Curiosities: Coastal Shipping

Santa Cruz County did not always have rail services. Before 1876, travel to the remote northern cove of the Monterey Bay was difficult, with roads sometimes impassible and seas too rough to travel. Ultimately, it was ocean-going vessels and coastal steamers that dominated the early Santa Cruz freight industry, resulting in a series of wharves erected at the ends of Bay Street, Pacific Avenue, and Main Street. But what were the companies that used these structures and when and why did they stop visiting the Santa Cruz waterfront?

The SS Roanoke beside the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf on opening day, December 5, 1914. [University of California, Santa Cruz – colorized using MyHeritage]

Santa Cruz had been a seaport long before it became a US state. The Spanish mission used the Santa Cruz Main Beach to receive supplies from Mexico and the produce from the mission and the spring on Beach Hill refuelled ships' supplies. By the early 1840s, people like Isaac Graham used oxen and horse teams to haul lumber to the beach, where it was loaded onto boats and transferred to ships anchored offshore. It was a tedious process and led to only small profits. In 1846, Graham and his business partners built their own ship on the beach, the first of many to be named Santa Cruz. It was followed soon after with a second Santa Cruz and the Zach Taylor. These small ships, though, would hardly be able to compete with the larger vessels that would soon run along the Central Coast.

"Bird's Eye View of Santa Cruz," by Charles B. Gifford, showing steamships and tall ships off Davis & Cowell's wharf and Gharky's wharf, ca 1872. [Bancroft Library – colorized using MyHeritage]

As the lumber and leather industries were gradually supplemented by commercial agricultural products, quicklime, blasting powder, and other types of freight, the need for a reliable means of transferring freight to ships increased. Cowell's wharf, originally built at the end of Bay Street as a simple chute in 1849 by Elihu Anthony and Edward S. Penfield to load ships with potatoes, evolved into Santa Cruz's first industrial wharf. This was followed in 1857 by David Gharky's wharf at the end of Main Street. The Railroad Wharf at the end of Pacific Avenue joined the pair in 1876, connected to Gharky's wharf with a viaduct from 1877 to 1882. Finally, in December 1914, the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf was completed. Other landings and wharves existed at times in the county, too, at Waddell's Beach, Davenport Landing, William's Landing, Soquel Wharf, Aptos Wharf, and Watsonville Landing.

The SS Ancon at the Railroad Wharf, ca 1877. Photo by Romanzo E. Wood. [Chico State University – colorized using MyHeritage]

By the mid-1870s, Santa Cruz was the busiest seaport on the California coast outside of the San Francisco Bay. The three wharves did a bonanza business shipping the redwood timber and quicklime that was rapidly building the nearby metropolis. Explosive powder from the California Powder Works were shipped to the Gold Country for mining, to timber tracts to destroy stumps and other obstacles, to railroads to grade their routes, and to the New Almaden quicksilver mines to bore new tunnels. People were also visiting Santa Cruz, primarily to enjoy the bathing beach beside the outlet of the San Lorenzo River, which was conveniently located directly beside and between the wharves. The Leibbrandts and Liddell families worked hard to attract visitors during the summer months, ever expanding their bathing pavilions and adding amenities. In the mountains, resorts were also opening up at the Welch's Big Trees Grove, Hotel de Redwood, Olive's Sulphur Springs, and elsewhere.

A steamship, possibly the Fannie Gilmore, loading barrels of quicklime at the bottom of Cowell's wharf, ca 1890. [Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History – colorized using MyHeritage]

In the earliest years, a variety of companies sent ships along the California coastline to call at its ports, most notably the California Steam Navigation Company, which in 1867 became the California, Oregon, and Mexico Steamship Company and in 1869 the North Pacific Transportation Company. These companies mostly ran schooners specially outfitted for coastal shipping, often featuring both steam-powered paddle-wheels and wind-powered rigging. Davis & Jordan purchased a steamship of their own in 1857, yet another Santa Cruz, and used it to transport quicklime to San Francisco. The cost of operating the ship and the loss of business to Gharky's wharf after 1857, though, led them to downgrade to the smaller Fannie Gilmore. By this point, Santa Cruz was undeniably a seaport even if the ships calling were from a broad array of commercial shipping firms.

Cowell's wharf with a steamship docked and the Railroad Wharf in the distance, ca 1900 [UC Santa Cruz – colorized using MyHeritage]

It was not until 1875 that a major coastal shipping concern began operating out of the port on a regular schedule. The Pacific Mail Steamship Company had been founded in 1848 to handle the delivery of US mail along the Pacific Coast. Its mainline ran from the Panama Isthmus to San Francisco, and it did a bonanza business shortly after its founding as the California Gold Rush took off. It only took a passing interest in intermediate ports for the first 25 years of operation, but by the mid-1870s it was looking to expand and Santa Cruz was a logical destination. Its ships called into port regularly, causing Gharky's wharf to be renamed the Steamship Wharf in local parlance. The company's dominance did not last long, though.

