Mary D. Hume

The Mary D. Hume was a steamer built at Gold Beach, Oregon in 1881, by R. D. Hume, a pioneer and early businessman in that area. Gold Beach was then called Ellensburg. The Hume had a long career, first hauling goods between Oregon and San Francisco, then as a whaler in Alaska, as a service vessel in the Alaskan cannery trade, then as a tugboat. She was retired in 1977 and returned to Gold Beach. In 1985 she sank in the Rogue River and has remained there ever since as a derelict vessel on the shoreline. The Hume is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Mary D. Hume was built of local timber at Gold Beach. The keel, measuring 10 inches by 36 inches by 140 feet long was described as the "largest stick of square timber ever floated down Rogue River." The ship's knees were hand-cut from local Port Orford cedar roots. Planking was secured with wood pegs. The machinery was salvaged from the wrecked steamer Varuna. The Hume measured 150 tons, 96 feet long by 22 feet beam by 9 feet draft. She was originally rigged as a schooner.

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