SS San Mateo was a steamship ferry operating on the west coast of the United States. Launched in 1922, she served until 1940 in San Francisco Bay, operated by the Southern Pacific Golden Gate Ferries. In 1941 she was acquired by the Puget Sound Navigation Company, and then operated on Puget Sound until its retirement in 1969. At the time of her retirement she was the last operating vehicular steam ferry in the United States.[2] After attempts to restore her for display in a Seattle waterfront park, she was acquired by a Canadian businessman and towed in 1992 to the Fraser River in British Columbia.[3] The vessel became part of a small collection of derelict ferries.[4] There she was partially scrapped; portions of her hulk are still visible in the river, and readily apparent on satellite photos, as of 2021.[5] A photo at the dock in July 2021 shows her hulk partially or fully aground, and leaning toward the former BC Ferries Sidney-class ferry MV Queen of Sidney.[6]

SS San Mateo
1975, docked at Lake Union, Seattle
LocationSeattle waterfront, Seattle, Washington
Arealess than one acre
Built1922 (1922)
NRHP reference No.71000876[1]
Added to NRHPApril 7, 1971
1964 photo

The ship was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ "NRHP nomination for SS San Mateo". National Park Service. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  3. ^ "Prince George Citizen". www.pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca. October 24, 1992. p. 18.
  4. ^ "Mission City Record". www.missioncityrecord.com. July 25, 2014.
  5. ^ "49°08'49.8"N 122°23'25.5"W · British Columbia, Canada".
  6. ^ "Google Maps".
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