San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
Historic fleet of tall ships and a working pier telling the story of Pacific Coast seafaring.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park follows the Balclutha, a windjammer built in Scotland in 1886 to haul cargo around the world under sail, and traces her long slide from working ship to a battered pier-side attraction. You'll hear how she ran aground off Alaska in 1904, was sold for a few hundred dollars and put to a rougher trade carrying cannery workers north, then spent decades renamed and dressed up for gawking tourists. It follows the effort to buy her back and give her her real name again, and considers what the empty berths at this pier are standing in for today.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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