A guide to the John T. Scott photograph collection, 1900-1916

Processed by: L. Bianchi and Amy Croft, March 2013.
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
Building E, Fort Mason
San Francisco, CA 94123
Phone: 415-561-7030
Fax: 415-556-3540
SAFR_Historic_Documents@nps.gov
URL: http://www.nps.gov/safr
2013

A Guide to the John T. Scott photograph collection

P78-307a

San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, National Park Service
2013, National Park Service

Title: John T. Scott photograph collection
Date: 1900-1916
Identifier/Call Number: P78-307a (SAFR 23364)
Creator: Scott, John T.
Physical Description: 13 items.
Repository: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, Historic Documents Department
Building E, Fort Mason
San Francisco, CA 94123
Abstract: The John T. Scott photograph collection, circa 1900-1916, (SAFR 23364, P78-307a) is comprised of photographs related to Union Iron Works in San Francisco, California, and Moore & Scott Iron Works in Oakland, California. The collection has been processed to the Item level and is open for use.
Physical Location: San Francisco Maritime NHP, Historic Documents Department
Language(s): In English.

Access

This collection is open for use unless otherwise noted.

Publication and Use Rights

Some material may be copyrighted or restricted. It is the researcher's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections.

Processing Note

The descriptions in this collection guide were compiled using the best available sources of information. Such sources include the creator's annotations or descriptions, collection accession files, primary and secondary source material and subject matter experts. While every effort was made to provide accurate information, in the event that you find any errors in this guide please contact the reference staff in order for us to evaulate and make corrections to this guide.
Please cite the title and collection number in any correspondence with our staff.

Preferred Citation

[Item description], [Location within collection organization identified by Collection Number/Series Number/File Unit Number/Item Number], P78-307a (SAFR 23364), John T. Scott photograph collection, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park

Acquisition Information

SAFR-00001
GOGA-00789
John T. Scott donated this collection to the San Francisco Maritime Museum on June 24, 1952 (see SFMM Accession Ledger 107/4). The prints were formally accessioned by the National Maritime Museum, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, on April 27, 1978.
SAFR-00001 is a blanket accession that was transferred from the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) to the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park in September 1988. GGNRA had previously acquired the collection from the San Francisco Maritime Museum when it became a unit of the National Park Service in 1977.
GOGA-00789 was transferred from the J. Porter Shaw Library to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) in February 1985.

Historical or Biographical Note

John T. Scott (1865-1960) was a marine engineer. He was superintendent of Union Iron Works from 1895-1905 and co-owner of Moore & Scott Iron Works from 1905-1916. He also founded the Pacific Coast Shipbuilding Company in 1916 with his uncle Henry T. Scott (1846-1927).
John Thomas Scott was born in 1864 or 1865 in Maryland to Mary Hopkins Scott and George S. Scott. He had older brothers named Wakeman H. Scott (born 1861) and Irving Murray Scott Jr. (1862-1952), and younger siblings named Margaret H. Scott (born 1867), George Worthington Scott (1869 July-1941 January 31), and Henry T. Scott (1877 January 13-1949 July 15).
John T. Scott's uncles were Irving Murray Scott (1937-1903) and Henry Tiffany Scott (1846-1927), the owners of the Union Iron Works in San Francisco's Potrero district during the 1860s-1890s. John was a marine engineer by profession, and followed his uncles into the family business, becoming a superintendent of the Union Iron Works in 1895. John T. Scott's brother Irving M. Scott, Jr. was also in the family business, and worked as a draftsman and engineer at Union Iron Works, Moore & Scott Iron Works, and Pacific Coast Shipbuilding Company.
John T. Scott managed operations at Union Iron Works until he left in 1905 to begin his own business, in partnership with Robert S. Moore and Joseph A. Moore. The Moore & Scott Iron Works started operation in 1905 in Hunter's Point neighborhood of San Francisco. In 1909, they moved to the site of W.A. Boole's old yard on the shore of Oakland Creek (Knave). Moore & Scott was a very successful operation, which continued to thrive under the name of Moore Shipbuilding Company after Scott sold his interests in 1917.
Scott's next venture was the short-lived Pacific Coast Shipbuilding Company, which he established in 1917 in partnership with his uncle Henry T. Scott (1846-1927) at Bay Point, California, (present day Port Chicago) to take advantage of the World War I shipbuilding boom.
Scott lived in San Francisco until 1909, subsequently in Burlingame, and finally by the side of Lake Merritt in Oakland. He passed away in March of 1960 at the age of 96.

Written by Amy Croft, 2013.

