyde Street Pier to dock its collection of historic ships ever since. Today, the pier is a popular destination for visitors to San Francisco.

Hyde Street Pier is currently closed to the public for an ongoing restoration project . The ships will be moved to Mare Island during the pier reconstruction.

San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park maintains the largest and most diverse collection of national historic landmark ships in the United States. The fleet of six historic ships—five of which are national historic landmarks—represents a significant period in maritime commerce from the late 19th to mid-20th century, when the industry shifted from sail to mechanical power. These ships provide a variety of opportunities to learn about maritime preservation and experience the development of trade methods and technologies in sailing ships and steam vessels. The ships in our park's collection have been moved temporarily due to the Hyde Street Rebuild Project . They are now located at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard. The park will open one ship or more at Mare Island in Vallejo, CA on Saturdays and Sundays from 12 pm to 4 pm, pending staff availability. When the Hyde Street Pier rebuild is finished, the ships will be moved back to Hyde Street Pier. Hyde Street Pier is closed at this time. The ships are berthed at the Mare Island Coal Sheds. Mare Island Coal Sheds, 860 Nimitz Ave. Vallejo, CA 94592

The Maritime Research Center of San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is the premier resource for San Francisco and Pacific Coast maritime history and the portal into the Park's collections. Originating in 1939, the collections have become the largest maritime collection on the West Coast and the largest museum and research collection in the National Park Service. Our unique resources serve and inform historians, genealogists , artists, authors, students, filmmakers, sailors, boat and model builders, and performers from all over the world, as well as NPS staff. Our collections are developed through the support of our partners , donations , and library collection purchases. Reference staff are available by phone, email, fax or in person by appointment to assist you with your research in all of the Park's collections--with books, photographs, or even the objects cared for by collections staff.

The Maritime Research Center is open by appointment only, Monday through Friday. Appointments must be made at least twenty-four hours in advance. Explore our Library and Archive Collections through the Keys Catalogue , an online database of the items in our collection. Contact the park's Reference Librarian to set up your research appointment by by email , by phone at (415) 561-7030, by fax at (415) 556-1624, or by mail at:

Reference Librarian SF Maritime NHP Research Center 2 Marina Blvd., Bldg. E, 3rd floor San Francisco, CA 94123 USA Please refer to our Access Policy and Rules Governing Use for a full list of rules for the Research Center.

The Maritime Research Center is located on the third floor of Building E, in Fort Mason Center (2 Marina Blvd., also known as Lower Fort Mason), located near the intersection of Buchanan and Marina Blvd. (Entrance across from the Marina Safeway.) Building E is the easternmost warehouse building, near the Festival Pavilion and the Firehouse building. Or, to put it another way, the Research Center is located at 37° 48.4' N, 122° 25.8' W, as charted by volunteers Larry Kellogg and Doug Burrill.

Immerse yourself in the rich maritime heritage preserved by the Maritime Research Center . Explore curated highlights categorized by subject, or uncover the unique connections between our collections and significant maritime events. Each collection provides a window into different facets of seafaring life, from historic voyages and engineering marvels to cultural and artistic expressions.

Discover the stories that shaped maritime history and find hidden treasures that connect the past with the present. Whether you’re a historian, student, artist, or enthusiast, our collections offer an unparalleled journey into the world of maritime exploration.

The Maritime Research Center proudly preserves and offers access to the most extensive maritime collection on the West Coast. Our holdings include:

600 oral histories and audio recordings , preserving personal stories and firsthand accounts

The Archival Collections concern the history and achievements of seafaring Americans primarily of the Pacific Coast of North America covering the span of history from the California Gold Rush era to the recent past. They include paper records (such as manuscripts , naval architecture and marine engineering drawings ) , photographs, film and video , and audio records on tape and digital media. The major subjects encompassed in the archives are oceanic and coastal trade, the San Francisco Bay and river systems, marine harvesting, marine business, labor and shore-based support activities.

The Library Collections contain over 35,000 books and periodical titles dating from 1536 to the present, 50,000 pieces of ephemera, and over 3000 maps and charts covering the Pacific Basin and the West Coast of the United States dating from 1650 to the present . Audio and video materials are also available in multiple formats. Explore our Library and Archive Collections through the Keys Catalogue , an online database of the items in our collection.

