Steam Schooner WAPAMA, Kaiser Shipyard No. 3 (Shoal Point), Richmond, Contra Costa County, CA

The Schooner was moved from Sausalito, California to Richmond, California

Significance: The last surviving example afloat of some 225 steam schooners specially designed for use in the 19th and 20th century Pacific Coast lumber trade and coastwise service. These vessels formed the backbone of maritime trade and commerce on the west coast ferrying lumber, general cargo, and passengers to and from urban centers and smaller coastal settlements.

Shipyards along the coastline of California, Oregon and Washington built more than two hundred steam schooners. They were descendants of the sailing lumber schooners once common in the area and were conceived and built to serve in the interregional trade that flourished along North America's Pacific Coast. The men who built them took advantage of plentiful timber and built the ships out of wood, long after builders in most of the Western world had shifted to iron and steel construction. These wooden ships were a mainstay of the coastwise carrying trade for decades. WAPAMA is the sole survivor of the once numerous class.

Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N1327

Survey number: HAER CA-67

Building/structure dates: 1914- 1915 Initial Construction

Building/structure dates: 1938 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 1959-1963 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 1964-1965 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 1967 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 1970 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 1979 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 1987-1988 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 2000 Subsequent Work

National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 73000228

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1969 - 1980

Library of Congress

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