Dockton | |
|---|---|
  Dockton Location within the state of Washington | |
| Coordinates: 47°22′18″N122°27′33″W / 47.37167°N 122.45917°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Washington |
| County | King |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
Dockton is an unincorporated community in King County, Washington. It is located on Maury Island, along Quartermaster Harbor. Although once an industrial center, Dockton today is a primarily residential area, with many commuters taking the ferry to nearby Tacoma.
Dockton, one of the first major settlements on the now-conjoined Vashon and Maury Islands, was an important shipbuilding center in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Puget Sound Dry Dock Company ship yard and drydock there from 1892 to 1909 was the largest on the West Coast of the United States. [1] The drydock was 325 feet (99 m) long and 203 feet (62 m) wide. [2]
After its closure, the Stuckey and Martinolich yards continued shipbuilding and repair at Dockton. Over the years a number of vessels were also built at the shipyard of John Martinolich, at Dockton on Maury Island. These included the propeller steamers Vashon (1905), Verona (1910), Nisqually (later renamed Astorian) and Calista, both built in 1911, Florence J. (1914), F.G. Reeves , (1916), Vashona (later renamed Sightseer) (1921), and the ferry Whidby (1923). [3]
Launchings did not always go well. Florence J. rolled over and sank on the first launching attempt.
The last commercial boat built at Dockton was the Janet G in 1929. [1]
In the early 1910s there was a salmon cannery at Dockton, Puget Sound fisheries peaked in 1914, but after that catches began to decline, and the cannery was closed by the end of the decade. Dockton gradually transformed into the residential community it is today. [1]
As Dockton faded as an industrial center, its situation as a residential center was improved when King County bridged the portage between Maury Island and larger Vashon Island in 1918. [1] The two islands were later connected by an artificial isthmus.
The Dockton Store, including a post office, opened in 1920. It was the center of the community until it closed in the 1980s. The building remains, [1] and is listed as a King County landmark. [4] It is the only well preserved early 20th century commercial building on Maury Island. [5]
Other surviving remnants of Dockton's past are shipyard pilings, old piers and net houses, and the homes of the managers and foremen from the industrial days, known collectively as "Piano Row". [1]
Municipalities and communities of King County, Washington, United States | ||
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| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, officially Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres (0.7 km2) on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington in uninterrupted use since its establishment in 1891; it has also been known as Navy Yard Puget Sound, Bremerton Navy Yard, and the Bremerton Naval Complex.
Vashon is a census-designated place (CDP) in King County, Washington, United States. It covers an island alternately called Vashon Island or Vashon–Maury Island, the largest island in Puget Sound south of Admiralty Inlet. The population was 10,624 at the 2010 census and the size is 36.9 square miles (95.6 km2).
Vigor Shipyards is the current entity operating the former Todd Shipyards after its acquisition in 2011. Todd Shipyards was founded in 1916, which owned and operated shipyards on the West Coast of the United States, East Coast of the United States and the Gulf. Todd Shipyards were a major part of the Emergency Shipbuilding Program for World War II.
Maury Island is a tied island in Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is connected to Vashon Island by an isthmus built by local homeowners in 1913. Before construction of the isthmus, the island was connected to Vashon only during low tide. The island is rural with large areas of farmland, forest, and relatively undeveloped shoreline. Currently, environmental issues on the island are under considerable scrutiny.
The King County Water Taxi is a passenger-only fast ferry service operated by the King County Metro Transit Department, Marine Division. It operates two routes between Downtown Seattle and West Seattle or Vashon Island.
Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company was a major shipbuilding and construction company, located in Seattle, Washington, on the southwestern corner of Harbor Island, an artificial island in Elliott Bay. The Bridge and Dredging Company created the island, completing its construction in 1909. It established itself in 1898 and engaged in construction projects around the United States and shipbuilding for the U.S. Navy during and after World War II. During the war it also operated under the name Associated Shipbuilders in a joint venture with the nearby Lake Union Dry Dock Company. In 1959 Lockheed purchased the shipyard and it became the Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company. The Yard was permanently closed in 1987.
The M/V Kitsap was a ferry built in 1925 at the Lake Washington Shipyard in Houghton, Washington. She was 165 feet (50 m) long, and her original capacity in 1925 was 95 cars and approximately 800 passengers. By 1960, cars had become much bigger and her capacity was reduced to 32 modern automobiles and 325 passengers. A 600-horsepower Estep diesel engine allowed her to sail at 12 knots when originally built. Almost every part of her was from Washington state; her hull and superstructure were built from Washington-grown fir, and her Estep engine was built in at Washington Iron Works in Tacoma.
