Blue sky view Steam Donkey Engine and Petaluma ferryboat sternwheel, Hyde Street Pier, Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, USA
An information board about the Steam Donkey Engine in the foreground of the view reads: 'Donkey engines like this one were common along the waterfront from the 1880s into the 1920s. These portable steam winches were used as auxiliary power for loading and unloading cargo. The name 'donkey' comes from the fact that the engines replaced horses as a power source for cargo handling. The term was also applied to similar engine and boiler units carried aboard ship. Donkey engines were also employed in construction work, and in industries such as lumbering and mining. This engine was used until 1968 aboard a derrick barge belonging to the Port of Oakland.' The engine was built about 1920, by the American Hoist and Derrick Company, at St Paul, Minnesota. The engine type is a two cylinder horizontal and the winch type a double friction drum. Behind the engine is the sternwheel of the ferryboat 'Petaluma'. The 'Petaluma', retiring 14 August 1950, was the third Californian sternwheeler to bear the name. The first, launched in 1857, burned in in 1900. The second, launched in 1884, burned in 1914, the year the third 'Petaluma' was launched, using an engine, built in 1879, salvaged from the sunken hulk of the steamer 'Resolute'. An information board reads: 'The Petaluma was the last of the San Francisco river boats. During the nineteenth century, these passenger and cargo boats, operating on inland river systems, were the primary link between San Francisco and the towns and farming communities of the California interior. Running between San Francisco and Petaluma, the sternwheeler 'Petaluma' made more than 10,000 trips over the 36-mile route. She carried passengers and served the chicken ranches for which Petaluma was famous. 'Petaluma's' shallow hull and sternwheel remained useful on the Petaluma River long after sisters had quit major rivers. Finally retired, she was exhibited in Oakland until she burned and sank in 1956.'
Size: 4143px × 2762px
Location: Steam Donkey Engine and Petaluma Ferryboat Sternwheel, Hyde Street, San Francisco, California, USA
Photo credit: © robert harrison / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: blue, brown, building, california, coast, coastal, donkey, engine, exhibits, ferryboat, fisherman, francisco, hyde, large, maritime, metal, museum, national, paint, painted, park, petaluma, pier, portable, san, sky, steam, sternwheel, street, urban, usa, view, waterfront, wharf, wood