  • Sources:
  • San Francisco Maritime staff. Front matter in finding aid for the John T. Scott papers, (HDC 126).
  • Unknown author. "Knave" section of the Oakland Tribune. Sunday December 3, 1961.
  • The Bay of San Francisco: the metropolis of the Pacific Coast and its suburban cities: a history. 1892. Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co.

Collection Scope and Content

The John T. Scott photograph collection, circa 1900-1916, (SAFR 23364, P78-307a) is comprised of photographs related to Union Iron Works in San Francisco, California, and Moore & Scott Iron Works in Oakland, California. The collection has been processed to the Item level and is open for use.
There are 13 unique photographic images in 13 physical forms (8 black-and-white photographic prints and 5 black-and-white photographic postcards). The collection includes views of machinery, possibly built by Union Iron Works and Moore & Scott Iron Works, including backline sheaves, a hydraulic press, and two other unidentified pieces. Also contains views of YANKEE (dredge); a steam schooner in the stream with a derrick barge alongside; a floating drydock; and an Oakland, Antioch & Eastern Railway derrick railcar handling logs. Two views show unidentified men driving the first rivet in EDWARD T. JEFFERY (built 1913; ferry) at Moore & Scott Iron Works. Another view shows a crowd of men outside the entrance to a Union Iron Works building, possibly on the occasion of the company's auction in 1904. The collection also includes a view of vessels at a shipyard, possibly Moore & Scott Iron Works, as seen from the water.

Collection Arrangement

No arrangement. Left in the order in which the processing archivist found the Items, as numbered by previous SAFR staff.

Related Materials

John Scott collections at SFMNHP:
John T. Scott photographs. SFMNHP, (SAFR 18511, P78-046a). (62) cyanotypes, most 6 x 8 in., of USS OHIO, showing details of every part of the vessel including crew quarters, hospital, galley, engine room and several exterior views.
John T. Scott photographs. SFMNHP, (SAFR 19205, P78-261a). (15) collodion(?) prints, approx. 7 x 9 in., taken as for a catalog, showing hydraulic and steam, fixed and portable riveters, manufactured by the Morgan Engineering Co., Alliance, Ohio, photographer unknown, Dec. 18, 1896.
John T. Scott photograph collection. SFMNHP, (SAFR 23362, P79-072a (scr 51)). 1 photograph album and loose prints.
John Thomas Scott photograph collection, 1903-1919. SFMNHP, (SAFR 17023, P85-057). (80) black-and-white, cyanotype, and gelatin chloride prints separated from the personal papers of John T. Scott.
Photograph of 5 unidentified U.S. Warships, 1890's, SFMNHP, (SAFR 13701). 1 EA. Photosensitized linen with five photographic prints, two sketches. Cyan coloring of naval vessels built by Union Iron Works, all pre-dreadnought era. Separated from John T. Scott papers (SAFR 15793, HDC 126).
Related SFMNHP Classified photograph collection items have been noted at the Item level.
John Thomas Scott papers, 1900-1920. SFMNHP, (SAFR 15793, HDC 126). Personal papers. Includes many mechanical drawings and blueprints dating to his employment at Union Iron Works, Moore & Scott Iron Works, and Pacific Coast Shipbuilding Co.
Irving M. Scott, Jr. photograph collection, 1898-1920. SFMNHP, (SAFR 17021, P85-068). 15 views of machinery, possibly at Union Iron Works and Moore and Scott Iron Works.
Mrs. Irving Scott photograph collection, circa 1900-1915. SFMNHP, (SAFR 00363, P83-100). Includes a photograph of a vessel launching in San Francisco, possibly from Union Iron Works.
Mrs. Irving Scott photographs, SFMNHP (SAFR 19216, P78-272a). (95) black-and-white prints, primarily of Union Iron Works engines and machinery.
Researchers should note that there are other books and archival collections with materials related to Union Iron Works and Moore and Scott Iron Works in the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. They can search the Park's web catalog for more information.
  • This material is located at San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
John T. Scott papers, circa 1891-1940. Bancroft Library, BANC MSS 73/199c. Correspondence, estimates, financial reports, a few records of Union Iron Works, clippings, blueprints of ships, etc. Mainly relate to his association with the Pacific Coast Shipbuilding Company.
  • This material is located at University of California, Berkeley. Bancroft Library.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Marine machinery
Shipyards
Cargo handling
Cranes, derricks, etc.
Derrick cars (Railroads)
Dredges
Dry Docks
Steam schooners
Moore & Scott Iron Works
Union Iron Works Co.
San Francisco (Calif.)
Oakland (Calif.)
Black-and-white prints (photographs)
Gelatin silver prints
Photographic postcards

Shared collection box

Item No. 01.  Yankee (dredge), circa 1905-1916

Extent: 1 photograph.
Physical Description: 1 black-and-white photographic postcard, 3.5 x 5.5 in.

