The Maritime Heritage Project

CALIFORNIA
° Alameda ° Benicia ° Berkeley ° Los Angeles ° Mare Island ° Mendocino ° Oakland
° Monterey ° Port Costa ° Point Reyes ° Sacramento ° San Diego ° San Francisco
° Santa Barbara ° Santa Monica ° Sausalito ° Vallejo (° Mare Island ° General Vallejo)

San Francisco Bay had provided sheltered waters to Native Americans in reed canoes, whalers, fur traders and explorers for centuries before the rush of gold seekers began arriving on ships from around the world.

Entrance to San Francisco Bay, California c. 1859

From 1849 on, San Francisco's water commerce increased year after year, into the early 1900s.

Merchants were the money-makers in the early days, far exceeding the fortune (or misfortunes) experienced by gold miners.

The characters and their schemes were well known and well publicized. Land-grabbing was the fashion and many a man laid claim to waterfront land. San Francisco's muddy shoreline, which originally went for $50 a lot shortly reached $1 million.

Each street ended in a wharf, and the owner of said wharf exacted huge tolls from passengers, drays, wagons and all vessels, from the ships to the lighters who help unload the cargo. The cargo was also taxed. A toll was put on anything that could be weighed or measured.

Early View of San Francisco Bay

Wharfage alone cost medium-sized ships $100 a day and larger ships $200. By the Fall of 1850, about six thousand feet of pier space, extending into the bay like the fingers of two large hands and costing about one million dollars, had been constructed.

The wharves were crowded from morning through night with drays, wagons, horses, sailors, miners, and merchants. Some wharves were developed to such an extent that by 1851-52, they were small cities of stores, shops, and storeships lining the waterfront.

Newcomers Line Up for their Mail San Francisco Post Office during the Gold Rush

San Francisco also had its share of savory characters, so much so that in 1851 the first Vigilance Committee was established. It was not well-organized and by 1856, another Committee was established in the style of a military organization. In addition to a police force, it had a "navy" under the command of Captain Edgar Wakeman, a character in his own right. His watchful eye, and willingness to act, earned him the title "Emperor of the Port."

The National Maritime Historical Park in San Francisco has brought this wonderful era to life on Hyde Street Pier and at their annual Festival of the Sea, held in fall of each year.

Seal Point, Bay of San Francisco, 1888

San Francisco Call, October 4, 1894

SMUGGLING OPIUM

Grave Charges Against Steamboat Men.
A Big Price Paid for the Drug at Honolulu-
A Remnant of the Emerald Gang at Work.

When the trial of the Emerald smugglers closed a few months ago the local representatives of the Government, the District Attorney, the Special Agent of the Treasury and the Collector of the port rejoiced and were exceedingly glad, for they believed that they had broken up one of the strongest rings that ever existed on this coast.

But the heavy burden of punishment laid upon the unhappy trio now in San Quentin did not daunt their confederates in crime. While the prisoners were before the bar battling for liberty, their associates were at work in this city, in Victoria and in Honolulu buying, smuggling and selling the drug.

Vessels as fleet as the Emerald were passing through the Golden Gate at night bearing a forbidden cargo to be sold in Chinatown or shipped to the Hawaiian Islands.

The Collector of the Port was not long in ignorance of the fact that the remnant of the ring was working as hard as ever. The manufacture and exportation of opium at Victoria did not cease. The revenue officers still found the drug in Chinatown and news came from Honolulu that it was being sold there to the victims of the pipe and syringes.

The Hawaiian laws absolutely prohibit the importation and sale of opium, yet it is a well known fact it can be procured with little difficulty by all who want it. The opium cooked in California and known here as domestic opium costs in this city about $4 a pound. It sells in the Hawaiian republic at $18 a pound.

The opium made in Victoria is sold in Honolulu for $24 a pound and the Simon pure article from, Hong Kong sells for $28 a pound. Therefore it pays to smuggle opium into the islands, always provided that the smuggler is not caught.