A steamship heading docking at the Railroad Wharf, ca 1900. [UC Santa Cruz – colorized using MyHeritage]

In early 1876, around the time that the Railroad Wharf was completed, Goodall, Nelson and Perkins began running its own steamships along the Central Coast, mostly using older ships acquired in 1875 from the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. They initially called at the Railroad Wharf since their business was primarily transporting the lumber brought in from the San Lorenzo Valley flume. However, they also had a well-regarded passenger service with modern ships that outpaced those of their rival. Ratcheting up the competition, on October 17, 1876, the company reorganized itself as the Pacific Coast Steamship Company, a name meant to put fear in the hearts of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company's board of directors. The firm established a local office at the end of Pacific Avenue near the base of the Railroad Wharf and across from the Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad's main office.

Painting of the SS Senator, 1848, by James Bard. [Mariners' Museum and Park, Newport News, VA]

While the two firms fought over routes to the Pacific Northwest, they mostly cooperated in shipping freight from Santa Cruz. In 1877, to increase efficiency and the safety of shipping blasting powder, the Railroad Wharf and Gharky's wharf were connected by a viaduct with railroad tracks. This meant that steamships of either company, or other firms, could dock at either wharf and receive the same level of service. The opening of the Santa Cruz Railroad in 1876 seems to have had little impact on shipping since it was still cheaper to ship most freight out of Santa Cruz via steamship than rail. Passenger service, though, may have begun to decline from this time as passengers generally preferred the gentle ride of a railroad compared to the rolling and longer voyage of a coastal steamship.

Lumber being loaded onto a tall ship docked at the Railroad Wharf, ca 1900. [UC Santa Cruz – colorized using MyHeritage]

The beginning of the end came early. In May 1880, the South Pacific Coast Railroad opened between Santa Cruz and Alameda. This route made shipping by rail substantially cheaper and provided even more incentives for passengers to take the train. For a short time, many industries used both methods of transport, especially after the Southern Pacific Railroad took over the South Pacific Coast in 1887, immediately increasing prices. However, the end was inevitable. In 1880, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company abandoned all attempts to compete with the Pacific Coast Steamship Company and shifted its focus to Central America and trans-Pacific shipping. This left the latter company with a virtual monopoly over freight and passenger services out of Santa Cruz. Its only competitor was Davis & Cowell, who used their own ships and reluctantly began using the railroad as well.

Barrels being hoisted onto the SS Margaret at either the Railroad Wharf or the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, date undetermined. [UC Santa Cruz – colorized using MyHeritage]

Southern Pacific finally stabilized its rates around 1890s, successfully undercutting shipping rates while still charging more than was probably necessary for its services. The California Powder Works would continue to ship powder out from the Railroad Wharf until around 1900, but most other firms shifted to one of the rail lines out of the county. The widespread expansion of rail networks across the Central Coast in the 1880s and 1890s led to the collapse of the Pacific Coast Steamship Company in the Panic of 1893. The company was revived under new owners in 1897 but its focus shifted further and further north, especially during the Klondike Gold. Within a decade, almost all regular coastal passenger service was ended with the company focusing instead on long-distance travel between key Pacific ports, among which Santa Cruz was no longer counted.

The Railroad Wharf with a steamship docked beside it and the pleasure ship Balboa anchored in the Monterey Bay, ca 1907. Photo by James E. Boynton. [Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History – colorized using MyHeritage]

The decline of commercial steamship service was felt quickly in Santa Cruz after the expansion of the railroads. In 1882, the Steamship Wharf was demolished, as was its connection to the Railroad Wharf. There was simply not enough traffic to justify three commercial wharves at the waterfront. Cowell's wharf thrived for another 25 years, but when a winter storm damaged it in 1907, the Henry Cowell Lime & Cement Company changed its policy and began using the railroad more heavily. Once the line through the mountains was reopened in 1909, it completely abandoned its old wharf and the commercial shipping service it had run for over 50 years. The Railroad Wharf, meanwhile, had been largely taken over by Italian fishing families by 1910, though it was briefly cleared of shacks around the time that the Municipal Wharf was erected beside it in 1914. However, with the new wharf available for steamship service, the Railroad Wharf became a fishing hub with a cannery and other facilities installed.

The SS Roanoke docked at the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf on opening day, December 5, 1914. [UC Santa Cruz – colorized using MyHeritage]

The Municipal Wharf, meanwhile, had been designed with steamships in mind. It was long enough to reach deepwater, and the curve at the end was to allow ships to dock in accordance with the prevailing tide. On opening day, December 5, 1914, the SS Roanoke docked as part of the celebration, having just passed through the newly-opened Panama Canal. To the people of Santa Cruz, who had paid for the wharf after Southern Pacific declined to make needed improvements to the Railroad Wharf, it seemed like a return to the coastal shipping days of old. But it was only a dream. After nearly two decades of trial and error, the city failed to attract a regular flow of steamships. The Great Depression put the final nail in the coffin when Southern Pacific successfully removed its tracks from the wharf in 1931, signalling a defeat for the city. By this point, several Italian fishing families had relocated to the Municipal Wharf from the Railroad Wharf, which had been demolished in 1922. The wharf gradually evolved from a commercial shipping destination to an Italian fishing station to a tourist destination. So ended Santa Cruz's dream to regain its status as a Central Coast seaport.

