Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Crowley Maritime Corporation
- Abstract:
- Contains business records primarily for the early years of the company's operation in the San Francisco Bay Area. Includes ledgers, account books, time books, stockholders records, payroll journals, cash books, pilot books and related material for the Crowley Tugboat and Launch Company, Shipowners and Merchants Tugboat Company, Marinolich Ship Building Company, Harbor Tug and Barge Company, and other Crowley enterprises.
- Extent:
- Number of containers: 29 boxes, 1 oversize folder, 3 oversize boxes, 4 volumes Linear feet: 14
- Language:
- English
Background
- Scope and content:
-
Crowley Maritime Corporation Records, 1888-1968, contains business records primarily for the early years of the company's operation in the San Francisco Bay Area. Includes ledgers, account books, time books, stockholders records, payroll journals, cash books, pilot books, and related material for Crowley Tugboat and Launch Company, Shipowners and Merchants Tugboat Company, Martinolich Shipbuilding Company, Harbor Tug and Barge Company, and other Crowley enterprises.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Originally headquartered in Oakland, California, Crowley Maritime Corporation is one of the most diversified marine operations companies in the world. Between 1973 and 1985, after several decades of doing business under as many as 45 different names, Crowley Maritime Corporation consolidated it's various companies under the new corporation. It now provides diversified transportation services in domestic and international markets by means of four operating lines of business: Liner Services; Ship Assist and Escort Services; Oil and Chemical Distribution and Transportation Services; and Energy and Marine Services.
Thomas Crowley began ferrying sailors and supplies in a rowboat on San Francisco Bay in the 1800s. By 1904, he was running 28 foot launches with 8-horsepower engines. The Crowley Launch and Tugboat Company was officially created in 1906. Crowley summed up his mission statement as "Anything, Anywhere, Anytime, on Water." He adapted equipment, created services, and bought into existing operations in California and elsewhere.
In 1918, he purchased a quarter interest in San Francisco's Red Stack tugs, owned by the Shipowners and Merchants Towboat Company and continued investing until he held 100 percent of the stock. He also built double deck passenger boats for harbor tours and established a shipyard, Martinolich Shipyard, to repair his own fleet.
Crowley expanded into Puget Sound, shortly after World War I with the Puget Sound Tug and Barge Company. He continued to expand into all major West Coast ports with launches and tugs and entered the common carrier freight services in 1935 with the purchase of Bay Cities Transportation Company and entered the bulk-petroleum transportation in 1939. In the 1940s, Harbor Tug and Barge Company was acquired to expand harbor services in San Francisco Bay, and in 1951, a second Oakland facility, Merrit Shipyards, was purchased to increase repair capabilities.
[Excerpted from Crowley Maritime Corporation A Century of Service 1892-1992 and the Crowley Maritime website.]
- Acquisition information:
- The Crowley Maritime Corporation Records were given to The Bancroft Library by Thomas B. Crowley on December 16, 1988. Additions were made on June 21, 2004.
- Physical location:
- For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Access and use
- Location of this collection:
-
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft LibraryBerkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
- Contact:
- 510-642-6481