Alma is a flat-bottomed scow schooner built in 1891 by Fred Siemer at his boatyard near Shipwright's Cottage at Hunters Point in San Francisco.

Able to navigate the shallow creeks and sloughs of the Sacramento and San Joaquin River Delta, the scows' strong, sturdy hulls could rest safely and securely on the bottom and provided a flat, stable platform for loading and unloading.

While principally designed as sailing vessels, scow schooners could also be hauled from the bank or poled in the shallows of the delta.

In 1926 a gasoline engine was installed, and Alma became an dredging oyster schooner, remaining in this trade until 1957.

While built and operated on San Francisco Bay, Alma is in many ways indistinguishable from scows that were launched and sailed on Chesapeake Bay, the Gulf Coast, the Great Lakes, inland rivers, and other coastal waters of the United States.