The SS William H. Murphy docked at the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf with boxcars of cargo and a smaller steamship docked beside the warehouse, ca 1916. [UC Santa Cruz – colorized using MyHeritage]

Ships of the Lines:

The most prominent companies ran several ships along the Central Coast, but Ernest Otto, a late Santa Cruz Sentinel writer who wrote extensively about his memories of the 1870s and 1880, recalls the names of several of the ships that called at Santa Cruz. These included:

• Senator – Launched in 1848 from the shipyard of William H. Brown, New York City. A 219-foot-long two-masted steam-powered paddlewheel schooner with a capacity of 190 passengers and 300 tons of cargo. Operated 1848–1849 by James C. Cunningham; 1849–1851 by Charles Minturn; 1851–1854 by People's Line; 1854–1867 by the California Steam Navigation Company; 1867–1872 by the California, Oregon, and Mexico Steamship Company / North Pacific Transportation Company; 1872–1875 by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company; 1875–1882 by Goodall, Nelson & Perkins / the Pacific Coast Steamship Company; 1884–1906 by the Kamo Coal Company (New Zealand) / Northern Steamship Company as a stationary barge; and 1906–1912 by the Devonport Steam Ferry Company. Scrapped in New Zealand, ca 1912.
• Pacific – Launched in 1850 from the shipyard of William. H. Brown, New York City. A 223-foot-long three-masted steam-powered paddlewheel schooner with a capacity of 546 passengers. Operated 1850–1851 by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company; 1851–1858 by Cornelius Vanderbilt; 1858–1859 by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company; 1859–1867 by the California Steam Navigation Company; 1867–1872 by the California, Oregon and Mexico Steamship Company / North Pacific Transportation Company; 1872–1875 by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company; and 1875 by Goodall, Nelson & Perkins. Wrecked in Washington, November 4, 1875.
• Los Angeles – Launched 1863 from the shipyards of J. T. Fardy & Bros, Baltimore. A 130-foot-long two-masted Pawtuxet-class steam cutter with an unknown passenger capacity. Operated 1863–1873 by the United States Revenue Cutter Service as the Wayanda; and 1873–1894 by Goodall, Nelson & Perkins / Pacific Coast Steamship Company as the Los Angeles. Wrecked off Point Sur, April 22, 1894.
• Ancon – Launched in 1867 from Hunter's Point, San Francisco, for use as a ferry in Panama for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. A 226-foot-long two-masted schooner with a capacity of 268 passengers. Operated 1867–1872 by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company; and 1875–1889 by Goodall, Nelson & Perkins / Pacific Coast Steamship Company. Wrecked in Alaska, August 28, 1889.
• Gipsy – Launched in 1868 from the shipyard of Middlemas & Boole, San Francisco. 102-foot-long two-masted steam-powered schooner. Operated 1868–1905 by Goodall, Nelson & Perkins / Pacific Coast Steamship Company. Wrecked at Monterey, September 27, 1905.
• City of Chester – Launched 1873 from the shipyard of John Roach & Sons, Chester, Pennsylvania. A 202-foot-long two-masted steamship with a capacity of 214 passengers. Operated by 1876–ca 1879 by the Oregon Steamship Company / Oregon Steam Navigation Company; and ca 1879–1888 by the Pacific Coast Steamship Company. Wrecked in San Francisco Bay, August 22, 1888.
• State of California – Launched in 1878 from the shipyard of William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia. A 306-foot-long two-masted steamship. Operated 1878–1913 by the Pacific Coast Steamship Company. Wrecked in Alaska, August 17, 1913.
• Pomona – Launched 1888 from the shipyards of the Union Iron Works, San Francisco. A 225-foot-long two-masted steamship with a capacity of 200 passengers and 300 tons of cargo. Operated 1888–1897 by the Oregon Improvement Company; 1897–1908 by the Pacific Coast Steamship Company. Wrecked near Eureka, March 17, 1908.

Other ships that called periodically at Santa Cruz of which less information is known include the Adriana, Monterey, Eureka, San Vicente, Salinas, and William H. Murphy.

Citations & Credits:

• Gibson, Ross. "Ships and wharves of old Santa Cruz." Santa Cruz Sentinel, 01/18/2009.
• Otto, Ernest F. Our Old Santa Cruz... Volumes 1 and 2. Santa Cruz, CA: Zayante Publishing, 2023-2024. [Amazon link]
• Whaley, Derek R. SIDETRACKED: The Santa Cruz Beach to 1903. Santa Cruz, CA: Zayante Publishing, 2024. [Amazon link]
• Various newspaper articles and other sources summarizing the histories and fates of individual ships.