The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is located in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, United States. The park includes a fleet of historic vessels, a visitor center, a maritime museum, and a library/research facility. The park used to be referred to as the San Francisco Maritime Museum, however the former 1951 name changed in 1978 when the collections were acquired by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...

. Today's San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park was authorized in 1988; the maritime museum is among the park's many cultural resources. The park also incorporates the

Aquatic Park Historic District Aquatic Park Historic District is a National Historic Landmark and building complex on the San Francisco Bay waterfront within San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. The district includes a beach, bathhouse, municipal pier, restrooms, ...

, bounded by

Van Ness Avenue Van Ness Avenue is a north–south thoroughfare in San Francisco, California. Originally named Marlette Street, the street was renamed Van Ness Avenue in honor of the city's sixth mayor, James Van Ness. The main part of Van Ness Avenue runs fro ...

, Polk Street, and Hyde Street.

Historic vessel fleet

The historic fleet of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is moored at the park's Hyde Street Pier. The fleet consists of the following major vessels: *'' Balclutha'', an 1886 built square rigged sailing ship. *'' C.A. Thayer'', an 1895 built schooner. *''

Eureka Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying th ...

'', an 1890 built steam ferryboat. *'' Alma'', an 1891 built scow schooner. *''

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the ...

'', a 1907 built steam tug. *'' Eppleton Hall'', a 1914 built paddlewheel tug. Image:Alma (scow schooner, San Francisco) 2.JPG, Image:Hercules (steam tug, San Francisco).JPG, Image:Balclutha (San Francisco).JPG, Image:Eppleton Hall (San Francisco).jpg, Image:Eureka (steam ferryboat, San Francisco).JPG, Image:C A Thayer.JPG, The fleet also includes over one hundred small craft.

Visitor center

The visitor center is housed in the park's 1909 waterfront warehouse, located at the corner of Hyde and Jefferson streets. The City of San Francisco declared the four-story brick structure a historic landmark in 1974, and the building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1975. Inside, exhibits (including a first order Fresnel lighthouse lens and a shipwrecked boat) tell the story of San Francisco's colorful and diverse maritime heritage. The visitor center also contains a theater and a ranger-staffed information desk.

Maritime Museum

The maritime museum was until recently housed in a

Streamline Moderne Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial desig ...

(late

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

) building that is the centerpiece of the

, a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...

at the foot of Polk Street and a minute's walk from the visitor center and Hyde Street Pier. The building was originally built (starting in 1936) by the WPA as a public

bathhouse Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...

, and its interior is decorated with fantastic and colorful

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanis ...

s, created primarily by artist and color theoretician Hilaire Hiler. The architects were William Mooser Jr. and William Mooser III.

Maritime Research Center

The Maritime Research Center is the premier resource for San Francisco and Pacific Coast maritime history. 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. The collections include more than: * 35,000 published titles comprising over 74,000 items * 500,000 photographs * 7,000 archival and manuscript collections * 150,000

naval architecture Naval architecture, or naval engineering, is an engineering discipline incorporating elements of mechanical, electrical, electronic, software and safety engineering as applied to the engineering design process, shipbuilding, maintenance, and ...

and

marine engineering Marine engineering is the engineering of boats, ships, submarines, and any other marine vessel. Here it is also taken to include the engineering of other ocean systems and structures – referred to in certain academic and professional circl ...

drawings * 3,000 maps and charts * 150,000 feet of motion picture film and video * 6,000 historical archaeology artifacts * 2,500 pieces of folk and

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwor ...

* 40,000 history objects * 100 small craft * 50,000 pieces of

ephemera Ephemera are transitory creations which are not meant to be retained or preserved. Its etymological origins extends to Ancient Greece, with the common definition of the word being: "the minor transient documents of everyday life". Ambiguous in ...

* 600

oral histories Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...

and audio recordings

Supporting associations

The park is supported by several

cooperating associations Cooperating Associations, also known as ''interpretive associations'' or ''natural history associations'', support the interpretive, educational and scientific programs and services of governmental land management agencies such as the National Park ...

. One of these is the

San Francisco Maritime National Park Association The San Francisco Maritime National Park Association was founded in 1950 as the San Francisco Maritime Museum Association to operate the then independent Maritime Museum. In 1978 the Maritime Museum was transferred to the National Park Service, and ...

Location and access

The visitor center, Hyde Street Pier, and Maritime Museum are all situated adjacent to the foot of Hyde Street and at the western end of the Fisherman's Wharf district. The park headquarters and Maritime Research Center are located in

Fort Mason Fort Mason, in San Francisco, California originated as a coastal defense site during the American Civil War. The nucleus of the property was owned by John C. Frémont and disputes over compensation by the United States continued into 1968. In 188 ...

, some 10 minutes walk to the west of the other sites. The Beach and Hyde Street terminal of the

San Francisco cable car system The San Francisco cable car system is the world's last manually operated cable car system and an icon of the city of San Francisco. The system forms part of the intermodal urban transport network operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railwa ...

adjoins the main site, while the Jones Street terminal of the F Market historic streetcar line is some 5 minutes walk to the east. Opening times and fees for the various sites can be found on the park's website; see 'External links' below.

Open-water swimming

Aquatic Park is a popular place for

open water swimming Open water swimming is a swimming discipline which takes place in outdoor bodies of water such as open oceans, lakes, and rivers. The beginning of the modern age of open water swimming is sometimes taken to be May 3, 1810, when Lord Byron swa ...

, both for recreation and training. The

South End Rowing Club South End Rowing Club is an athletic club and social club in San Francisco, California. The South End Rowing Club, founded in 1873, is one of the oldest athletics clubs in the western United States. The boathouse, with a fleet of 30 boats, is l ...

and Dolphin Club are located in Aquatic Park. Recently there have been several incidents of swimmers being bitten by sea lions. Aquatic Cove Cityscape San Francisco

References

Bibliography

Bill Pickelhaupt, "San Francisco's Aquatic Park," Charleston, SC, 2005,

External links

NPS: official San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park website
— ''bay swimming club based at Aquatic Park''. {{Authority control Parks in San Francisco National Historical Parks of the United States Maritime museums in California Museums in San Francisco Open-air museums in California Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco San Francisco Bay National Register of Historic Places in San Francisco Ships on the National Register of Historic Places in California Maritime history of California Protected areas established in 1978 National Park Service areas in California Institutions accredited by the American Alliance of Museums Lincoln Highway 1978 establishments in California Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in California Water transportation on the National Register of Historic Places