When the Pacific Steamship Company went out of business in 1936, the surviving records of the company were offered to The Claremont Colleges if someone would go to Seattle to sort the papers and select what was to be kept. John H. Kemble, Professor of History, Pomona College, took on this task. In 1940 he went to Seattle and sent to Claremont nearly half a boxcar of ledgers, logs, financial records, and correspondence dealing not only with the Pacific Steamship Company, principal steamship operator in the coastwise trade from 1916 until 1936, but to some extent with its predecessor companies, the Pacific Coast Steamship Company and the Pacific Alaska Navigation Company. This collection contains financial documents, journals, legal documents, and business records of the Alaska Coast Company, Alaska Pacific Steamship Company, American Mail Steamship Company, miscellaneous companies, Pacific Coast Steamship Company, Pacific Alaska Navigation Company, and Pacific Steamship Company from 1866-1951. This collection has had additions through gifts of materials from the grandson of the founder of the Pacific Steamship Company. Please note that our collection does not include any passenger lists or sailing logs.

157 linear feet

All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to Special Collections.

This collection is open for research.