San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park--World War II in the San Francisco Bay Area: A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary

[graphic] World War II In the San Francisco Bay Area

[graphic] images of San Francisco Bay Area

San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park
NPS photo

Located at the west end of San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, this park includes the fleet of National Historic Landmark vessels at Hyde Street Pier, a visitor center, a maritime museum and a maritime library. Visitors can board turn-of-the-century ships, tour the museum and learn traditional arts-like boatbuilding and woodworking. The park offers educational, music and craft programs for all ages, and provides unique opportunities for docents, interns and volunteers to learn more about the Nation's maritime heritage. The historic ships include the wooden lumber schooner C.A. Thayer, presently undergoing restoration in a former seaplane hangar across the bay in Alameda, and the steam paddlewheel ferry Eureka, considered to be the largest wooden structure in the world.

[photo] San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park
NPS photo

The Maritime Museum is located inside the historic Bathhouse Building, part of the Aquatic Park Historic District, a National Historic Landmark. This ship-shaped, streamline-moderne building was constructed as a Works Progress Administration project in 1939. Inside the building mast sections, jutting spars and ships figureheads are arranged among the colorful fish and gleaming tiles of muralist Hilaire Hiler's expressionist vision of Atlantis. Displays include panels, video, oral history re-creations, models and interactive exhibits. The Steamship Room illustrates the technological evolution of wind-to-steam power. The Mermaid, the one-man sailboat that transported a solo adventurer across the Pacific from Japan in 94 days, is displayed on the balcony, along with a statue by San Francisco sculptor Beniamino Bufano.

The Visitor Center is located on the ground floor of a historic, 1907 brick warehouse, now adaptively used as the Argonaut Hotel. The Visitor Center features exhibits, interactive displays and an auditorium for educational events and lectures. A First Order Fresnel lighthouse lens, a magnificent brass structure encasing hundreds of precisely polished prisms, guides park visitors through the door.

San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park, administered by the National Park Service, is located at the west end of Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. The museum at the foot of Polk St. is open daily, year-round, 10:00am to 5:00pm. The Visitor Center is located at 499 Jefferson St. at the corner of Hyde St., and is open Memorial Day-October 1 from 9:30am to 7:00pm, and October 2-May 30 from 9:30am to 5:00pm. The Hyde Street Pier is open daily, year-round from 9:30am to 5:00pm. The visitor center, museum and pier are closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's days. There is an entrance fee to the pier only for adults; please visit the park's website or call 415-447-5000 for further information.