The Pioneer was built in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania in 1885 as a cargo sloop.

She was the first of only two American cargo sloops ever built with a wrought iron hull.

After ten years of service in the Delaware Bay, she was re-rigged as a schooner for easier handling.

Grinnell restored Pioneer's schooner rig and rebuilt her hull in steel plating, leaving the iron frame intact.

The Pioneer appears in Episode 1 of Season 1 of the HBO series "Boardwalk Empire," in a scene set on the water showing illegal liquor being transported by boat.