Steamboats of Lake Washington
Encyclopedia
Lake Washington steamboats and ferries operated from about 1875 to 1951, transporting passengers and vehicles, and moving freight and towing barges and log rafts across Lake Washington
, is a large lake immediately to the east of Seattle, Washington
. Before modern highways and bridges were built, the only means of crossing the lake, other than the traditional canoe, was by steamboat, and, later, by ferry. While there was no easily navigable connection to Puget Sound
, the Lake Washington Ship Canal
now connects Lake Washington to Lake Union
, and from there Puget Sound is reached by way of the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks
.
, Hattie Hansen (also known as Sechelt), and Mist. Other early steamboats on the lake were Kirkland
and Mary Kraft.
G.V. Johnson also built a shipyard on the lake in 1888, and from it launched, among others, the steamers L.T. Haas
, Acme, and City of Renton. Another early steamboat on Lake Washington was the clipper-bowed yacht-like Cyrene
, built in 1891. and the C.C. Calkins. In 1893, Hattie Hansen
, later to have a tragic end off Vancouver Island
was built at the Lee shipyard. Hattie Hansen only served on the lake until the next year, when she was brought down the Black and Duwamish rivers and placed on the Seattle-Dogfish Bay route under Capt. J.J. Hansen.
.
Anderson had worked his way up from deckhand to skipper of the C.C. Calkins
, and in 1895, he was able to buy his one steamboat, the Winnifred, which burned the next year, 1896, at Leschi Park. Anderson then bought for $1,600, the aging propeller steamer Quickstep
, which had been built at Astoria
in 1877. Quickstep also burned in 1896, and Captain Anderson, undaunted, salvaged her engines to place in a new boat he would build at his own yard, Lady of the Lake.
, and for a while the Anderson concern ran her between Leschi and Madison
parks. Later she was sold to Capt. George Jenkins, who ran her for many years on Lake Whatcom
. L.T. Haas, built for the Interlaken Steamboat Company, was launched in 1902, and later acquired by Captain Anderson. Like the fate of many other boats, L.T. Haas was destroyed by fire in 1909.
In 1904 Anderson built the steel-hulled sternwheel passenger steamer Mercer (84 tons, 65' long). In 1906, the passenger steamer C.F. (8 tons) was built at Tacoma and later operated on Lake Washington at Leschi Park by Adolph Anderson (brother of John Anderson and Louis Birch. Also in 1906, the Anderson yard built the passenger steamer Fortuna
(81 tons, 107' long) for the partnership between Anderson and the Seattle Street Railway. Fortuna had compound engines that had been built at Seattle Machine Works. Fortuna stayed in service until 1938, although in 1915 the vessel was rebuilt as an automobile ferry.
In 1909, the Anderson yard built Triton
(49 tons, 78' feet) at Houghton for the Lake Washington service. Also in that year Capt. Simon Brunn built at Lenora the steamer Juanita for passenger service on the Kirkland
-Madison Park
run. (Juanita only lasted a few years. In 1912, she was being taken down to the Sound on the Cedar River, and ran aground on a sand bar, then burned.) Additionally, to serve the crowds at the Alaska-Yukon Pacific Exhibition, Cyrene was rebuilt and enlarged, her pilot house being moved to the upper deck. Captain Anderson preferred mystic-sounding names for his boats, of which by 1909 he had fourteen, including among them the Atalanta, Aquilo, and Xanthus. Other boats on the lake included the steam launch Ramona and the little steamer May Blossom, which used to run from Lake Washington up Sammamish Slough to Bothell.
In 1911, the Anderson Steamboat Company offered a "beautiful 25-mile cruise around Mercer Island for 25-cents." The other advertised routes and departures were:
Business fell for the traditional passenger only boats as interurban train routes and then automobiles came to dominate transportation. In 1917, the small steamer Swan and, reportedly Urania were transferred to Puget Sound, where they continued to be operated by Anderson Steamboat Company in passenger service to Port Orchard
. This is doubtful as to Urania as she burned for a total loss off Houghton on February 12, 1912. In 1926, the steamers Bremerton (ex-Kitsap) and Reliance, belonging to the Kitsap County Transportation Company, were rafted up together with the Anderson tug Dart. A fire started and all three vessels were destroyed.