Our Object Collections range from large vessel parts to fine art and everyday artifacts of life at sea. The park's object collections contain over 48,000 items that represent the lives of the men and women who built and sailed vessels along the Pacific Coast of North America. Among these items are artifacts dating back to San Francisco's gold rush days, as well as more recent items from the twentieth century. Our collection includes fine art, tools and equipment used in maritime endeavors, the personal effects of sailors and passengers, and parts of historic vessels, ranging in size from macro-artifacts such as large parts of ships to small items such as those in the Reardon Collection of Scrimshaw and Carvings . The objects in our collection serve as tangible links to maritime history, blending the iconic with the practical.

The Park's Small Craft Collections consist of traditional and significant vessels that provide a fine introduction to boatbuilding and maritime trades.

The Maritime Research Center at San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park holds a diverse array of collections that illuminate various aspects of maritime history and culture. Our curated collections offer a unique window into the multifaceted stories of seafaring communities and their lasting legacies. Search by subject to explore the captivating narratives and artifacts that shape maritime history:

Companies and organizations (naval architectural and engineering firms, engine manufacturers, shipping lines, shipyards, boatyards, etc.)

Life aboard ship (crew or passenger, at work or at play, including preparing to go to sea, shipping out, etc.)

The park's collection of more than 100 traditional and significant small craft is a fine introduction to boatbuilding and the maritime trades. Below are just a few examples of the representative gems in the park's small craft collection.

The Grace Quan is a replica of the type of fishing vessel used throughout the Bay Area by Chinese shrimp fishing companies between 1860 and 1910. In 2003 employees and volunteers from San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park and China Camp State Park in Northern California, built a replica of a Chinese Shrimp Junk and named it Grace Quan.

The Merry Bear was built at the Nunes Boatyard in Sausalito in 1931 and is the first Bear Boat. Bear Boats are the first class of sloop yachts (a type of boat with a single mast and a fore-and-aft-rig) designed and built to sail on San Francisco Bay. The Nunes brothers came up with a winning design. The Bear Boat was small enough to be affordable in the depression-era 1930s, yet large and strong enough to sail well in the brisk winds and challenging currents of the Bay, and they quickly became a popular choice for sailors. Almost 80 years later a small but dedicated group of Bear Boat sailors still lovingly maintain their yachts and can be seen racing their craft on the Bay. Length: 22 feet, 9 inches Beam: 7 feet Draft: 4 feet The keel is made of iron. The planking is Douglas fir and the ribs oak.

The little Fort Ross yawl was built by George Kneass of San Francisco in about 1900 for use at the Call Ranch Landing at Fort Ross. The Calls ran cattle and sheep and cut redwood for shingles, ties, and fence posts. Perched on the bluffs above the Pacific, the ranch offered little in the way of a harbor, but there was a reasonable site for a chute, and later a highwire rig, that could drop cargo down onto the deck of a schooner or a steam schooner. The little yawl was a general purpose kind of boat, helpful in running lines for visiting schooners or for getting out to the Call's own vessels if they were moored offshore.The yawl was kept ashore, and dropped in from the highwire when it was needed. Fort Ross had no landing for even so small a boat. Yawl boats, by the middle of the nineteenth century, were generally used as ships' boats for schooners. The term is derived from the Dutch, and shares its origins with the British "jolly boat," a lapstrake ship's boat for small cargo vessels, of the same general shape. (There is no particularly logical link with the sailing rig of the same name.) The Fort Ross yawl is carvel-built, with a near-plumb stempost and wide wineglass transom stern with minimal rake. She is of medium scantlings; heavy enough to take a beating, yet light enough to row well. She has two thwarts, two rowing stations, and a generous sternsheets of redwood plank. The boat is framed in white oak and planked in Port Orford cedar, and is iron nail fastened. She is 13' in length overall and 5' 2" in beam; a length to beam ration of about 2.5 to 1.

The Joe Leathers yawl was collected at Tomales Bay in the late 1980s with the brand of its builder, Joe Leathers, burned into the starboard side of the transom. Leathers and his brother Richard operated a boat shop at Astoria, Oregon, between 1881 and 1903, so the yawl's time and place of origin are fairly well pinned down. What, we might ask, was an Oregon boat doing on Tomales Bay? This boat was likaly a yawl from a big schooner, perhaps the four-master Polaris, which was built in Oregon (at Marshfield in 1902) and wrecked on Duxbury Reef in 1914, near Point Bolinas, some fifteen miles south of Point Reyes. Because the schooner was driven onto the reef by a ninety-mile-an-hour southerly gale, one of her boats could easily have been recovered adrift or on the beach in the Point Reyes area and ended up at Tomales Bay.