Quartermaster Harbor is a small harbor located in southern Puget Sound, in Vashon Island, Washington state.
The King and Winge Shipbuilding Company was an important maritime concern in the early 1900s on Puget Sound. The shipyard was located at West Seattle. The owners were Thomas J. King (1843–1925) and Albert M Winge. King was born in Boston and learned to build ships under the famous Donald McKay. He came to Puget Sound in about 1880, and worked in the shipyards of Hall Bros. and T.W. Lake before starting his own shipyard with Winge. King’s partner, Albert L. Winge was a native of Norway.
The Maryland Drydock Company was a shipbuilding company that operated in Baltimore, Maryland during the 20th century.
State Route 339 (SR 339) is a 8.5-nautical-mile-long state highway in the U.S. state of Washington. It is designated on a former state-run ferry route that connected Vashon Island's Vashon Heights ferry terminal to downtown Seattle's Pier 50, via a passenger-only ferry, the MV Skagit. The ferry was financed by the King County Ferry District (KCFD) and tolls collected at Pier 50. Despite being part of the KCFD, the ferry was operated by Washington State Ferries (WSF). SR 339 was one of only four ferry routes providing access to and from Vashon Island, and had the lowest annual average ridership of the four routes. The state of Washington took over the operation of the ferry route in 1951, and designated it SR 339 in 1994. The ferry was discontinued in 2006 and was replaced by a King County Water Taxi route.
MV Westward is an 86-foot (26 m) motor yacht, "arguably Seattle’s most famous motor yacht," originally constructed in 1924 by Ted Geary for inventor Campbell Church, Sr., and currently owned by Bill Bailey. Her home port is Friday Harbor, Washington and she is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
The Puget Sound region is a coastal area of the Pacific Northwest in the U.S. state of Washington, including Puget Sound, the Puget Sound lowlands, and the surrounding region roughly west of the Cascade Range and east of the Olympic Mountains. It is characterized by a complex array of saltwater bays, islands, and peninsulas carved out by prehistoric glaciers.
Vashon was a wooden steamboat built in 1905 at Dockton, Washington on Vashon Island. The vessel was active on Puget Sound in the early decades of the 1900s. Vashon should not be confused with the sternwheeler Vashon which also ran on Puget Sound.
The Martinolich Shipbuilding Company was founded in the early 1900s by John Martinolich (1877-1960), an Italian immigrant from modern day Croatia.
Florence K was a steamboat that was operated on Puget Sound from 1903. This vessel was later renamed Gloria and was rebuilt as a steam ferry and renamed Beeline.
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard is a large military-industrial complex located in Bremerton, Washington along the north shore of Sinclair Inlet, which opens to Puget Sound. This large shipyard is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) in length along the shore and over a half-mile in width at its greatest distance across. The shipyard has nearly 1,000 facilities such as shipfitters shops, repair shops, drydocks, piers, cranes, crane rails, railways, and tunnels. In addition to the industrial facilities, supporting structures include: residences for officers and enlisted personnel, recreation facilities, boiler, electrical substations, fuel tanks, medical facilities, and canteens. The historic district is just over a tenth of the entire shipyard, 189 acres of the shipyard's 1,347 acres. Its greatest significance was during the Second World War when it repaired large warships damaged in the Pacific theater. It was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1992.
The steamship General Frisbie was a wooden two-deck passenger ship built in 1900, named after John B. Frisbie. She was designed for use as a ferry between Vallejo and San Francisco. The steamer was successful in that role and was the fastest ship on the route when she began service. Improved roads, bridges, and automobiles reduced demand for ferry service in the Bay Area, and newer ships were optimized for transporting cars, so General Frisbie was retired in the late 1920s.
The Dockton Hotel, also known as Dockton School, was a building in Dockton, Washington on Maury Island. Built in 1917, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. It was the largest remaining structure from the days when Dockton was primarily a ship-building town. As of 2008, the building is presumed to be demolished due to its collapse.
Captain John Laurentius Anderson was a preeminent figure in Washington state maritime industries in the first half of the twentieth century, particularly ferry service, shipbuilding, and ship-based tourism. He ran the largest ferry fleet on Lake Washington for three decades. He ran a large ferry fleet in Puget Sound. He built more than a dozen vessels at his shipyards, including the first ocean-going ship ever built on Lake Washington.
