California Passenger and Crew Lists, 1893-1957

DESCRIPTION:

This database is an index to passenger and crew lists of ships and some airplanes arriving at Los Angeles, San Pedro, San Francisco, and Ventura, California* between 1893 and 1957. In addition, the names found in the index are linked to actual images of the passenger and crew lists, copied from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm (see Source Information for specific microfilm series and roll information).

*Some of these lists indicate other California ports as the port of arrival but the records were filed at one of the above listed ports.

Specifically, this database includes:

Vessel passenger lists, San Pedro/Wilmington/Los Angeles (Jun. 1907-Jun. 1948)
Vessel passenger and crew lists, Ventura (May 1929-Dec. 1949)
Vessel passenger lists, San Pedro/Los Angeles (Mar. 1920-Jan. 1949) (in transit to final destinations)
Vessel passenger lists, San Francisco (1893-1957)
Vessel passenger lists from Honolulu to San Francisco (1902-1907)
Vessel crew lists to San Francisco (1905-1957)
Vessel passenger lists from Insular Possessions to San Francisco (1907-1911)
Vessel customs passenger lists to San Francisco (1903-1918)
Registers of persons held for special inquiry at the Immigration Office to San Francisco (Feb. 1910-May 1941)
Vessel passenger lists of U.S. citizens to San Francisco (1930-1949)
Airplane passenger lists for citizens (1943-1947) and aliens to San Francisco (1936-1949)
Registers of Japanese, Filipinos, and Hawaiians held for special inquiry to San Francisco (Sep. 1928-Feb. 1942)

Passengers who were enroute to their final destinations were headed either to other U.S. ports, such as San Francisco, or to foreign ports, such as Yokohama, Japan. Ports of embarkations for these passengers varied, but included ports in South America, the Panama Canal Zone, Hong Kong, Japan, Canada, Hawaii, and other U.S. ports.

A variety of Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) forms were used to record information about the passengers and crew members. Different forms could be used depending on whether the individual was a passenger on a plane, passenger on a vessel, crew member, citizen, alien, etc. Forms may have simply changed over time as well. Due to the variety of forms, the amount of information available for an individual in this database will vary according to the form used and the questions asked on it. The type of information that is generally contained in this database though, includes:

Name
Age
Birth date
Birthplace
Gender
Ethnicity/nationality
Last residence
Vessel or airline name
Port of departure
Port of arrival
Date of arrival (or if unknown, date shore leave was granted or date of departure from the arrival port)

Additional information about an individual may be recorded on the original document and may be obtained by viewing the corresponding image. Many of these items may be used to search the index in the search template above.

Many passenger list forms, especially those from the twentieth century, were two pages long. Be sure to click the "Previous" and "Next" buttons in order to see all the images pertaining to a particular manifest.

It is important to note that the port of departure listed on these passenger lists is not always the original port of departure for these individuals. A ship could make several voyages throughout the year, making several stops along way. Oft times the port of departure found on these lists is the most recent port the ship was located at prior to arriving at the port of San Francisco. Therefore, if your ancestors emigrated to the U.S. from Australia, they could be found on a passenger list coming from Honolulu, Hawaii (if, in this case, the ship left from Sydney, Australia then continued on to Honolulu, Hawaii before arriving in San Francisco).

The microcopies of the passenger lists are arranged chronologically by arrival date of vessel or airplane. If you do not wish to search this database using the search template, the images may be browsed following the chronological arrangement. To browse the images first select the “Year” in which you would like to search, followed by the “Month”, and finally the “Ship Name”.

SOURCE INFORMATION

San Francisco, California. Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at San Francisco, 1893-1953. Micropublication M1410. RG 085. 429 rolls. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
San Francisco, California. Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at San Francisco from Honolulu, 1902-1907. Micropublication M1494. RG 085. 1 roll. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
San Francisco, California. Crew Lists of Vessels at San Francisco, 1905-1954. Micropublication M1416. RG 085. Rolls 1-35. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
San Francisco, California. Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at San Francisco from Insular Possessions, 1907-1911. Micropublication M1438. RG 085. 2 rolls. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
San Francisco, California. Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at San Francisco, 1954-1957. Micropublication M1411. RG 085. 20 rolls. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
San Francisco, California. Customs Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at San Francisco, 1903-1918. Micropublication M1412. RG 085. 13 rolls. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
San Francisco, California. Registers of Persons Held for Boards of Special Inquiry at the San Francisco, California, Immigration Office, February 1910-May 1941. Micropublication M1388. RG 085. 4 rolls. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
San Francisco, California. Lists of U.S. Citizens Arriving at San Francisco, 1930-1949. Micropublication M1439. RG 085. 50 rolls. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
San Francisco, California. Register of Citizen Arrivals (1943-1947) and Alien Arrivals (1936-1949) by Aircraft at San Francisco, California. Micropublication A3361. RG 085. 2 rolls. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
San Francisco, California. Registers of Japanese, Filipinos, and Hawaiians Held for Boards of Special Inquiry at San Francisco, California, September 1928-February 1942. Micropublication A3408. RG 085. 2 rolls. National Archives, Washington, D.C.