Lake Washington
Seattle's fresh-water shipping ground
For half a century before the bridges were built, steam launches and ferries did the work of moving people and freight across Lake Washington.
Wooden steamboats built on the lake shore ran scheduled routes between Seattle, Kirkland and the settlements ringing the water until the 1916 lowering of the lake and the opening of the ship canal and floating bridges ended the era. Several of these vessels burned or sank in the lake and remain on the bottom in deep, cold fresh water.
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Records in These Waters
RegisteredAcme
AH-WR-0184Seattle, Washington
1910 · Steamboat · 210 ft deep
AvailableDawn
AH-WR-0419Leschi Park, Seattle, Washington
1923 · Steam Ferry
AvailableElfin
AH-WR-0183Kirkland, Washington
1900 · Steamboat · 125 ft deep
AvailableFalcon
AH-WR-0738Kirkland, Washington
After June 1919, exact year unknown · Passenger And Freight Launch · 190 ft deep
AvailableFoss 75
AH-WR-0422Lake Washington, Washington
Date not established · Barge · 150 ft deep
AvailableTriton
AH-WR-0304Mercer Island, Washington
1916 · Passenger Ferry
Historical ListingYMS-359
AH-WR-0420Carillon Point, Kirkland, Washington
Sank sometime after her 1948 sale, while serving as a private houseboat conversion project · Auxiliary Motor Minesweeper · 200 ft deep
Historical ListingYMS-416
AH-WR-0421Sand Point / Magnuson Park, Seattle, Washington
Fate after her 1947 sale was previously unknown; at some point she was stripped and scuttled in Lake Washington. · Auxiliary Motor Minesweeper · 200 ft deep
