ca. 1905. The steamer Fairhaven is in drydock for repairs at Quartermaster Harbor, Vashon Island, circa 1905. Built in Tacoma in 1889 and launched from the yards of Cpt. John Holland, the stern-wheeler was 130 feet long with 26-foot beam. She was built at a cost of $30,000 for the Fairhaven Land Co., of which Nelson Bennett was president. The wooden stern-wheel steamer was used by more than one company including the La Conner Trading & Transportation Co. and the Island Transportation Co. She had suffered several accidents during her long tenure on local waters including sinking in ten feet of water after striking a rock near Utsalady in 1902 and smashing her bow while caught by strong gales at Coupeville in 1907. Here the Fairhaven is undergoing repairs circa 1905 at Quartermaster Harbor, a nearly five-mile-long inlet which is formed by Vashon Island on the west and Maury Island on the east. The drydock was one of the largest in the Puget Sound. It could lift several large ships at a time and was in place until 1909. The Fairhaven was beached in 1918 after a fire and ended her days as a quasi-houseboat. (Carlaw, 'The Pickrell Brothers recall the Fairhaven,' The Sea Chest, XV1 (Dec. 1982-article)
The Foss #12 caught in the act of fighting a waterfront fire. In 1914, the #12 was the first vessel designed and built for Foss exclusively for towing. The 43 foot #12 was used primarily as a steamer assist; it helped the large vessels turn about in the narrow City Waterway by tying up to their bow and pulling them to face the other way. The #12 achieved fame, however, as the City of Tacoma's fireboat. The city entered into an agreement to hire the vessel for $8.20 a day to be on call to fight fires. The ship was fitted with a pump that could throw 1200 - 1300 gallons of water per minute at a waterfront blaze. In 1929 Tacoma had a full-fledged fireboat built, the Fireboat #1; but for a number of years Foss #12 faithfully provided that service for the city. (Photograph courtesy of the William T. Case Collection) ("Foss: A Living Legend" by Bruce Johnson and Mike Skalley)
ca. 1906. A small crowd scattered on the sidewalk pauses to admire a fleet of new Fords lined up outside the Washington Automobile Co., 710-12 Pacific Ave., circa 1906. The Washington Automobile Co. was the first car dealership in Tacoma. It was operated by car enthusiast and entrepreneur W.W. Pickerill. The brick building housing the dealership had previously been home to the Chas. W. Langert Liquor Co. and the Tacoma Athletic Club and later became the Odd Fellows Lodge. The Washington Automobile Co. was in business there from 1905-1909.
Ford automobile; Washington Automobile Co. (Tacoma);
ca. 1916. Gersix truck manufacturing plant at 3011 South Fife in Tacoma. View of 6-cyclinder, structural steel framed trucks. The Gerlinger Motor Car Co. was the manufacturer of Gersix trucks; the firm was managed by Edward E. Gerlinger. The company was later sold to Edgar Worthington and Cpt. Frederick Kent who renamed it the Gersix Motor Co. After reincorporation in 1923, Ken-Worth (named after the two principal shareholders, Worthington and Frederick Kent's son, Harry) was created. Kenworth Motor Truck Co. established its headquarters in Seattle and became known for their custom trucks. Photograph provided by Robert (Bob) Hahn, whose father, J.E. (Ed) Hahn, worked for many years at Gerlinger Motor Car Co. and later Kenworth. (www.kenworth.com/7100_ken.asp)
Gerlinger Motor Car Co. (Tacoma); Trucks--Tacoma--1910-1920;
A sleek Blue Line bus, operated by Peter Conlon and his brother John W. Conlon, is parked outside the 12-unit Electric Apartments, 2510 Fawcett Avenue, in the early 1930s. The Conlons owned the Sumner Tacoma Stage Co. which carried passengers between Sumner and Tacoma. A small American flag is jauntily attached to the hood perhaps in honor of a holiday. (Photograph courtesy of the Jack Conlon collection)
