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Pacific Mail Steamship Company Collection: Finding
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mssPacific mail steamship co
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Table of contents
Title: Pacific Mail Steamship Company Collection
Dates (inclusive): 1851-1929
Collection Number: mssPacific mail steamship co
Creator:
Pacific Mail Steamship Company.
Extent:
523 boxes, 1 folder, and 637 volumes
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: The collection consists of the business records of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, dating from 1851-1929.
The collection also contains some records of the Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company.
Language: English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities.
The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the
researcher.
[Identification of item]. Pacific Mail Steamship Company Collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Gift of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, 1937-1938.
The Pacific Mail Steamship Company was incorporated in 1848 to engage in the steamship business after receiving a contract
from the Unite States government to
provide mail service between Panama and the Oregon coast. The organizer and first president of the company was William H.
Aspinwall.
The company prospered, expanded its fleet, and began service to Asia in 1867. By the mid-1880s they were sailing to 47 ports
across the Pacific Ocean,
including ports in Central America and Mexico. The Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company, formed in 1874 by western railroad
interests, merged with
Pacific Mail Steamship Company in 1900. The company controlling stock was acquired in 1915 by W.R. Grace & Co., and in 1925
the company's house flag, name,
and goodwill were sold to the Dollar Line.
The collection consists of the business records of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. The records are made up ships' logs,
waybills, manifests, personnel
records, financial records, notes of protest, freight claims and other business papers. The collection also contains some
records of the Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Pacific Mail Steamship Company -- Archives.
Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company.
Mail steamers -- United States -- History -- Sources.
Pacific Coast -- Commerce.
Postal service -- United States -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Shipping -- Pacific Coast -- History -- Sources.
Steamboat lines -- United States -- History -- Sources.
Voyages to the Pacific coast.
Articles of incorporation United States.
Business records United States.
Ledgers (account books) United States.
Minutes United States.
Personnel records United States.
Ships' logs United States.
Ships' manifests United States.
Waybills United States.
Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company.