Scope and Content Note

View showing a portion of the dredge, apparently while ashore.
Shared collection box

Item No. 02.  Yankee (dredge), circa 1905-1916

Extent: 1 photograph.
Physical Description: 1 black-and-white photographic postcard, 3.5 x 5.5 in.

Scope and Content Note

View showing a portion of the dredge, apparently while ashore.
Shared collection box

Item No. 03.  Men driving the first rivet in Edward T. Jeffery (built 1913; ferry) at Moore & Scott Iron Works, Oakland, California, 1912 November 2

Extent: 1 photograph.
Physical Description: 1 black-and-white photographic postcard, 3.5 x 5.5 in.

Scope and Content Note

Western Pacific Railroad passenger ferry.

Related Material

See also SFMNHP Classified photograph collection. Same image as B04.04561.02 and B04.04561.04. Similar to B04.04561.01 and B04.04561.03.
Shared collection box

Item No. 04.  Men driving the first rivet in Edward T. Jeffery (built 1913; ferry) at Moore & Scott Iron Works, Oakland, California, 1912 November 2

Extent: 1 photograph.
Physical Description: 1 black-and-white photographic postcard, 3.5 x 5.5 in.

Scope and Content Note

Western Pacific Railroad passenger ferry.

Related Material

See also SFMNHP Classified photograph collection. Same image as B04.04561.03. Similar to B04.04561.01 and B04.04561.04.
Shared collection box

Item No. 05.  Steam schooner in the stream, starboard broadside view, with a derrick barge alongside, circa 1905-1916

Extent: 1 photograph.
Physical Description: 1 black-and-white photographic postcard, 3.25 x 5.25 in.

Scope and Content Note

The derrick barge appears to be handling logs aboard the unidentified steam schooner.
Shared collection box

Item No. 06.  Backline sheaves built by Moore & Scott Iron Works for Maldonado & Company, 1914 March 17

Extent: 1 photograph.
Physical Description: 1 black-and-white photographic print, 3.5 x 5.75 in. Inked on front: "Job No. 117 & 121 - Mar. 17 - 1914 for Maldonado & Co. Backline Sheaves. 4-28" Blocks = 254# Each (Fin.). 2 - 35-1/2" Blocks = 400# [Each] (Fin.). See Tracing on File in Drafting Room." Penciled on verso: "10951."
Shared collection box

Item No. 07.  Hydraulic press at the Moore & Scott Iron Works yard, Oakland, California, 1913

Extent: 1 photograph.
Physical Description: 1 black-and-white photographic print, 3.5 x 5.75 in. Penciled on verso: "10969."
Shared collection box

Item No. 08.  Floating drydock in the stream, circa 1900-1916

Extent: 1 photograph.
Physical Description: 1 black-and-white photographic print, 3.5 x 4.5 in. Penciled on verso: "Dry Dock [illegible] for Irving."
Shared collection box

Item No. 09.  Oakland, Antioch & Eastern Railway derrick railcar handling logs, circa 1900-1916

Extent: 1 photograph.
Physical Description: 1 black-and-white photographic print, 4.5 x 6.25 in. Portion of right side of print is missing. Vertical crease 0.5" in from left side.
Shared collection box

Item No. 10.  Crowd of men outside the entrance to a Union Iron Works building, San Francisco, California, circa 1904

Extent: 1 photograph.
Physical Description: 1 black-and-white photographic print, 4.75 x 6.75 in.

Scope and Content Note

Possibly on the occasion of the auction of Union Iron Works at which Charles M. Schwab was the only bidder. If so, Receiver James Smith Jr. is the man in the tall hat standing in the archway. The men in the crowd possibly includes Union Iron Works employees.

Related Material

See also SFMNHP Classified photograph collection A12.17325.01-.04 for four similar views taken on the same day.
Shared collection box

Item No. 11.  Machinery, unidentified, circa 1900-1916

Extent: 1 photograph.
Physical Description: 1 black-and-white photographic print, 3.25 x 3.25 in., on 5 x 5 in. mount
Shared collection box

Item No. 12.  Machinery, unidentified, circa 1900-1916

Extent: 1 photograph.
Physical Description: 1 black-and-white photographic print, 3.25 x 3.25 in., on 5 x 5 in. mount
Shared collection box

Item No. 13.  Vessels at a shipyard, possibly Moore & Scott Iron Works, as seen from the water, circa 1905-1916

Extent: 1 photograph.
Physical Description: 1 black-and-white photographic print, 7 x 10 in.

Scope and Content Note

Unidentified steam and sailing vessels in view.