ca. 1921. This photograph taken in the early 1920's shows the arrival and tugboat assisted turn around of the steamship "Indianapolis" at the Tacoma terminal, the Municipal Dock, of the Seattle to Tacoma steamship passenger service. The Municipal Dock was on the City Waterway (now the Thea Foss Waterway) north of the Eleventh Street Bridge. The ships would arrive and dock with their bows headed up the channel. Due to the narrowness of the channel, the length of the ships and the proximity of the bridge, a tugboat was required to assist them in turning about for their return voyage to Seattle. The Foss #12, captained by William T. Case, would connect a line to the bow and turn the ships about twice a day. The steamships could then assume cruising speed and head for Seattle. (photograph courtesy of the collection of William T. Case)
ca. 1921. The "Tacoma," one of two steamboats used on the Seattle to Tacoma passenger service operated by the Puget Sound Navigation Co. The "Tacoma" can be identified by its two funnels. The Eleventh Street Bridge can be seen in the background. Due to the narrowness of the channel, the Foss #12 tug had to assist in turning the bow of the steamship about for its return trip to Seattle. Here, a line has been attached from the Foss #12 to the bow of the ship to turn it about. The "Tacoma" was launched on May 13, 1913 and it provided Puget Sound passenger service from 1913-1938. The vessel was manufactured at Robert Moran's Seattle Dry Dock & Construction Co. It could accomodate 1,000 passengers, who could travel in style from Seattle to Tacoma in 77 minutes. The passenger only line was defeated by the advent of automobiles and a combination of demand for car ferries and the opening for the Seattle Tacoma Highway in 1928. (photograph courtesy of the William T. Case collection) ("Puget Sound Ferries" by Carolyn Neal and Thomas Kilday Janus; "Ferryboats" by M.S. Kline and G.A. Bayless)
The steamboat "Tacoma" was severely damaged when she was rammed by the car ferry "Kitsap" in late October of 1926. The resulting impact tore a hole in the side of the "Tacoma" at the water line. Although the accident occurred when the ships were maneuvering through thick fog, it greatly increased the discord between the Puget Sound Navigation Company, which operated the "Tacoma," and the Kitsap County Transport Company (also known as the White Collar Line because of the wide white metal band, or collar, around the smoke stacks of the company's ships). The two companies had been in a bitter rate war for years. (Photograph courtesy of the William T. Case collection) ("Puget Sound Ferries" by Carolyn Neal & Thomas Kilday Janus)
Mooring mast built by the Navy in 1924 at Camp Lewis for the visit of the dirigible USS Shenandoah. The Shenandoah visited the Tacoma area October 18-19, 1924. The Shenandoah was one of four rigid airships constructed by the military during the 20's and 30's, after the design of the German Zeppelin. The Shenandoah was the first built in America. The 165 foot pole was built for the 1924 visit and dismantled 12 years later.
Ship name: Sooloo. Full-rigger. Built at East Boston in 1861 by John and Justin Taylor for the old Salem house of Sislbee, Pickman & Allen, who owned her until 1887. Portrait of a Port: Boston 1852-1914, by W. H. Bunting, p. 342.
Cedarbank. The four-masted steel barque 'Cedarbank', 2825 tons. 2825 tons, 326.0 x 43.0 x 24.5. Built 1892 Mackie and Thomson, Glasgow. Owners A Weir and Co. registered Glasgow, later Norwegian owners without change of name. Reported wrecked in 1917 although she remained in Lloyds for a few years after. (State Library of South Australia, B 3456, PRG 1218/3 or OH 456/1, Digital Collections, South Australiana Collection, Photographs, A. D. Edwardes Collection, https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/PRG+1373/18/76)
Barkentine Monitor Formerly a unit of the Nelson Line fleet, was sold to the Interstate Fish Reduction Co., organized by E. B. McGovern of Seattle, and converted to a fish reduction plant, one of the largest on the coast and capable of processing 40 tons of sardine, pilchard or herring per hour into fish oil and meal. Capt. W. C. Ansell was appointed master of the Monitor, which carried a complement of 40 crew members and plant workers. (Gordon Newell, Maritime events of 1936, H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest., p. 448.)
