Pennsylvania State Archives
RG-41
Records of the NAVIGATION COMMISSION FOR
THE DELAWARE RIVER AND ITS NAVIGABLE TRIBUTARIES
The regulation of shipping on the Delaware River can be traced back
to the passage of an act by the Provincial Assembly in 1766 which provided
for the appointment of Wardens for the Port of Philadelphia. The Wardens
were responsible for issuing pilots licenses and making rules and regulations
governing their service. Legislation passed in 1803 provided for a Board
of Wardens consisting of a Master Warden and six assistants. This act defined
the powers of the Board to grant licenses to pilots, to make rules for
their conduct, to decide disputes involving masters of vessels and shipowners,
to direct the mooring of vessels and their loading and unloading, and to
publish rules and regulations relating to these duties.
The Board of Commissioners of Navigation for the River Delaware was created
in 1907 to assume those duties previously assigned to the Wardens for the Port,
and the offices of the Harbor Master and Master Warden. In 1937 the Commissioners
of Navigation were replaced by the Navigation Commission for the Delaware River
and Its Navigable Tributaries. Originally established in the Department of Forests
and Waters, Navigation Commission was transferred to the Department of Transportation
in 1970 and to the Department of Commerce in 1976. The Commission is now part
of the Department of State and additional records relating to it can be found
in Record Group 26: Records of the Department of State, Bureau of Professional
and Occupational Affairs, {series #26.132}: Minutes
and Agenda of Licensing Boards.
For additional Port of Philadelphia records, please consult the Independence
Seaport Museum in Philadelphia. The museum houses 100 linear feet of volumes
pertaining to the Philadelphia Maritime
Exchange, a not-for-profit organization created in 1875 to enhance the commercial
viability of the Port of Philadelphia.
- Account Book of Fines and Quarter Pilotage Received by the Collector of
Tonnage, 1785-1787. (1 volume) {#41.1} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Accounts of the Wardens of the Port, 1763-1957. (5 boxes) {#41.2}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Applications for Pilot Licenses, 1908-1925. (1 box) {#41.3} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Authorization Book for Pier Erection, 1852-1864. (1 volume) {#41.4}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Cargo Registers, 1909-1939. (23 volumes) {#41.5} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Custom House Book, 1872-1875. (1 volume) {#41.6} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Declaration Books of British Vessel Registry, 1728-1776. (12 volumes) {#41.7}
[Description] [Holdings]
- General Correspondence, 1944-1949, 1955-1963. (1 box) {#41.8} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Health Officer's Account of Passenger Entries, 1789-1794. (1 volume) {#41.9}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Health Officer's Register of Passengers' Names, 1792-1794. (1 volume) {#41.10}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Index of Coastal Vessel Arrivals, 1873-1878. (3 volumes) {#41.11}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Index of Vessel Arrivals, 1862-1937. (27 volumes) {#41.12} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Index of Vessel Clearances, 1862-1915. (7 volumes) {#41.13} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Letter Books, 1793-1849. (2 volumes) {#41.14} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Letter Press Books, 1877-1909. (11 volumes) {#41.15} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Log Books, 1912-1942. (7 volumes) {#41.16} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Maps, Plans, and Blueprints, 1864-1964. (2 cartons) {#41.17} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Maritime Freight and Vessel Registers, 1905-1907, 1909. (4 volumes) {#41.18}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Memoranda Books, 1811-1813, 1836-1860. (2 volumes) {#41.19} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Minute Books of the Wardens of the Port, the Board Commissioners of Navigation,
and the Navigation Commission, 1766-1773, 1783-1978. (64 volumes) {#41.20}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Minutes and Reports of the Wardens of the Port, the Board Commissioners
of Navigation, and the Navigation Commission, 1865-1970. (59 boxes) {#41.21}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Minute Book, Subscription Book, and Account Book of the Marine Benevolent
Committee, 1809. (3 volumes) {#41.22} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Miscellaneous Papers, 1881-1910. (1 folder) {#41.23} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Monthly and Annual Tonnage Reports, 1880-1907, 1909-1941. (10 volumes) {#41.24}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Newspaper Clippings, [ca. 1900-1908]. (1 folder) {#41.25} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Notations about Shipping Tonnage, 1879-1881. (1 folder) {#41.26} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Personnel Card File, 1920-1966. (1 box) {#41.27} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Photographs, 1917-1936, 1952. (1 folder) {#41.28} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Pilot Apprentice Indenture Books, 1806-1931, 1942. (5 volumes) {#41.29}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Pilot Apprentices' Reports, 1911-1935. (4 volumes) {#41.30} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Pilot License Books, 1908-1982. (9 volumes) {#41.31} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Pilots' Lists of Vessels Taken Inward and Outward, 1956-1958. (1 volume) {#41.32}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Pilots' Report Books, 1793-1982. (44 volumes, 1 folder) {#41.33} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Pilots' Report Books of Accidents and Casualties, 1888-1982. (4 volumes) {#41.34}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Port Captain Report Books, 1908-1933. (12 volumes) {#41.35} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Registers of Pilots' Names and Securities, 1783-1791, 1794-1876. (6 volumes) {#41.36}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Registers of Vessel Arrivals, 1879-1956. (53 volumes) {#41.37} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Registers of Vessel Arrivals and Clearances, 1784-1879. (11 volumes) {#41.38}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Registers of Vessel Clearances, 1879-1955. (51 volumes) {#41.39} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Richmond Report Books of Vessel Arrivals and Clearances, 1864-1878. (4 volumes) {#41.40}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Scrapbook, 1882-1898. (1 volume) {#41.41} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Shipping Bonds and Certificates, 1752-1775. (2 boxes) {#41.42} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Subject, Name & Title Reference Card File , 1912-1960. (1 box) {#41.43}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Surveys of Damaged Cargoes, 1784-1790. (4 volumes) {#41.44} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Time Books of Wardens' Attendance, 1784-1802. (3 volumes) {#41.45}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Tonnage Registers, 1784-1789. (6 volumes) {#41.46} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Wharf License Books, 1864-1979. (6 volumes) {#41.47} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Accounts, 1919-1933, 1940-1959. (2 volumes, 1 box) {#41.48} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Admission Book, 1896-1947. (1 volume) {#41.49} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Logs, 1942-1943, 1946. (10 volumes, 1 folder) {#41.50} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Minutes of the Board of Instruction of the State Nautical School Ship Annapolis
(State Nautical School), 1927-1947. (1 volume, 1 folder) {#41.51} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Pennsylvania State Nautical School Certificate of Appointment, 1938. (1
item) {#41.56} [Description]
[Holdings]
- [RESTRICTED] Personnel File, 1944-1947.
(32 folders) {#41.52} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Photographs and Blueprints, 1916-1941, 1946-1947. (7 folders) {#41.53}
[Description] [Holdings]
- [RESTRICTED (only personnel information)] Reports
and General Correspondence, 1941-1947, 1950. (38 folders) {#41.54}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Yearbooks, 1924, 1926-1935, 1937-1941, 1944-1946. (19 volumes) {#41.55}
[Description] [Holdings]
Last processing update: 3/22/2011, acc. #5446