• A section of the bowsprint and figurehead on the bow of BALCLUTHA.

    San Francisco Maritime

    National Historical Park California

For Teachers

Thank you for your interest in the educational programs at San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.

The park offers a variety of educational opportunities from curriculum to use in the classroom to ranger-led and teacher-guided programs aboard the historic ships at Hyde Street Pier. We offer programs for students of all ages. National Park Service Rangers-led tours of the historic ships at Hyde Street Pier are available seven days a week. The programs are free and are conducted in the mornings. All educational groups visiting the park must make a reservation at least two weeks in advance. Call 415-292-6664. For more information online click on the Field Trip Guide.

Two curriculums are also available:

California and the Sea is a series of eight lessons for the fourth grade.

The Voyages curriculum is for fourth, fifth, and sixth graders and is linked to the exhibits on display in the park's visitor center.

 
Turning the capstan on Balcluth's foredeck.
A park ranger leads the singing of a sea chantey while visitors turn the capstan on the foredeck of Balclutha. The capstan is a type of winch that was used on board to raise the anchor.
 
Students standing on Hyde Street Pier hauling on lines to raise a small boat up on davits.

Students participating in the Age of Sail overnight program learn how to work together hauling on lines to raise a small boat up on davits.

SFMNPA

Our cooperating association also offers a variety of educational opportunities. Fee-based overnight and extended daytime field trips are available through the Age of Sail Program at www.maritime.org or by calling 415-292-6664. (Scholarships may be available.)
 
Children on the sailing ship Balclutha hauling on a line to raise a sail.
Marseille Pope, former seasonal park ranger and current first grade teacher, helps her class raise the staysail on the historic ship BALCLUTHA.
NPS
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Did You Know?

A view of the long, pointed bowsprint of the schooner THAYER that extends from the bow over the water.

The spar extending from the bow of the 1895 lumber schooner CA THAYER, is 59 feet long, with its rigging weighs 8,500 pounds, and is made of a single piece of Douglas fir. More...