History-wise, the Pacific Northwest and its waterways are young. Whether Sir Francis Drake actually saw the northerly stretches of the coast he called New Albion in 1578 or whether Juan de Fuca actually sailed his ship into Puget Sound in 1592 are old controversies. But the years since Captain George Vancouver’s “Voyage of Discovery” in 1792 comprise a vivid, though short, maritime history.
Seattle and Puget Sound became internationally important to maritime progress both in private enterprise and in government and naval shipping. Ships sailed from Puget Sound with cargoes bound for the Orient, India, Central and South America, and Europe, as well as for coastal ports. Sailing vessels from many countries and under many flags stopped in Puget Sound ports en route to the waters of the North Pacific and Arctic. They were headed for the rich whaling and fishing grounds. During the feverish Gold Rush period, they carried men to the Canadian gold fields. Indeed, Seattle achieved real economic success as the outfitting port for the Alaskan gold rushes. Later, Seattle and other Puget Sound villages increased and strengthened their importance as seaports by supplying the region with materials for permanent settlement and development and by sending around the world cargoes of lumber from the Northwest’s vast and seemingly limitless virgin forests.
On 13 November 1911—the 60th anniversary of the landing of the first white settlers at what eventually became the city of Seattle—a group of interested citizens formed the Seattle Historical Society. For the next 41 years, Society members worked hard to gather historically significant materials for exhibit, and to obtain funds for future construction of a museum befitting the then farthest and youngest corner of the United States.
In 1948, the Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society was organized. This was an enthusiastic group of private individuals whose especial aim was to collect, assemble, preserve, and display marine objects, relics, and data relating to Pacific Northwest maritime history. The organization had no museum, however.
Then, in 1950, construction was commenced on the long awaited Seattle Historical Society museum. Situated in McCurdy Park on the edge of the University of Washington arboretum in the Montlake District of Seattle, the museum was fully paid for and given to the city by the Society. On 15 February 1952, just 100 years after what is now downtown Seattle was settled by pioneers who moved over from Alki Point, the Museum of History and Industry was formally opened to the public.
As a self-appointed civic task, the Historical Society continues to operate the Museum, including the acquisition and accessioning of artifacts on Pacific Northwest history. The Society receives financial assistance from King County and the city of Seattle contributes light, water, and maintenance of the building and grounds. Attendance at and activities centering around the Museum have grown swiftly.
Up to this time, however, Seattle had no real maritime museum, although many residents were conscious of the value of preserving the rich maritime history of the area. Moreover, in the city were many tourists and naval personnel, all of whom were potential visitors to or supporters of a maritime museum.
The need for a permanent maritime display unit became critical when the McCurdy collection was presented to the Historical Society. H. W. McCurdy, Northwest industrialist and civic leader, had been collecting maritime artifacts since 1921. From the mud of San Francisco Bay, from the shores of the West Indies, and from West Coast salvage yards, Mr. McCurdy, with the vigilant help of friends, had gathered and restored a valuable collection of figureheads, ship models covering many phases of sail and steam development, navigation instruments, equipment of all types ranging from lighthouse lamps to lifeboat binnacles, and thousands of photographs of vessels, shipyards, crews, shipwrecks, and harbors.
In 1957, in co-operation with the aforementioned Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society, the Seattle Historical Society conducted a financial campaign for the construction of the much-needed maritime wing. Named for two generous donors and still-living pioneers long associated with the city’s waterfront commerce, the Joshua Green-Dwight Merrill Maritime Wing was opened on 9 June 1959. Since its christening— with a bottle of spruce beer brewed to one of Vancouver’s own recipes against scurvy and smashed over an old ship’s binnacle— the Wing had been visited by more than 291,000 persons as of 15 February 1961. The Maritime Wing information desk is staffed by volunteers from the Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society.
Thus, some 167 years after Captain George Vancouver, first explorer to chart the navigable waters of Puget Sound for His Britannic Majesty, the Maritime Wing now presents to the public the colorful history of that extraordinary arm of the sea. The Wing and the McCurdy collection came onto the Northwest scene in time to preserve many maritime records and artifacts which would eventually have been destroyed.
One of the main functions of the Museum is, of course, to present visual stories of important chapters in the region’s maritime progress several times yearly, against a backdrop of permanently-installed exhibits. The opening display was entitled “Maritime Log of Puget Sound.” Other displays have included “Sail—and Ships of Sail,” and “The Age of Steam Ships.” The current exhibit is “The U. S. Navy on Puget Sound.”
The Maritime Wing and its collections are of inestimable value to the Museum’s principal educational projects. The Museum Library includes a growing collection of Northwest maritime documents, log books, charts, and shipping company records. Perhaps even more valuable for research purposes by students and writers is the marine photograph collection on file in the Library. Details of old vessels and their rigging, types of ships docking in Puget Sound ports and descriptions of their cargoes, vessels characteristic of the region, kinds of clothing worn by officers and men, and dates and voyages connected with Puget Sound are among the research data to be found in these photographs. Approximately 2,000 such pictures are in this section of the Seattle Historical Society’s collection; some of them are reproduced on these pages.
Of great importance to future appreciation and understanding of maritime lore is the program of guided tours for school children. During 1960, some 6,093 students made these tours.
Like similar institutions elsewhere in the country, the Maritime Wing of the Museum of History and Industry at Seattle is performing a valuable service in preserving and perpetuating important maritime information and knowledge which might otherwise be lost. At the same time, it is developing in Americans an understanding of our heritage of maritime and naval history.