At 16' 2" in length by 4' 10" of beam, the Joe Leathers yawl is a bigger boat than the Fort Ross yawl, but of similar overall design. She shares the carvel-planked hull, fastened with iron nails to steam-bent white oak frames. Her transom and backbone are also of white oak. Her stem post is raked slightly forward, but the wide wineglass transom is similar to the Kneass-built boat. Assuming that she is a ship's boat, her size would indicate that she was carried aboard something larger than a two-masted doghole schooner. While perhaps not heavy enough to be the principle boat of a large four-master, the Joe Leathers yawl could well have been the Master's boat on such a schooner. Evidence in the yawl of a two-masted sailing rig would seem to support this idea. There are mast partner holes through two of the thwarts; a larger main mast forward and a mizzen aft, probably for a lugsail ketch rig. The partners and steps, if they are not original to the boat, are at least very old. A boat designed for the Master's use might well be a bit lighter and have a more developed sailing rig than a general-purpose boat. Normally a yawl, if it were rigged at all, would have a single mast forward for a sprit or a lug rig.

Reputedly built around 1890, the blue pilot yawl is a plumb-stemmed carvel yawl that once belonged to the San Francisco Bar Pilots. The boat did duty on the pilot station, some ten miles outside the Golden Gate, transferring pilots between the pilot schooner and vessels entering or leaving San Francisco. There are three pilot yawls in the Small Craft collection, but this one, with its gaudy blue interior, is in the most original condition. It is pristinely fastened with copper rivets and nails, and its oak sheer strake and rub rail are apparently as they were built. Her sternsheets and hanging knees retain their original graceful curves. The pilot yawl used on the San Francisco Bar was essentially identical to East Coast boats developed in Boston and New York. Piloting at San Francisco started out in Boston-built schooners, and in general followed the Boston patterns of gear and operation. Although the yawls came to be built locally, by George Kneass among others, the design was largely unmodified. The clearest mark of the pilot yawl was the rounded skeg, the after end of the keel arcing up to tuck in just below the transom. This was done to prevent damage when the boats were thrown into the water from the deck of the pilot schooner, or when they were recovered with a whip from the foremast.

A boat like the Norwegian pram can provide a reflection of the cultural mix in the maritime history on the West Coast. We know, in theory, that the coasting trade of the Pacific Coast from at least the 1870s until its end in the late 1930s was entirely dominated by Scandinavian seamen. Almost all of the names of all of the officers and crews of the lumber fleet, under both sail and steam, were Scandinavian. The steam schooners were called "The Russian-Finn Navy." Yet very little remains in the way of identifiable cultural objects to mark the commanding Scandinavian presence on the West Coast.In general, the coasting vessels they sailed were of American design, their gear an d clothing not notably different from that of any seamen. Virtually nothing remains that can be pointed to as uniquely Scandinavian. Even the Scandinavian seamen's bars which used to dot the Mission District are now largely gone. But we do have this little pram, an unmistakable artifact of Norse culture transplanted to the West Coast. The boat is 18' 10" in length and 5' 3" in beam, and is lapstrake-planked in broad cedar planks, fastened with copper rivets in the Scandinavian manner. The stern is a fairly broad round-bottomed transom of oak. The bow is a small transom only about 8" wide, raking sharply forward, and carried high by a marked rise in the forward sheer. A plank keel is notched into the bottom of each transom, and is rockered up forward to meet the transom. The forward transom is so small and so high that the effect is almost of a sharp bow. The framing and backbone are of oak, and four thwarts are fitted, with three rowing stations. There is no evidence of a sailing rig. The connection of the hood-ends of the planking is unusual: square-section copper rivets are driven diagonally through the beveled edges of the transoms and are riveted with roves on the inner face of the transom. It's a crude-looking mechanism, but seemingly effective. The finish is somewhat crude overall, suggesting that it was more likely built in a company yard than in an established boat shop.

