Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
A guide to the Harold Huycke correspondence and notes, 1900-1910, 1978
HDC1337 (SAFR 21400)
No online items
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: Harold Huycke correspondence and notes
Date: 1900-1910, 1978
Identifier/Call Number: HDC1337 (SAFR 21400)
Creator:
Huycke, Harold D.
Physical Description:
34 items.
Repository:
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, Historic Documents Department
Building E, Fort Mason
San Francisco, CA 94123
Abstract: Harold Huycke's correspondence and notes (SAFR 21400, HDC 1337) concern maritime activity in Tacoma, Washington. It includes
4 pages of "Bashford Notes' on ships visiting Tacoma, 1900-1910; 27 pages of "Larsen Notes," on ships visiting Tacoma, 1900-1907
and canvas jobs done, circa 1900-1910; and 2 letters from Huycke that discuss those notes, from April 1978. The letters are
typewritten, but the notes are photocopies. The collection is open for use.
Physical Location: San Francisco Maritime NHP, Historic Documents Department
Language(s):
In English.
This collection is open for use unless otherwise noted.
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.
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.
[Item description], [Location within collection organization identified by Collection Number/Series Number/File Unit Number/Item
Number], HDC1337 (SAFR 21400), Harold Huycke correspondence and notes, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
SAFR-01690
These materials were transferred to the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park Research Center archives by a staff
member.
Historical or Biographical Note
Maritime historian Captain Harold D. Huycke was born November 23, 1922 in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. He died at the age of 84 on February
12, 2007 in Edmonds, Washington. When Huycke graduated from University High School in 1930, his family moved to Los Angeles.
He attended Occidental College for two years, then graduated from the California Maritime Academy in 1944 and, subsequently,
the University of Southern California in 1947. Huycke served in the Merchant Marine on Liberty and Victory ships in the Pacific
during and after World War II. He married Alice Marguerite Frost of Birmingham, Alabama in 1952. They lived on the West Coast,
where Huycke worked for the Weyerhaeuser Steamship Company in both San Francisco and Tacoma. His three children were born
while he worked for Weyerhaeuser. In 1957, the State of California hired Huycke to purchase and overhaul the three-masted
wooden schooner, C.A. THAYER. He served as boatswain on the vessel's historic final voyage from Puget Sound to San Francisco.
Huycke had a
variety of on shore and seafaring jobs over the next dozen years. He worked in Seattle, Hawaii, Mexico, and Central America
as a cargo superintendent and served as mate and master on a variety of ships. Huycke also worked as marine surveyor for 18
years before he retired.
Aside from his family, Huycke's great passion was maritime history: researching sailing ships, steam schooners, shipbuilding
and the sea-faring experiences of the men who sailed on those vessels. For nearly 70 years, he collected oral histories and
exchanged thousands of letters with hundreds of former sailors scattered all over the globe. Huycke was actively involved
with maritime museums and historical societies worldwide and founded the North American section of the international society
of Cape Horners. He published a number of books and numerous articles. In addition, Huycke was generous with his knowledge
and helped countless other authors with their research.
At the time of his death, Huycke was survived by his wife of 54 years, Marguerite; his children, David (Mary) Huycke II of
Yakima, Arthur (Beth) Huycke of Seattle, and Rebecca (Drew) Ellison of Everett; his grandchildren, David, Gregory, Rosalie
Ellison and Anna Huycke; and his step-grandsons, Tyler and Ben Sellon.
Biographical information taken from an obituary in the Seattle Times, February 17, 2007, as reprinted in the Cal Maritime
Northwest News, accessed October 2, 2007 at http://www.csum.edu/alumni/documents/NorthwestNewsMar07.pdf
Harold Huycke's correspondence and notes (SAFR 21400, HDC 1337) concern maritime activity in Tacoma, Washington. It includes
4 pages of "Bashford Notes' on ships visiting Tacoma, 1900-1910; 27 pages of "Larsen Notes," on ships visiting Tacoma, 1900-1907
and canvas jobs done, circa 1900-1910; and 2 letters from Huycke that discuss those notes, from April 1978. The letters are
typewritten, but the notes are photocopies. The collection is open for use.
The "Bashford Notes' are a list of names of ship masters and their ships that Jim Bashford compiled during his years as a
waterfront reporter for the Tacoma News Tribune from the 1920s through 1950 (he died in 1952). The "Larsen Notes' consists
of data taken from the letters of ship masters who were visiting Tacoma. They include descriptions of the ship-chandler services
offered by Mr. J.C. Todd of Tacoma.
Original order was maintained.