George W. Elder (built 1874; steamship) passenger accommodations plan, 1890 April 30

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Summary

Title:
George W. Elder (built 1874; steamship) passenger accommodations plan
Dates:
1890 April 30
Creators:
Unknown
Abstract:
The GEORGE W. ELDER (built 1874; steamship) passenger accommodations plan (SAFR 21359, HDC1300) consists of one blueprint showing the passenger accommodations for the steamship S.S. GEORGE W. ELDER. The vessel is also referred to as the GEO. W. ELDER. The drawing is dated April 30, 1890 and depicts the main deck. The document predates the ship's most famous voyage, the Harriman Alaska Expedition. The collection is open for use.
Extent:
1 item
Language:
In English.
Preferred citation:

[Item description], [Location within collection organization identified by Collection Number/Series Number/File Unit Number/Item Number], HDC1300 (SAFR 21359), George W. Elder (built 1874; steamship) passenger accommodations plan, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park

Background

Scope and content:

The GEORGE W. ELDER (built 1874; steamship) passenger accommodations plan (SAFR 21359, HDC1300) consists of one blueprint showing the passenger accommodations for the steamship S.S. GEORGE W. ELDER. The vessel is also referred to as the GEO. W. ELDER. The drawing is dated April 30, 1890 and depicts the main deck. The document predates the ship's most famous voyage, the Harriman Alaska Expedition. The collection is open for use.

Biographical / historical:

The S.S. GEORGE ELDER (1874; steamship), also known as the GEO. W. ELDER, was built by Roach & Sons in Chester, Pennsylvania for the Oregon S.S. Co. in 1874. The ship was once chartered by the Pacific Mail Steamship Co. The GEORGE W. ELDER is probably best known as the ship that railway magnate Edward H. Harriman lavishly refitted for his famed expedition (on behalf of the U.S. Biological Survey) along the Alaskan coast in 1899. Harriman and his crew sailed through the Inside Passage, the Gulf of Alaska, the Aleutian Archipelago, north through the Bering Sea and Strait, to Nome. Crowds cheered the ship when it departed from Seattle on May 31, 1899, and the voyage was front-page news across the world. Naturalists John Muir and John Burroughs, and some of the nation's leading scientists were recruited for the voyage. The Harriman Alaska Expedition enriched the world's knowledge of the region and its environment, describing new genera and species, recording new fossil species and surveying new parts of the Alaskan territory.

(Taken largely from "Harriman Expedition Retraced: A Century of Change," http://www.pbs.org/harriman/)

Acquisition information:

SAFR-00001

Gifted to the Park 25 January 1955

Processing information:

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.

Arrangement:

One blueprint stored in an A sized flat folder.

Physical location:
San Francisco Maritime NHP, Historic Documents Department
Physical description:
.
Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard .

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Processed by: Historic Documents Department Staff, 14 November 2017.
Date Prepared:
2018
Date Encoded:
Machine-readable finding aid derived from ICMS database and converted into xml from a template revised and updated by San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, Historic Documents Department. 1/3/2018 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for use unless otherwise noted.

Terms of access:

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.

Preferred citation:

[Item description], [Location within collection organization identified by Collection Number/Series Number/File Unit Number/Item Number], HDC1300 (SAFR 21359), George W. Elder (built 1874; steamship) passenger accommodations plan, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park

Location of this collection:
Building E, Fort Mason
San Francisco, CA 94123, US
Contact:
415-561-7030
Website