Snow & Burgess Built as a full-rigged ship at Thomaston, Maine in 1878 by Thomas Watts. Converted to a fiveΓÇômasted schooner on the West Coast in 1904. 1655 gross tons. Burned for junk in 1922 after arriving at Port Townsand from Manila with a broken back, a year earlier. (Gibbs, Jim. Pacific Square-Riggers : Pictorial History of the Great Windships of Yesteryear. 1987. Pg. 190.)
Snow & Burgess. Built as a full-rigged ship at Thomaston, Maine in 1878 by Thomas Watts. Converted to a fiveΓÇômasted schooner on the West Coast in 1904. 1655 gross tons. Burned for junk in 1922 after arriving at Port Townsand from Manila with a broken back, a year earlier. (Gibbs, Jim. Pacific Square-Riggers : Pictorial History of the Great Windships of Yesteryear. 1987. Pg. 190.)
A. J. Fuller. Built in 1881 in Bath, Maine, the 1849 ton, 229 foot, square rigged ship, A.J. Fuller was originally a notable Down east sky sail-yarder for the Flint & Company fleet. Purchased at the turn of the century by the California Shipping Company and subsequently by Capt- Dermot, she was engaged for several years in the Puget Sound-Australian timber trade. After the outbreak of World War I the A.J. Fuller sailed under the Northwestern Fisheries Company in the Alaskan salmon trade. On October 30, 1919 she arrived in Seattle with a full load of salmon and salt. While sitting at anchor in a dense fog, the steamship Mexico Maru entered the port on a regular trans-Pacific run and collided with the A.J. Fuller. The ten foot hole torn in the bow of the wooden ship caused her to rapidly sink. Although salvage was deemed possible the underwriters decided against it. The approximate position of the A.J. Fuller is 2000 ft offshore of Harbor Island at a depth of 240 feet. (Newell, Gordon
Americana. Schooner built in 1892 om Grangemouth, Scotland. Vanished en route from Astoria to Sydney in 1913. (Pacific square-riggers; pictorial history of the great windships of yesteryear, by Jim Gibbs, p. 183)
Clipper Saint Paul (St. Paul). Built 1874 in Bath, ME, served briefly as a museum in the Seattle waterfront, was towed in 1942 to Oyster Bay, Vancouver Island to serve as part of a breakwater. (https://www.historylink.org/File/20184)
Abner Coburn. The 1,972-ton wooden ship Abner Coburn, built by William Rogers at Bath, Maine in 1882, was acquired from California Shipping Co. by Libby, McNeil & Libby, making annual voyages to Bristol Bay for the next 11 years. Gordon Newell, "Maritime events of 1912" H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest.,p. 201-202.
Cars and trucks line both sides of the 1300 block of Broadway in this photograph from July of 1931. All the buildings on the west side of the street including the Goodwill Store at 1320 Broadway, the Hotel Victoria at 1316 1/2 and the Brenden Hotel at 304 South 13th Street have been demolished. This whole block is currently occupied by the Sheraton Hotel, 1320 Broadway, which opened in 1984. Photograph taken for W.H. Opie & Co. Bowen # 310-266
Military men and newspaper photographers surround Harold Bromley's plane "City of Tacoma" after it crashed in one of the first attempts to make a solo trans-Pacific flight. After Lindbergh's 1927 solo cross of the Atlantic in the "Spirit of St. Louis," a group of Tacoma businessmen decided to invest in a handsome and dapper Royal Air Force war hero named Harold Bromley who felt he could be the first to cross the Pacific and place their city's name in headlines all around the world. Bromley's first attempt failed in front of 27,000 spectators who had to be held back from stripping the crashed plane for souvenirs. BGN-723
