San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Cove: Everyday Life along the 19th-century Bay Shore

DOCUMENT Citation Only David Buckley.

The recent archaeological excavations along the former San Francisco waterfront have provided important insights into the cultural and ethnic identity of waterfront residents and maritime workers in 19th-century San Francisco. Excavations from 201 Folsom Street, 300 Spear Street, and relating to the Transbay Terminal (Block 6) have provided archaeological evidence that can be connected with residents involved in a variety of occupations related to maritime commerce. Historical documents,...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Nazih Fino.

The paper presents an image-based scene reconstruction algorithm for the 3D documentation of a lighter boat from the Gold Rush Era. It follows the structure-from-motion approach and uses low-cost equipment that is part of the standard documentation procedure at an archaeological site---a digital camera and a total station. Points measured with the total station are used to transform the model into the projected coordinate systems used at the excavation site such that measuring and...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Ellis B. Powelson.

When the discovery of gold in California was announced to the world, San Francisco almost instantly became the focal point of global activity. A steady flow of ships sailed to the fledgling city, carrying immigrants from ports as far-flung as Hong Kong, Valparaiso, London, and virtually every major entrepot on the eastern seaboard of the United States. Flooding into the city with these new arrivals was a vast assortment of commercial goods. Raw materials such as hardware and building supplies,...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Kari L. Lentz.

During the second half of the nineteenth century thousands of travelers embarked on voyages aboard steamships headed for San Francisco that could last weeks or months. In the past decade, William Self Associates has conducted multiple excavations within Yerba Buena Cove that have yielded an abundance of archaeological materials. This paper focuses on dinnerware pieces excavated from domestic privies dating to the 1870s that were originally utilized for meals aboard vessels of the Pacific Mail...

DOCUMENT Citation Only John P Schlagheck.

In 2013 WSA recovered a well preserved Gold Rush Era lighter from the original shore of Yerba Buena Cove. This boat, used to "lighten" the load of ships anchored off-shore, is providing new insight into the working craft of early maritime San Francisco. Found in strong association with the 19th-century ship breaking and salvage industry near the cove, the boat’s simple design and homely non-standard construction evoke images of the rugged Western frontier. Using in situ photographs and an...

DOCUMENT Citation Only James Allan. James Delgado.

While conducting archaeological investigations for a construction project in downtown San Francisco, William Self Associates, Inc. encountered the remains of an early 19th century whaling ship buried 15 feet below the modern surface. This paper will present the story of the whaler Candace, a Boston-built barque that ended her days in the mudflats of San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Cove, the determined historical and archaeological research that led to her identification, and the unique insight into...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Teresa D. Bulger.

Popular images of the maritime industry in places like San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Cove often focus on men — whether working on docks or ships, or on land at iron works and carpenter’s shops. Less visible in the historical record of these spaces are the women and children also living, and often working, along the waterfront. Historical research on the neighborhood that bordered Yerba Buena Cove in the late-19th-century suggests that most residences were occupied by families, rather than by...