Niantic: Buried Gold Rush Ship

The Niantic was one of the many ships that brought gold-seekers to San Francisco during the height of the California Gold Rush. Upon arrival in 1849, the ship's passengers and crew deserted in search of fortune. The abandoned ship ran aground offshore of the intersection of Clay and Montgomery Streets. The Niantic was then converted for use as a store, a warehouse, and a hotel. The great fire of May, 1851 burned the ship down to the waterline, and Niantic's remains were buried under debris and landfill during the city's reconstruction. Rediscoveries of the buried wreck in downtown San Francisco in 1872, 1907, and 1978 has made the Niantic one of the best known of the buried ships of San Francisco.

Early History

Niantic was built in 1832 for trade in China. The crew made four trips to the Chinese ports of Canton, Whampoa, and Hong Kong and the Philippine port of Manila. They returned to New York packed with tea, porcelain, silks and other commodities. The early years of the ship's career were chronicled by George S. Payne, a talented diarist who sailed on Niantic's first four voyages.

The ship was converted into a sperm whaler in 1844, but her second whaling voyage in 1849 was disrupted by the California Gold Rush. While docked in Peru, the ship's owners, the whaling firm of Burr and Smith of Rhode Island, ordered the ship's captain to abandon whaling temporarily and set sail for Panama to bring gold-seeking passengers to San Francisco. Captain Henry Cleaveland had the crew dismantle the whaling installations and stow aboard provisions for the trip to Panama. When the Niantic arrived in Panama on April 7, 1849, Captain Cleaveland advertised that he was willing to take on passengers for San Francisco. Thousands of men had paid for passage to Panama, where they had landed on the Caribbean side of the Isthmus before crossing the dangerous, swampy land by foot or by mule to Panama City to search for a ship to take them to San Francisco. Captain Cleaveland signed on 249 passengers, most of whom paid $150 for a bunk in the hold. A few better-off adventurers paid $250 for a cabin. On May 2, 1849, the Niantic, packed with eager fortune seekers, set sail for San Francisco.

A Ship Out of Water

Niantic entered San Francisco Bay on July 5, 1849 and anchored in Yerba Buena Cove. It was one of the first ships to arrive in San Francisco during the Gold Rush. Most of the crew deserted the ship, eager to head to the gold fields. The remaining crew caused trouble, and the steward attempted to stab the Captain and was arrested. Captain Cleaveland realized he had no recourse but to allow his remaining crew to go to the gold fields. He discharged the last five men on July 11, 1849. With no crew and little likelihood of raising a new one, the Niantic was stuck in San Francisco. Many other ships suffered a similar fate, and Yerba Buena Cove was filled with hundreds of abandoned ships.

In the rapidly-growing city of San Francisco, building materials and real estate were in high demand. The hundreds of beached ships abandoned In Yerba Buena Cove proved to be a valuable resource for both. The Niantic was sold to Samuel Ward and Adolphe Mailliard, who had the ship hauled ashore and used for building material, warehouse storage, and a hotel. The waterfront developed around the many beached ships as the city expanded, and the shoreline moved as water lots were filled in with mud, sand and debris. By 1850, the Niantic was more than three blocks from the sea. The fire of May 2, 1851 destroyed much of San Francisco's waterfront, and all but the bottom of the Niantic burned down. That bottom made good foundations for future buildings, which carried on the name of the ship; the Niantic Hotel stood on the site from 1851 to 1872, the Niantic Block from 1872 to 1906, and the Niantic Building from 1907 to 1977.

Construction through the years encountered the remains of the Niantic, and in 1978, a large portion of the ship was uncovered. By then, the Niantic was at the heart of the financial district. A section of the stern of the ship were saved along with many artifacts, which are now part of the San Francisco Maritime Collection. The remains of Niantic today lie beneath the corner of Clay and Sansome Streets, near the Transamerica Pyramid building.

A Piece of Niantic History

In 1980, Cleaveland's descendant Dionis Coffin Riggs gifted to the park Captain Cleaveland’s logbook of Niantic's last voyage from Panama. This logbook, which was prefaced by a fine drawing done by Cleaveland's son (and first mate) of the Niantic receiving passengers, is now part of the park's extensive maritime collection. Thirty years later, Dionis’ daughter, Cynthia Riggs, contacted the park’s Maritime Research Library about an old painting that had hung on the wall in her ancestral home for about 150 years. It was a painting of the Niantic in port at Ningpo, China about 1838, at the height of her career in the China Trade. A skilled conservator brought the faded and torn painting back into the light of a new day, illustrating the ship in her glory, and it has joined the ship's logbook in the park's collection.

Exhibits on the Niantic can be seen today on display in the Maritime Museum, including a detailed diorama of the ship on the Gold Rush waterfront of 1849 and the ship's actual stern and rudder ,  which was recovered in 1978 during excavations of San Francisco's Downtown area.