Chinese Merchant Weighing Opium, 1880s

The drug that is taken from Victoria to Honolulu first comes to this city and here placed on a vessel bound to Honolulu, where it falls into the hands of the ring, who find away to sell it to the natives.

Collector Wise believes, and has in his possession facts that warrant his belief, that the opium is taken from this city to the Islands on one of the steamers, and believes that trusted employes of the steamship company are members of of or are in the employ of the ring.

The Collector, convinced that the employes of the company are smuggling, but being unable to procure the proper kind of evidence against them, wrote to the agent of the company on Monday stating the facts in his possession, and urging the removal of suspects. He stated last night that he had received no reply to the letter, and that he did not care to discuss the matter.

September 11, 1897
Mountain Democrat
Placerville, California, USA

POLLY LARKIN

The Forum Club, a literary organization of this city, of which all the members are of the fair sex, have installed themselves right in the heart of clubdom. In other words, it is in the vicinity of the Bohemian Club and the Press Club. The rooms, three in number, are elegantly furnished. The reception room is in green and oak with easy chairs, couches, innumerable fancy pillows, soft and inviting as down can make them; and there are dainty writing desks, furnished with the necessary articles, and tables covered with current literature. It is well-lighted, and is a most delightful place to dream in and weave endless beautiful thoughts into word-paintings. Of course, being a woman's club, there are any amount of palms and beautiful plants to add to the attractiveness of their lovely quarters. The tea-room is in blue, even to the rare old china, but it does not necessarily follow that the members belong to that old school known as "blue-stockings. " Here a woman is in charge and stands ever ready to furnish the members with a cup of refreshing tea and light refreshments. The dressing-room is provided with a couch and a dressing table supplied with all the necessary toilet articles. A large hall opens out of the reception-room, which is to be used for lectures and entertainments. The members of the Forum have gained their heart's desire and now have ideal club quarters, just what they have been longing for for some time past.

First Shipload of Gold

View of San Francisco Northwest.

San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf
(Images of America)

Lighthouses of the Bay Area (Images of America)

Italians of the Bay Area: The Photographs of Gino Sbrana (Images of America)

Prospectors finding gold in a stream during the California Gold Rush Giclee art prints available by clicking the image.

The Golden Crucible:
An Introduction to the History of American California 1850 to 1905
Blake Ross

First Prize Essay James D. Phelan Historical Essay Contest held under the auspices of the San Francisco Branch, League of American Pen Women. From the Introduction: The Golden Crucible is well named, because, first of all, in the minds of the people, California is regarded as the Golden State. It was not the actual discovery by Cabrillo that awakened wonder, but the discovery of gold by Marshall.

San Francisco Street Scene The Palace Hotel, built in 1875, envisioned by William Chapman Ralston and William Sharon, was reputedly the largest, most luxurious and costly hotel in the world. The San Francisco Palace Hotel was designed as the American counterpart to the grand hotels of Europe. On October 2, 1875, the Palace Hotel officially opened. Originally built by architect John P. Gaynor, the majestic San Francisco historic building hailed 7,000 windows, 14-foot high ceilings and an unprecedented opulence. Today's Garden Court was conceived of as the hotel's carriage entrance - a gateway to the splendors and remarkable innovations within. The hydraulic elevators - an engineering marvel for the time - were dubbed "rising rooms." In each of the lavish guest rooms, an electronic call button allowed guests to "ring" for anything they desired and air conditioning was a standard feature.

San Francisco Bay Area, Golden Memories
(Voices of America), Steven Friedman
San Francisco, the flamboyant and cosmopolitan city by the bay and its neighboring municipalities, was born to tell stories. Ranging in ages from 68 to 91, the narrators reflect the ethnic and religious diversity of a metropolis that has been a pioneer of several social, political, and cultural movements. They also stretch across both ends of the economic spectrum. A Japanese-American woman describes the harsh humiliation of internment during World War II, while an Irish Catholic man fondly remembers being a paperboy in the same neighborhood for ten years. Another woman recalls kissing under the Golden Gate Bridge with the man who eventually became her husband. More than 80 photographs from the narrators and collections of local libraries, museums, and historical societies.