California, San Diego Passenger Lists - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States CaliforniaSan Diego County

What Is in the Collection?
This collection contains Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at San Diego, California from February 10,1904 to March 25, 1952 from foreign ports. These records correspond with NARA publication A3471 part of Record Group 85 Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The lists are arranged by date of arrival.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The records usually include:


 * Full name
 * Age
 * Gender
 * Marital status
 * Occupation
 * Citizenship
 * Race,
 * Last permanent residence
 * Birthplace
 * Destination

The records may also contain any of the following:


 * Port and date of departure
 * Port and date of entry
 * Name of ship
 * Names of persons accompanying passenger
 * Birth date
 * Address of last permanent residence
 * Name and address of friend or relative at last address
 * Name and address of friend or relative in U.S.
 * Physical description and distinguishing marks
 * Who paid for passage
 * Purpose of visit

How Do I Search the Collection?
You can search the index or view the images or both. Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:


 * Name of the person
 * The age or date of immigration

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page. br>
 * 1) Select NARA Roll Number - Contents

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images.

For more tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
If these are indexes, the original records may contain additional information than was not indexed, or the information might have been indexed incorrectly. You may want to search for the original record at the National Archives and Records Administration.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Copy the citation below, in case you need to find this record again later.
 * Use the information found in the record to find other California Naturalization and Citizenship such as emigrations, port records, and ship’s manifests.
 * Use the record to learn your ancestor’s foreign and “Americanized” names, if they were different.
 * Use the record to learn the place of origin then search there for their church or vital records such as birth, baptism, and marriage records.
 * Search for death or burial information in in California Cemeteries and California Newspapers.
 * Use the information found in the record to find California Land and Property.
 * Use the information found in the record to find California Taxation.
 * Search this collection for other family members who may have immigrated with the person you are looking for. Search for additional family members in the California Census.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records were kept years before counties began keeping records. They are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking For, What Now?

 * If your ancestor does not have a common name, collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you find possible relatives.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching other possible ports of entry Los Angeles and San Pedro Passenger Lists.
 * Try different spellings of your ancestor’s name.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Look for the Declaration of Intent soon after the immigrant arrived. Then look for the Naturalization Petition five years later, when the residency requirement would have been met. Look for naturalization records in federal courts, then in state, county, or city courts. An individual may have filed the first and final papers in different courts and sometimes in a different state if the person moved. Immigrants who were younger than 18 when they arrived did not need to file a Declaration of Intent as part of the process.
 * Check the info box above for additional FamilySearch websites and related websites that may assist you in finding similar records.

Citing This Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Image Citation:

Top of Page