The Tule Splitter, a little flat-bottomed double-ender designed for duck hunting among the tule reeds of the lower Sacramento River Delta, is about as simple as a boat can be. It has only a single bottom board and a two single plank sides. The remarkable thing about the boat is the width and quality of these three redwood planks. The bottom plank is a full 24 1/2" wide and 13' long, and the side planks are 1/2" by about 18" wide - all old-growth, tight-grained lumber. With planks like this, the effect is almost like building in plywood, and the construction of a boat can be very simple. This example was found around 1990, sitting on a levee top in Collinsville, a river fishing town in Solano County. Collinsville is almost a ghost town now, its few houses occupied by the older generation of the old Italian commercial fishing families whose livelihood was cut off in 1957 when the river salmon fishery was shut down. The tule splitter belonged to the Vitalie family. Frank Vitalie had built it sometime around 1920 and used it for hunting around the sloughs and islands of the Lower Sacramento Delta. Frank was pleased that the park saw the importance of the boat and agreed to donate it to the park's small craft collecitons. The wide bottom board is about an inch thick, and is rockered by about two inches. The ends of the bottom are sharply pointed, and the side planks rap around the bottom and are edge-nailed to it, without any chine timber. Stem and stern posts are simple triangular-section blocks, raked sharply fore and aft, with the hood ends of the side planks nailed from either side. The side planks flare somewhat amidships, giving the boat a beam of 2' 10", flaring from the 24 1/2' bottom plank. A forward and after beam are nailed in at sheer level and three floor timbers, about 2" x 3", cross the bottom. Rudimentary top frames of 1" x 5" plank are nailed to the side planks, but do not connect with the floor timbers. All nails are galvanized iron. The effect is a rough but practical one-man boat, with very sharp ends, and the limited stability of a canoe. The boat is in the tradition of the Cajun Pirogue, but in this form is apparently unique to the Sacramento Delta. In addition to the sculling oar, regular sweep oars were sometimes fitted in rowlocks on outriggers made from barn hinges, so that good distances could be covered rowing in the manner of a shell. The Tule Splitter in our colleciton shows no evidence of rowlocks ever having been fitted. In competent hands, on the relatively sheltered waters of the lower Delta, the tule splitter would be a sweet little boat for poking through the reed banks.

The cod fishing dory is one of the most seaworthy small boats ever developed. A very simply constructed boat, the dory has a flat bottom with straight flaring sides, a sharp raking bow, and a narrow V-shaped transom. While initially somewhat tender due to the relatively narrow bottom, dories gain stability as they are loaded down and with a moderate load of fish and gear, there is no better sea boat for its size. The schooner C.A. Thayer ended her commercial career as a cod fisherman, making yearly trips to the rich cod banks in the Bering Sea, north of the Aleutian Island chain. Even in the summer, this is a hard and dangerous part of the ocean, cold and foggy, with heavy seas and winds always ready to trap the unwary. Fishing was still done in the traditional manner developed on the Grand Banks of the Atlantic Coast, hand-lining from dories, each boat with a lone fisherman venturing out from the schooner mother ship each day, with luck to return with a boat full of cod.

Dories were traditionally fitted with a single pair of oars and a simple spritsail sailing rig. By the middle of the nineteenth century dories were being produced as standardized stock boats by specialized shops in Massachusetts and Nova Scotia. On the East Coast, the dories worked under oars and sail until they were superseded by motor trawlers in the 1930s and 40s.The power dory, as it had developed by the end of the 1920s, was a very efficient little boat, able to carry as much as two tons of fish, at good speed, with reasonable safety.

The object collections within the Park's museum collections contain over 48,000 items that represent the lives of the men and women who built and sailed vessels along the Pacific Coast of North America as well as those who worked in maritime related industries or relied on the maritime community for their transportation needs. Among these items are artifacts dating back to San Francisco's gold rush days, as well as more recent items from the twentieth century, fine art, tools and equipment used in maritime endeavors, the personal effects of sailors and passengers, and parts of historic vessels, ranging in size from macro-artifacts such as large parts of ships to small items such as those in the Reardon Collection of Scrimshaw and Carvings .