, a double-ender (288 tons, 114' long, 38' on the beam, with 9.0 depth of hold), which included then-new features such as upper levels for vehicles above the main deck and an adjustable loading ramp. She was placed on the route between Leschi Park and Newport, stopping in between at Roanoke, on Mercer Island. At Newport, the steam ferry Issaquah
connected with the newly-built highway that to Lake Sammamish
, Fall City
, Issaquah, North Bend
, and Snoqualmie Pass
.
In 1913, the Port of Seattle built for service on Lake Washington, the large steel-hulled sidewheel ferry Leschi
(433 tons, 169' long, 33' foot beam, 8.3' draft). She was fast (14 knots) and in April 1913, she was placed on the run between Leschi Park, Medina and Bellevue. Leschi was the first publicly-owned ferry in the region. To keep his customers, Captain Anderson generously offer free service on his boats Fortuna and Atlanta to the launching of the Leschi. Even so, the ferries, subsidized as they were by King County and by the Port of Seattle, quickly made unprofitable private operation on Lake Washington of private passenger boats and ferries.
Medina City Hall was the Medina ferry terminal and contains some history of the times. The dock which jutted southward has been demolished. An anchor of the Leschi was found and salvaged in about 1970.
The former Columbia River motor ferry Tourist II was brought to the lake and run as a tourist boat under the name MV Kirkland
.
Lake Washington
Lake Washington is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle. It is the largest lake in King County and the second largest in the state of Washington, after Lake Chelan. It is bordered by the cities of Seattle on the west, Bellevue and Kirkland on the east, Renton on the south and...
, is a large lake immediately to the east of Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
. Before modern highways and bridges were built, the only means of crossing the lake, other than the traditional canoe, was by steamboat, and, later, by ferry. While there was no easily navigable connection to Puget Sound
Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
, the Lake Washington Ship Canal
Lake Washington Ship Canal
The Lake Washington Ship Canal, which runs through the City of Seattle, Washington, connects the fresh water body of Lake Washington with the salt water inland sea of Puget Sound. The Ship Canal includes a series of locks, modeled after the Panama Canal, to accommodate the different water levels...
now connects Lake Washington to Lake Union
Lake Union
Lake Union is a freshwater lake entirely within the Seattle, Washington city limits.-Origins:A glacial lake, its basin was dug 12,000 years ago by the Vashon glacier, which also created Lake Washington and Seattle's Green, Bitter, and Haller Lakes.-Name:...
, and from there Puget Sound is reached by way of the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks
Hiram M. Chittenden Locks
The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks are a complex of locks that sit at the west end of Salmon Bay, part of Seattle's Lake Washington Ship Canal. They are known locally as the Ballard Locks after the neighborhood to their north...
.
Beginnings
In the 1870s the sternwheeler Lena C. Gray was built in Seattle, and operated on Lake Washington most of the time, towing barges. In about 1886, Edward F. Lee established a shipyard on the west side Lake Washington. The Lee yard is believed to have built the following ships that worked Lake Washington and Puget Sound: the small steam scow Squak, Laura Maud, ElfinElfin (steamboat)
The steamboat Elfin operated on Lake Washington and Puget Sound from 1891 to 1900. The vessel served as an important transportation link in the area when roads and railways were poor or non-existent, and there were no bridges across the lake....
, Hattie Hansen (also known as Sechelt), and Mist. Other early steamboats on the lake were Kirkland
Kirkland (sidewheeler)
Kirkland was a sidewheel steamboat that ran on Lake Washington from 1888 to 1898.- Career:Kirkland was built in 1888 by T.W. Lake for the Jackson Street Cable Railway Company. Once complete, Kirkland was placed on the Juanita– Kirkland–Houghton–Leschi Park route. Kirkland was considered the...
and Mary Kraft.
G.V. Johnson also built a shipyard on the lake in 1888, and from it launched, among others, the steamers L.T. Haas
L.T. Haas (steamboat)
The steamboat L.T. Haas was a vessel that operated on Lake Washington in the first part of the 20th Century.-Construction:L.T. Haas was built in 1902 by G.V. Johnson, who owned an early shipyard on Lake Washington.-Operating career:L.T...
