Conclusion: The Tall Ships

The history of the lumber industry in Old Town and in Tacoma generally cannot come to an end without giving credit to the earliest and most colorful mode of export—the sailing ship. It was here in Tacoma during the 1850s when some of the first mills in the Puget Sound were just getting started. Sailing ships made the growth of the industry possible.

The first ships used were “clippers”—fast, sleek three-masted square-riggers—originally designed to travel from the East Coast “around-the-horn” in record time during the California gold rush. However, these ships did not have enough room in their holds to carry large volumes of cargo. By the 1860s, larger, wider ships were built for this purpose.

When Old Town’s first mill (Hanson-Ackerson) started in 1869, the first (and most famous) of the lumber carriers were the “Samoset”, the “Shirley” and the “Dashing Wave”; (these three ships, by the way, were owned by the mill).

Hundreds of sailing ships would “plow the high seas”, over the years, carrying billions of board feet of lumber all over the world. Although considered a pre-20th century vessel, the last “windjammer” to load lumber on Old Town’s waterfront was in the 1930s! Three well known ships which frequented Northwest waters as lumber carriers are

• the big and tall “Abner Coburn”;
• the clipper-like ship “St. Paul”;
• the four-masted schooner “Wm. Nottingham”.

These are examples of the many types which lined the waterfront—by the dozens—in the early days.