Pacific Mail Steamship Co. Passenger Lists, December 1905 - December 1913

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Summary

Title:
Pacific Mail Steamship Company passenger lists
Dates:
December 1905 - December 1913
Abstract:
This collection is the statement of all tickets issued via the Pacific Mail Steamship Company for the San Francisco Overland route, dating from December 1905-December 1913.
Extent:
143 Sheets
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Pacific Mail Steamship Company Passenger Lists, MS 873, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection is the statement of all tickets issued by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company for the San Francisco Overland route. The statement sheets for the month of [date] / document the apportionment of earnings and expenses accruing to the San Francisco Overland Route for the steamships and rail lines. It records the names of passengers traveling from Asia to San Francisco; documenting the name of the steamship, number of voyage, names of passengers, arrival date in San Francisco, destinations (to and from), number and class of tickets, and which railroads were used.

Includes a record of tickets issued for the Overland Route steamship and railroad travel; revenues posted to various corporate entities (Southern Pacific, Union Pacific, Chicago and North Western, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, and the Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company). The amount paid by the passenger is listed as well as the breakdown of earnings for each steamship and rail line that the passenger used to rach their final destination.

The statement sheets were to be made monthly by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, with the original being placed on file in the Pacific Steamship Company's records. A copy of the same was forwarded to each of the steamship and rail lines listed on the sheet.

Biographical / historical:

The Pacific Mail Steamship Company was established on April 12, 1848 to carry US mail on the Pacific leg of a transcontinental route via Panama. Chief Officers of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company were: Aspinwall, William Henry, 1807-1875; Bartlett, Edwin, 1796-1867, Chauncey, Henry; Howland, Gardiner Greene, 1787-1851

In 1867, supported by its U.S. mail contracts, the "mail line" launched the world's first regular trans-Pacific steamship service linking the United States with Asia. The initial route was San Francisco to Yokohama, with service to Hong Kong and Shanghai. The ships carried the fast-growing trade between East and West.

In 1912, Congress banned ships owned by railroads from using the Panama Canal, and so Pacific Mail was sold to W. R. Grace and Company, where it operated as a subsidiary from 1916 till 1925, when the company's trans-Pacific fleet was bought over by the San Francisco-based Dollar Shipping Company. In 1938, Dollar Line's name was changed to American President Lines. American President Lines is known as APL, a global container-shipping company.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Grahame H. Hardy
Arrangement:

Arranged chronologically.

Physical location:
Statewide Museum Collections Center: WS 5004
Material specific details:
Handwriting is difficult to read. These original documents are the second page of a carbon copy. The carbon copy "ink" is often faint and hard to read.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Library Archives staff
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-10-03 23:27:34 +0000 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research by appointment.

Terms of access:

Copyright has not been assigned to the California State Railroad Museum. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the CSRM Library & Archives.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Pacific Mail Steamship Company Passenger Lists, MS 873, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.

Location of this collection:
111 I Street
Sacramento, CA 95814, US
Contact:
(916) 323-8073
Library.CSRM@parks.ca.gov
Website