, Acme, and City of Renton. Another early steamboat on Lake Washington was the clipper-bowed yacht-like Cyrene
Cyrene (steamboat)
Cyrene was a steamboat that operated initially on Puget Sound and later on Lake Washington from 1891 to about 1912. Cyrene and another similar vessel Xanthus were somewhat unique in that they had clipper bows and were both originally built as yachts.-Construction and launching:Cyrene was built in...
, built in 1891. and the C.C. Calkins. In 1893, Hattie Hansen
Sechelt (steamboat)
The steamship Sechelt operated from 1893 to 1911 on Lake Washington, Puget Sound and the Strait of Georgia.. For most of the ship's career, she was known as the Hattie Hansen....
, later to have a tragic end off Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
was built at the Lee shipyard. Hattie Hansen only served on the lake until the next year, when she was brought down the Black and Duwamish rivers and placed on the Seattle-Dogfish Bay route under Capt. J.J. Hansen.
Rise of Anderson Steamboat Company
Steamboat operations on Lake Washington eventually became almost the sole province of one firm, Anderson Steamboat Company, founded by John L. Anderson, an immigrant from Sweden. His brother, Adolph Anderson, was also a steamboat master on the lake. The company’s headquarters was at Leschi Park, and the company had a shipyard across the lake at HoughtonHoughton, Washington
Houghton is one of the lakeside neighborhoods of the city of Kirkland, Washington. Consisting mostly of upscale, single-family homes, Houghton overlooks Lake Washington and is one of the wealthier districts of the Eastside suburbs of Seattle. The village was named for Willard Houghton, a local...
.
Anderson had worked his way up from deckhand to skipper of the C.C. Calkins
C.C. Calkins
C.C. Calkins was a small steamboat built in 1890 which served on Lake Washington.- Career:C.C. Calkins was named after Charles C. Calkins, a Seattle businessman who was involved in real estate development projects around Leschi Park and Mercer Island. Calkins, doing business as Lake Washington...
, and in 1895, he was able to buy his one steamboat, the Winnifred, which burned the next year, 1896, at Leschi Park. Anderson then bought for $1,600, the aging propeller steamer Quickstep
Quickstep (steamboat)
Quickstep was a steamboat that operated from 1877 to 1897 in coastal, inland waters and rivers of the Pacific Northwest. This vessel should not be confused with a number of other vessels with the same name, some of which operated in the same area about the same time.- Career:Quickstep was built at...
, which had been built at Astoria
Astoria, Oregon
Astoria is the county seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Situated near the mouth of the Columbia River, the city was named after the American investor John Jacob Astor. His American Fur Company founded Fort Astoria at the site in 1811...
in 1877. Quickstep also burned in 1896, and Captain Anderson, undaunted, salvaged her engines to place in a new boat he would build at his own yard, Lady of the Lake.
Construction of steamboats on lake
In 1900, the Anderson yard built the steam launch ElsinoreElsinore (steamboat)
The steam launch Elsinore operated on Lake Washington and Lake Whatcom starting in 1900.-Construction and operations :Elsinore was built by John L. Anderson on Lake Washington. Initially operated the vessel between Leschi and Madison parks on the west side of the Lake. Soon afterwards Anderson...
, and for a while the Anderson concern ran her between Leschi and Madison
Madison Park (Seattle)
Madison Park is an 8.3 acre park in the Madison Park neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, located between the western shore of Lake Washington on the east, 42nd Avenue E. on the west, E. Madison Street on the north, and E. Blaine Street on the south. 43rd Avenue E...
parks. Later she was sold to Capt. George Jenkins, who ran her for many years on Lake Whatcom
Lake Whatcom
Lake Whatcom Reservoir is located in Whatcom County, Washington. It is the drinking water source for approximately 85,000 residents in the City of Bellingham as well as Whatcom County. It is approximately 10 miles total in length and 1 mile in width at its widest...
. L.T. Haas, built for the Interlaken Steamboat Company, was launched in 1902, and later acquired by Captain Anderson. Like the fate of many other boats, L.T. Haas was destroyed by fire in 1909.
