In 1898 the ship was sold to the North American Transportation and Trading Company to take miners, supplies and gold between Seattle and ports in Alaska.

The Roanoke was built at the Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works of John Roach & Sons in Chester, Pennsylvania.

One was by ship to the south-east Alaskan towns of Dyea and Skagway, and then via land for 30 miles over high mountain passes from where the miners could travel down the tributaries of the Yukon River.

The Roanoke was brought to Seattle specifically by the North American Transportation and Trading Company to serve the long coastal route to St. Michael, sometime calling at intermediate ports such as Dutch Harbor.

[14] The lead story in the July 20, 1898 edition of the Post-Intelligencer was the docking of the Roanoke in Seattle with four tons of gold from Alaska aboard.

On November 27, 1905, the ship lost its rudder and stern post while crossing the harbor bar at Eureka, California in heavy seas during an ebb tide.

For the next decade, the George W. Elder and Roanoke worked the NPSC's primary route from Portland, via Eureka and San Francisco to Los Angeles.

On July 21, 1907, the Roanoke and the George W. Elder were involved in the rescue of survivors from the Columbia, another ship from the Delaware River yard.

Both the George W. Elder and Roanoke arrived at the site of the disaster and picked up Columbia's survivors from the badly damaged San Pedro.

The Roanoke left San Francisco bound for Valparaíso, Chile at midnight May 8/9, 1916 with a cargo of explosives, wheat, oil and gasoline.