On July 28, 1929 Harold Bromley's Lockheed Vega monoplane, the "City of Tacoma," failed to take off on his first attempt to fly solo across the Pacific from Tacoma to Tokyo. The huge orange low wing craft was designed specifically for this 4,762 mile flight, with a 48 foot wing span, a 425 horse power engine and tanks that held 900 gallons of fuel.. Bromley, a dashing twenty-nine year old Canadian native, was a former Royal Air Force Lieutenant, a barnstorming stunt man, a World War I hero and a "Tacoma Boy," who now taught aviation at the Tacoma air field. On take off, everything went wrong. The over-filled gas tanks drenched gasoline onto the windshield; as Bromley leaned to the side for a better look, gasoline spewed onto his goggles and into his eyes. The plane veered off the runway and crashed. Bromley escaped from the gasoline soaked vessel unharmed. The insured wreck was followed by two more "City of Tacoma " monoplanes designed by Lockheed, each of which crashed in test flights. The third plane crash, and resulting fire in May of 1930, killed the pilot testing the plane for Bromley. BGN-310L
On July 28, 1929, Harold Bromley took off in his big orange Lockheed monoplane, the "City of Tacoma," planning to fly into history books as the first pilot to make a solo trans-Pacific flight. Instead, overfilled gas tanks spewed gasoline blinding Bromley who crashed the plane. The plane ended nose down with the right wing badly damaged and the fuselage cracked in at least two places; while the left wing, tail and motor remained largely undamaged. The crowd of 25,000 there to view the dawn take off had to be held back, to keep them from stripping pieces from the gasoline drenched plane as souvenirs. BGN-310M
On April 27, 1928, local girl Franc Hale returned to Tacoma on a special Pullman car belonging to her employer and mentor, famed actor Walker Whiteside. Miss Hale was appearing as Whiteside's leading lady in two productions at Tacoma's Helig Theater and Tacoma turned out to welcome their native daughter. Miss Hale poses with an armful of American Beauty roses; to the right is Mayor M.G. Tennent with a beribboned key to the city for her use. On the left is Clinton S. Reynolds presenting a less ornate key to the city to Walker Whiteside. In the center, holding his hat, is John Dower, president of the Tacoma Chamber of Commerce. Also present were Calvin Helig, head of the Helig Theater Co., and Miss Hale's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank L. Hale. (TNT 4/27/1928, pg. 1)
The Tacoma Grain Co. had recently taken delivery of a new Reo two-ton heavy duty Speed Wagon. The vehicle, advertising Pyramid Flour, was parked outside of local Reo dealer Winthrop Motor Co., 201-07 Saint Helens Ave. on October 1, 1926. The Speed Wagon had a special body built by Standard Auto Works of Tacoma. Tacoma Grain superintendent P.W. Jochimsen (seated behind the wheel) stated that his company had used Reo equipment for years and when it became necessary to purchase another delivery truck, the firm chose this capable vehicle. The man standing behind the vehicle was not identified. TPL-239; G34.1-131 (Tacoma Sunday Ledger, 10-10-26, 6G)
Trucks--Tacoma--1920-1930; Winthrop Motor Co. (Tacoma); Pyramid Flour (Tacoma); Jochimsen, Peter;
Side view of stage from the Motor Transit Co. as photographed on October 8, 1926. Called a "chain car," it provided transportation from LaGrande to Enterprise to Wallowa Lake. Luggage may have been carried on top of the vehicle with a tarp for protection from the weather. Photograph ordered by Modern Auto Body. G66.1-032
Several fishing boats stream into the calm waters of Gig Harbor's protected waterfront on December 26, 1926. Mt. Tacoma (Rainier) blends with the cloudy skies beyond the darkened forests. TPL-691; G72.1-125A
Harbors--Gig Harbor; Waterfronts--Gig Harbor; Fishing boats--Gig Harbor--1920-1930; Rainier, Mount (Wash.);
Fleet in Commencement Bay. This long-distance view of several ships cruising about Commencement Bay was taken in July of 1927. Twelve American warships were due the weekend of July 16th including nine vessels of the destroyer squadron No. 11 and three battleships. The fleet would make Tacoma headquarters until August 20th and would cause the city's population to swell temporarily by the addition of 300 officers and 5000 enlisted men. G71.1-036 (TNT7-16-27, p. 1-article)
Commencement Bay (Wash.); Ships--Tacoma--1920-1930; Warships--Tacoma--1920-1930; Government vessels--Tacoma;