In 1904 Anderson built the steel-hulled sternwheel passenger steamer Mercer (84 tons, 65' long). In 1906, the passenger steamer C.F. (8 tons) was built at Tacoma and later operated on Lake Washington at Leschi Park by Adolph Anderson (brother of John Anderson and Louis Birch. Also in 1906, the Anderson yard built the passenger steamer Fortuna
Fortuna (steamboat)
The steamboat Fortuna was a vessel that operated on Lake Washington in the first part of the 20th Century.-Construction:Fortuna was built in 1904 at a shipyard on the west side of Lake Washington two blocks south of Leschi Park. She was 106.9 feet in length overall, and rated at 81 tons...
(81 tons, 107' long) for the partnership between Anderson and the Seattle Street Railway. Fortuna had compound engines that had been built at Seattle Machine Works. Fortuna stayed in service until 1938, although in 1915 the vessel was rebuilt as an automobile ferry.
In 1909, the Anderson yard built Triton
Triton (steamboat)
The steamboat Triton was a vessel that operated on Lake Washington in the first part of the 20th Century.-Construction :Triton was built in 1909 at the Anderson shipyard on the eastern shore of Lake Washington at Houghton. She was 78 feet long and rated at 49 tons...
(49 tons, 78' feet) at Houghton for the Lake Washington service. Also in that year Capt. Simon Brunn built at Lenora the steamer Juanita for passenger service on the Kirkland
Kirkland, Washington
Kirkland is a city in King County, Washington, United States. It is a suburb of Seattle on the Eastside . The population was 48,787 at the 2010 census makes it the 9th largest city in King County and the 20th largest city in the state...
-Madison Park
Madison Park (Seattle)
Madison Park is an 8.3 acre park in the Madison Park neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, located between the western shore of Lake Washington on the east, 42nd Avenue E. on the west, E. Madison Street on the north, and E. Blaine Street on the south. 43rd Avenue E...
run. (Juanita only lasted a few years. In 1912, she was being taken down to the Sound on the Cedar River, and ran aground on a sand bar, then burned.) Additionally, to serve the crowds at the Alaska-Yukon Pacific Exhibition, Cyrene was rebuilt and enlarged, her pilot house being moved to the upper deck. Captain Anderson preferred mystic-sounding names for his boats, of which by 1909 he had fourteen, including among them the Atalanta, Aquilo, and Xanthus. Other boats on the lake included the steam launch Ramona and the little steamer May Blossom, which used to run from Lake Washington up Sammamish Slough to Bothell.
Routes on the lake
Anderson’s company had over 50 stops on the lake, including the elegant C.C. Calkins Hotel on Mercer Island. The company’s main terminal was at Leschi which in 1888 was connected to Seattle by cable car. Leschi Park was a popular resort, for example over 40,000 people went there on the Fourth of July, 1908, and this was good for the water tour business which was an important part of the Anderson firm’s trade.In 1911, the Anderson Steamboat Company offered a "beautiful 25-mile cruise around Mercer Island for 25-cents." The other advertised routes and departures were:
- Fortuna left Madison Park eight times daily for Kirkland and Juanita;
- Aquilo left Madison Park seven times daily for Houghton and the "Bay Route";
- Triton left Leschi Park eleven times daily for Medina, Bellevue and the "Scenic Route";
- AtlantaAtlanta (steamboat 1908)Atlanta was a steamboat built in 1908 at Houghton, Washington which served on Lake Washington and Puget Sound until 1938, when it was converted into a diesel-powered houseboat.-Construction:...
left Leschi Park six times daily for points around Mercer Island; - Cyrene left Leschi Park eleven times daily for East Seattle and points on the west side of Mercer Island.
Business fell for the traditional passenger only boats as interurban train routes and then automobiles came to dominate transportation. In 1917, the small steamer Swan and, reportedly Urania were transferred to Puget Sound, where they continued to be operated by Anderson Steamboat Company in passenger service to Port Orchard
Port Orchard, Washington
Port Orchard is a city in and the county seat of Kitsap County, Washington, United States. It is located 13 miles due west of West Seattle and connected to Seattle and Vashon Island via the Washington State Ferries run to Southworth...
. This is doubtful as to Urania as she burned for a total loss off Houghton on February 12, 1912. In 1926, the steamers Bremerton (ex-Kitsap) and Reliance, belonging to the Kitsap County Transportation Company, were rafted up together with the Anderson tug Dart. A fire started and all three vessels were destroyed.