Access to the Park's stored museum artifact and stored small craft collection is currently unavailable as we move these collections to a new facility. The archival collections continue to be available via appointment . If you are in need of research assistance during this time, please contact us . We thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

The Niantic was one of the many ships that brought gold-seekers to San Francisco during the height of the California Gold Rush . Upon arrival in 1849, the ship's passengers and crew deserted in search of fortune. The abandoned ship ran aground offshore of the intersection of Clay and Montgomery Streets. The Niantic was then converted for use as a store, a warehouse, and a hotel. The great fire of May, 1851 burned the ship down to the waterline, and Niantic's remains were buried under debris and landfill during the city's reconstruction. Rediscoveries of the buried wreck in downtown San Francisco in 1872, 1907, and 1978 has made the Niantic one of the best known of the buried ships of San Francisco .

Niantic was built in 1832 for trade in China. The crew made four trips to the Chinese ports of Canton, Whampoa, and Hong Kong and the Philippine port of Manila. They returned to New York packed with tea, porcelain, silks and other commodities. The early years of the ship's career were chronicled by George S. Payne , a talented diarist who sailed on Niantic's first four voyages .

The ship was converted into a sperm whaler in 1844, but her second whaling voyage in 1849 was disrupted by the California Gold Rush . While docked in Peru, the ship's owners, the whaling firm of Burr and Smith of Rhode Island, ordered the ship's captain to abandon whaling temporarily and set sail for Panama to bring gold-seeking passengers to San Francisco. Captain Henry Cleaveland had the crew dismantle the whaling installations and stow aboard provisions for the trip to Panama. When the Niantic arrived in Panama on April 7, 1849, Captain Cleaveland advertised that he was willing to take on passengers for San Francisco. Thousands of men had paid for passage to Panama, where they had landed on the Caribbean side of the Isthmus before crossing the dangerous, swampy land by foot or by mule to Panama City to search for a ship to take them to San Francisco. Captain Cleaveland signed on 249 passengers, most of whom paid $150 for a bunk in the hold. A few better-off adventurers paid $250 for a cabin. On May 2, 1849, the Niantic, packed with eager fortune seekers, set sail for San Francisco.

Niantic entered San Francisco Bay on July 5, 1849 and anchored in Yerba Buena Cove. It was one of the first ships to arrive in San Francisco during the Gold Rush. Most of the crew deserted the ship, eager to head to the gold fields. The remaining crew caused trouble, and the steward attempted to stab the Captain and was arrested. Captain Cleaveland realized he had no recourse but to allow his remaining crew to go to the gold fields. He discharged the last five men on July 11, 1849. With no crew and little likelihood of raising a new one, the Niantic was stuck in San Francisco. Many other ships suffered a similar fate, and Yerba Buena Cove was filled with hundreds of abandoned ships. In the rapidly-growing city of San Francisco, building materials and real estate were in high demand. The hundreds of beached ships abandoned in Yerba Buena Cove proved to be a valuable resource for both. The Niantic was sold to Samuel Ward and Adolphe Mailliard, who had the ship hauled ashore and used for building material, warehouse storage, and a hotel. The waterfront developed around the many beached ships as the city expanded, and the shoreline moved as water lots were filled in with mud, sand and debris. By 1850, the Niantic was more than three blocks from the sea. The fire of May 2, 1851 destroyed much of San Francisco's waterfront, and all but the bottom of the Niantic burned down. That bottom made good foundations for future buildings, which carried on the name of the ship; the Niantic Hotel stood on the site from 1851 to 1872, the Niantic Block from 1872 to 1906, and the Niantic Building from 1907 to 1977. Construction through the years encountered the remains of the Niantic , and in 1978, a large portion of the ship was uncovered. By then, the Niantic was at the heart of the financial district. A section of the stern of the ship were saved along with many artifacts, which are now part of the San Francisco Maritime Collection. The remains of Niantic today lie beneath the corner of Clay and Sansome Streets, near the Transamerica Pyramid building.

In 1980, Cleaveland's descendant Dionis Coffin Riggs gifted to the park Captain Cleaveland’s logbook of Niantic's last voyage from Panama. This logbook, which was prefaced by a fine drawing done by Cleaveland's son (and first mate) of the Niantic receiving passengers, is now part of the park's extensive maritime collection. Thirty years later, Dionis’ daughter, Cynthia Riggs, contacted the park’s Maritime Research Library about an old painting that had hung on the wall in her ancestral home for about 150 years. It was a painting of the Niantic in port at Ningpo, China about 1838, at the height of her career in the China Trade. A skilled conservator brought the faded and torn painting back into the light of a new day, illustrating the ship in her glory, and it has joined the ship's logbook in the park's collection. Exhibits on the Niantic can be seen today on display in the Maritime Museum , including a detailed diorama of the ship on the Gold Rush waterfront of 1849 and the ship's actual stern and rudder , which was recovered in 1978 during excavations of San Francisco's Downtown area.

