Alma (1891)

''Alma'' is an 1891-built scow schooner, which is now preserved as a National Historic Landmark at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park in San Francisco, California.

History

''Alma'' is a flat-bottomed scow schooner built in 1891 by Fred Siemer at his boatyard near Shipwright's Cottage at Hunters Point in San Francisco. Like the many other local scow schooners of that time, she was designed to haul goods on and around San Francisco Bay, but now hauls people. Able to navigate the shallow creeks and sloughs of the Sacramento and San Joaquin River Delta, the scows' strong, sturdy hulls could rest safely and securely on the bottom and provided a flat, stable platform for loading and unloading. While principally designed as sailing vessels, scow schooners could also be hauled from the bank or poled in the shallows of the delta.

Until 1918, ''Alma'' hauled a variety of cargo under sail, including hay and lumber. Thereafter she was demasted and used as a salt-carrying barge. In 1926 a gasoline engine was installed, and ''Alma'' became an dredging oyster schooner, remaining in this trade until 1957.

While built and operated on San Francisco Bay, ''Alma'' is in many ways indistinguishable from scows that were launched and sailed on Chesapeake Bay, the Gulf Coast, the Great Lakes, inland rivers, and other coastal waters of the United States. No scow schooners except ''Alma'' are known to survive afloat in the United States.

In 1959, ''Alma'' was purchased by the State of California and restoration commenced in 1964. She was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 10 October 1975. In 1988, she was designated a National Historic Landmark.
She is now one of the exhibits of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park and is to be found moored at the park's Hyde Street Pier.

See also

* List of schooners

Sources

*

External links

San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park website - Alma webpage
*

{{Oldest surviving ships (pre-1919)

San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
Schooners of the United States
Museum ships in San Francisco
Individual sailing vessels
Historic American Engineering Record in San Francisco
National Historic Landmarks in the San Francisco Bay Area
National Register of Historic Places in San Francisco
Ships on the National Register of Historic Places in California
Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco
1891 ships
Oyster schooners
Ships built in San Francisco