New York State Dept. of State Board of Port Wardens Records

Chapter 405 of the Laws of 1847 reorganized the warden's office of the port of New York by creating a board of wardens, known as "The port-wardens of the port of New York." The board consisted of nine members appointed by the governor. Port wardens were empowered to, upon request of any interested party, board any vessel for the purpose of examining the condition and stowage of its cargo. If any goods on board were found to be damaged, port wardens were to determine the cause of the damage and prepare an official memorandum describing their findings. If a vessel owner or operator allowed cargo to be unloaded without prior inspection by the port wardens, he was presumed by law to be liable for any damage found when the cargo was unloaded.

The port wardens also had exclusive jurisdiction over vessels arriving in port in a state of distress or having suffered damage in transit. The port wardens were required to survey damaged vessels and cargoes and prepare written records of said surveys. Based on these surveys, the port wardens were to determine repairs necessary to render damaged vessels seaworthy and were empowered to condemn severely damaged vessels and order their contents sold at auction.

The Board of Port Wardens was placed within the Department of State upon the department's creation in 1926 and the secretary of state was given power to appoint members. Chapter 377 of the Laws of 1928 abolished the board and terminated all functions, powers, and duties of the department with respect to port wardens.

This series contains a variety of manuscript volumes used by the Board of Port Wardens of the port of New York to record daily business. Volumes include account and check books used to manage the board's finances; a book of minutes of meetings of the board; a Hell Gate "Pilot Book" used to record names of pilots, indentures of apprentice pilots, and examinations of apprentice pilots; account books used to record receipts of vessels surveyed; and cargo survey books used to record surveys of vessel cargoes and hatches.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this material.