Beneath the streets of San Francisco lie the remains of sailing ships that brought thousands of people to the city during the California Gold Rush of 1849. Many of these ships were deserted by their crew, who had left in search of fortune. The shores of San Francisco were littered with abandoned sailing vessels, and by 1851, over 800 ships filled Yerba Buena Cove . The vast number of empty ships was described as a "forest of masts" crowding what had once been the quiet, muddy shores of Yerba Buena Cove.

Some ships like the Niantic were used as warehouses, saloons, or even temporary housing. Over time, most ships deteriorated, burned in fires, or sank into the mud. Shallow shorelines like Yerba Buena Cove were filled in by the city to create more real estate for the rapidly-growing San Francisco. The remains of the ships were buried by landfills of sand, dirt, and debris. These landfills altered the shoreline, turning the curve of Yerba Buena Cove into the urban space of Downtown San Francisco.

Today, excavations for construction of new developments in Downtown San Francisco frequently turn up artifacts from these landfills. Sometimes pieces of the ships themselves are discovered. Many of these artifacts have ended up in the collections of San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. The stern and rudder of the Niantic , which was recovered in 1978, is now on display in the Maritime Museum .

During the golden age of chanteying, 1840-1860, the work songs of sailors were used aboard ship to help coordinate shipboard jobs. Jobs such as hauling on lines to raise sails, turning the capstan (an iron winch) to weigh (raise) anchor and manning the ship's pumps required sailors to work together in rhythm.

Influenced by Irish, Scottish, English, French, African American and West Indian traditions, chanteys also served to lift spirits during this often monotonous and back-breaking work. The songs were sung by call and response: a chanteyman sang verses and the crew responded with the chorus between each verse. The work was performed while singing the choruses. The chanteyman's verses gave the crew a few seconds to rest.

There are chanteys that tell of San Francisco and its dangerous "Barbary Coast," one of the most infamous of all port cities. California history comes alive in chanteys warning sailors to steer clear of notorious San Francisco crimps Shanghai Brown and Larry Marr, who ran saloons and kidnapped many men to crew ships. California-based chanteys describe life aboard "hell ships," the dangers of rounding Cape Horn, cruel ship officers, the joys and curse of drink and hopes for riches during the gold rush.

NPS/J.Woerner Whether you're a history buff or simply looking for an outing in the city, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park has something for everyone. Explore the exhibits in the park Visitor Center and watch the park film. Take in the rich colors and surreal designs of the murals in the Maritime Museum . Plunge into the cold water for a swim at Aquatic Park Cove or simply lay in the sand on the beach. Join a park ranger for a guided tour or take part in one of our many community events . Stroll through Victorian Park and catch the cable car at the Hyde Street turnaround, or try a game at the Bocce Ball Courts on the west end of the Aquatic Park promenade. With its many diverse attractions, a trip to San Francisco Maritime is an enriching an memorable destination.

Whether you're a history buff or simply looking for an outing in the city, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park has something for everyone. Explore the exhibits in the park Visitor Center and watch the park film. Take in the rich colors and surreal designs of the murals in the Maritime Museum . Plunge into the cold water for a swim at Aquatic Park Cove or simply lay in the sand on the beach. Join a park ranger for a guided tour or take part in one of our many community events . Stroll through Victorian Park and catch the cable car at the Hyde Street turnaround, or try a game at the Bocce Ball Courts on the west end of the Aquatic Park promenade. With its many diverse attractions, a trip to San Francisco Maritime is an enriching an memorable destination. The ships in our park's collection have been moved temporarily due to the Hyde Street Rebuild Project . They are now located at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard. Visitors are not currently allowed on the ships, but can view them from Mare Island. When the Hyde Street Pier rebuild is finished, the ships will be moved back to Hyde Street Pier. Hyde Street Pier is closed at this time.

Check out our calendar and keep up to date on events and programs happening in the park.

Enjoy the vibrant murals, the maritime history exhibits, and the view of the cove from the veranda.