Did you see the Alma, docked in the Turning Basin, during the Jazz Festival this past weekend? Now it is part of the Maritime National Historic Park’s fleet of historic vessels at the Hyde Street Pier in San Francisco. Back Then, it was one of approximately 400 “Scow Schooners” that were constructed around the Bay. But – what is the Alma’s connection with Petaluma?
We must remember that between 1850 and the beginning of the 20th Century, we didn’t have Highway 101 for trucks and tractor-trailer rigs could deliver goods and ship products to and from our growing town. The waterways were the best highways of those days on which to transport people and supplies to S.F. Bay communities.
The following tidbits of information were extracted from the National Park Service web site for the S.F. Maritime Museum. http://www.nps.gov/safr/local/alma.html
* A German immagrant, Fred Steimer, started a shipyard in Hunter’s Point and built two Scow Schooners. The second one, built in 1891, was named for his son-in-law’s daughter, Alma.
* The Alma was used to haul a variety of goods during her career: hay, lumber, salt, and oyster shells. TheAlma, at one time, hauled 110-125 tons of shells per week to Petaluma where they were ground up and used for chicken feed.
* Eventually, motorized trucks and paved highways doomed these sailing scow schooners, but many continued to be used as barges and oyster shell dredges.
* The Alma operated until 1957, when it was no longer profitable to do so. She was purchased by the State, and restoration work began in 1964. The National Park Service took over in 1978 and in 1988, the Alma was designated a National Historic Landmark.
* The Alma has visited Petaluma almost on annually; usually in connection with events like the Jazz Festival and the former Petaluma River Festival.
* The statistics for the Alma are: overall length of 80 feet, a 22.6 feet beam, a 4 foot depth, and a foremast height of 67 feet. Her gross tonnage was 41.76.
On a personal note, when this blogger moved to S.F. in the 1960s, he contributed $25. to the restoration fund for the Alma. Little did he know at the time, that their paths would connect, over 40 years later, during the 21st Century. Believe me, it was a thrill and a privilege to stand on the deck of this historic ship as it traveled up the Petaluma River, under the D Street Bridge last Friday night and into the Turning Basin.
Stay tuned for more Then & Now blogs as we approach our City’s Sesquicentennial Celebration in 2008. Hopefully, the Alma will visit our town, once again, and remind us of our rich historic heritage as a “river town.”