| Founded | October 17, 1876 |
|---|---|
| Defunct | 1916 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California |
The Pacific Coast Steamship Company was an important early shipping company that operated steamships on the west coast of North America.
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The company was first organized in 1867 under the name of Goodall, Nelson and Perkins. The company's chief rival was the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. The competition was settled in January 1875, with Goodall, Nelson and Perkins buying six side-wheel steamships from Pacific Mail, as well as certain wharves. Goodall Nelson and Perkins would form a new company to handle the traffic between San Diego and San Francisco, while Pacific Mail would control the routes from Central America and those north of San Francisco.
The new company, Goodall, Nelson & Perkins Steamship Company was formed in February 1875. Less than a year later Christopher Nelson retired and the remaining partners reorganized, on October 17, 1876, as the Pacific Coast Steamship Company, providing service to twenty ports in California.
The company later expanded to operate on routes to Portland, Oregon, Seattle, and Alaska, owning a number of steamships. The company also briefly conducted operations in Puget Sound, running two steamers on the route from Seattle to Bellingham.
The company effectively ceased business in 1916 when its vessels were purchased by the Admiral Line. The Admiral Line however also adopted the name “The Pacific Steamship Company”, which it used until 1936 when operations ceased.