Ferries on Lake Washington
Ferries joined the Lake Washington fleet, starting in 1900 with the side-wheel ferry King County, which had the bad luck of stranding in mudbank on her launching with a large number of county officials aboard. Poorly-built, she had chronic mechanical problem, and was condemned in 1908. She was replaced in 1908 with the Washington. Later, the Anderson yard at Houghton built the steel-hulled propeller ferry Lincoln (580 tons, 147.3' long, 43' on the beam, with 12.6' depth of hold). Lincoln was put into operation by King County on the Madison Park-Kirkland run. Later, the Anderson yard built another steam propeller ferry, the IssaquahIssaquah (steam ferry)
Issaquah was a steam ferry built in 1914 that operated on Lake Washington and in San Francisco Bay.- Design and construction:Issaquah was built in 1914 by Capt. John L. Anderson at his shipyard on Lake Washington at Houghton, Washington. On launching, Issaquah slid down the shipway and then became...
, a double-ender (288 tons, 114' long, 38' on the beam, with 9.0 depth of hold), which included then-new features such as upper levels for vehicles above the main deck and an adjustable loading ramp. She was placed on the route between Leschi Park and Newport, stopping in between at Roanoke, on Mercer Island. At Newport, the steam ferry Issaquah
Issaquah (steam ferry)
Issaquah was a steam ferry built in 1914 that operated on Lake Washington and in San Francisco Bay.- Design and construction:Issaquah was built in 1914 by Capt. John L. Anderson at his shipyard on Lake Washington at Houghton, Washington. On launching, Issaquah slid down the shipway and then became...
connected with the newly-built highway that to Lake Sammamish
Lake Sammamish
Lake Sammamish is a freshwater lake east of Seattle in King County, Washington, United States. The lake is long and wide, with a maximum depth of and a surface area of . It lies east of Lake Washington and west of the Sammamish Plateau, and stretches from Issaquah in the south to Redmond in...
, Fall City
Fall City, Washington
Fall City is a census-designated place in King County, Washington, United States. Located 26 miles east of Seattle, the community lies along the Snoqualmie River. The population was 1,993 at the 2010 census...
, Issaquah, North Bend
North Bend, Washington
North Bend is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The town was made famous by David Lynch's television series Twin Peaks Since the Weyerhaeuser sawmill closed, North Bend has become an upscale bedroom community for the Eastside of Seattle, Washington, with property values more than...
, and Snoqualmie Pass
Snoqualmie Pass
Snoqualmie Pass is a mountain pass that carries Interstate 90 through the Cascade Range in the U.S. State of Washington. The elevation of the pass summit is , and is on the county line between Kittitas County and King County...
.
In 1913, the Port of Seattle built for service on Lake Washington, the large steel-hulled sidewheel ferry Leschi
Leschi (steam ferry)
Leschi was a steam ferry that operated on Lake Washington from 1913 to 1950, and afterwards on Puget Sound until 1967. From 1969 to 1986 the vessel was a floating cannery in Alaska.-Career:...
(433 tons, 169' long, 33' foot beam, 8.3' draft). She was fast (14 knots) and in April 1913, she was placed on the run between Leschi Park, Medina and Bellevue. Leschi was the first publicly-owned ferry in the region. To keep his customers, Captain Anderson generously offer free service on his boats Fortuna and Atlanta to the launching of the Leschi. Even so, the ferries, subsidized as they were by King County and by the Port of Seattle, quickly made unprofitable private operation on Lake Washington of private passenger boats and ferries.
Medina City Hall was the Medina ferry terminal and contains some history of the times. The dock which jutted southward has been demolished. An anchor of the Leschi was found and salvaged in about 1970.
The former Columbia River motor ferry Tourist II was brought to the lake and run as a tourist boat under the name MV Kirkland
MV Kirkland
The MV Kirkland is a former car ferry with a unique Pacific Northwest history. Originally known as the Tourist II, is a 1924 wooden-hulled car ferry that has served passengers all over the Pacific Northwest. Originally, it took passengers across the Columbia River, with a dock in Astoria, Oregon. ...
.