{"nrhp_refnum":"02001619","name":"ADMIRAL DEWEY (tugboat)","other_names":["Helen Mcallister"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Pier 16, East River","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.70536654700004,"lon":-74.00254272399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-12-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A steel harbor tugboat, begun in 1899 and launched in 1900 as the steam tug Admiral Dewey, built by the Burlee Dry Dock Company of Port Richmond, Staten Island. She is now berthed at Pier 16 on the East River in New York City as the Helen McAllister.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the tug satisfies Criterion C as a rare and largely intact example of an American harbor tug of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Only a handful of tugs of this vintage survive in the New York area. Despite her 1956 changes she keeps the look of a classic steam tug, and her career includes a notable 1900 Hoboken fire rescue.","narrative":"Berthed at Pier 16 on the East River, the Helen McAllister is a riveted steel harbor tugboat about 95.7 feet long. She was begun in 1899 and launched in 1900 as the steam tug Admiral Dewey, built by the Burlee Dry Dock Company of Port Richmond for the Berwind-White Coal Company. For decades she towed coal barges and bunkered ships in New York harbor. In June 1900 she helped fight a major fire along the Hoboken waterfront, towing the liners Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse and Bremen away from burning piers and earning the largest salvage award of 35 claimants. A diesel engine replaced her steam plant in 1956, and she was later renamed for the wife of a McAllister Towing president. Few harbor tugs of her era survive, and she keeps the graceful hull lines, wood-paneled cabins and curved pilothouse windows typical of the type. She was later donated to South Street Seaport Museum.","period_of_significance":"1899-1956","architect_builder":"Burlee Drydock Co., Port Richmond, NY, builders.","architectural_style":"OTHER: harbor tugboat","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Berthed at Pier 16 as a museum ship after being donated to South Street Seaport Museum; powered by a 1956 diesel engine, with a tall stack installed in 1992 to restore her original profile.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.604493-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/02001619.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02001619/35c0aee702-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02001619/35c0aee702-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Jim.henderson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Helen_McAllister_jeh.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jim.henderson</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Helen_McAllister_jeh.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"72000883","name":"South Street Seaport","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/new-york/south-street-seaport-72000883/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319237","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admiral_Dewey_(tugboat)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4683669"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/admiral-dewey-tugboat-02001619/"}