| General, Company History |
 Year |
Vessel, Maritime History |
Civil
War ends in April.
|
1865
|
 |
| The
Colorado in drydock
at Hunter's Point
|
|
Pacific
Mail purchases its chief rival, the Atlantic Mail Steamship Company. In doing
so, Pacific Mail achieves a through route from New York to San Francisco.
|
|
U.S.
government awards the first mail contract for service between San Francisco and
the Far East to Pacific Mail.
|
|
Aspinwall,
along with other philanthropists, founds the SPCA (Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals).
|
1866
|
Pacific
Mail pulls the Colorado from
the Panama-Oregon service for use on a new route to China and Japan. The ship’s
hull is reinforced, and she is given an extra mast in anticipation of the rough
journey across the Pacific.
|
 |
Laying
the tracks of change.
Click image
for larger version.
|
|
1867
|
On
January 1, Colorado departs San Francisco on a voyage that marks the first
regular service between the U.S. and Yokohama and Hong Kong; feeder service is
established from Yokohama to Hakodate, Kobe, Nagasaki, and Shanghai.
 |
The
Great Republic, a sister
ship of the Colorado, provided
regular steamer service to Asia.
|
|
Transcontinental
Railroad is completed at Promontory Point, Utah.
|
1869
|
Passenger
traffic on ships operating along the Panama route declines.
|
Aspinwall
co-founds the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
|
|
|
U.S.
government doubles its subsidy for Pacific Mail’s trans-Pacific service,
but also mandates more frequent sailings and a modernization of the company’s
fleet.
|
1872
|
 |
The City of Peking
Click image for larger version.
|
|
1873
|
Pacific
Mail takes delivery on the first of 11 iron-hulled, screw-propelled steamers,
including the City of Peking. These ships
soon take their place in the company’s thriving trans-Pacific service.
 |
| Click
image for larger version.
|
|
William
Henry Aspinwall dies on January 18, 1875, at age 68.
|
1875
|
Pacific
Mail begins service to Australia and New Zealand.
|
|
|
1880
|
Steel
hulls replace iron in new vessel construction.
|
|
|
Electric
lights are installed by Thomas Edison on the steamer Columbia, making it
the first ship to have electricity on board.
|
Southern
Pacific Railroad acquires controlling interest of Pacific Mail.
|
1893
|
|
 |
1895
|
 |
Captain
R. Dollar,
lumber tycoon.
|
Captain Robert Dollar
purchases his first ship, a 120-foot steam schooner called the Newsboy,
to transport lumber from his mill to market.
 |
Pacific
Mail offers direct service to Honolulu, Kobe, Nagasaki, and Shanghai.
|
1896
|
To
1900–1949 Timeline
|
