Solano Chronicles: Students tour shipyard steeped in history
VALLEJO, Calif., April. 23, 2026 /Brendan Riley, Vallejo Times Herald-- Students in grades 1 through 12 can now get a double-dose of seafaring history on Mare Island, the Navy’s first West Coast shipyard, thanks to expanded programs offered by the Mare Island Historic Park Foundation and the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association.
Student programs conducted by the maritime association have started on the C.A.Thayer, a landmark 1895 schooner that had been at the National Park Service’s Hyde Street Pier in San Francisco. The ship and four other vessels in the NPS fleet were moved recently to Mare Island because the deteriorated pier must be replaced – a difficult, costly project likely to take several years.
With the start of the San Francisco association’s student programs on the shipyard, which closed as a Navy base in 1996, the Mare Island foundation decided to expand its activities by offering free student tours that can be coordinated with the association.
Continue reading here.
