Working Waterfront Maritime Museum - Tacoma, WA - Maritime Museums on Waymarking.com

The Museum was incorporated in 1996 to carry on the work begun in the early 1990's by Life on the Sound founders Phyllis Harrison and Mike Vlahovich to create community space to celebrate the art, culture, crafts and skills of Puget Sound's maritime community. The Museum is presently located in the northern one–third of the Balfour Dock building on Dock Street along Tacoma's Thea Foss Waterway. Our home is a century–old wheat transfer facility that is one of two remaining wooden warehouses originally built as a "mile long" complex in 1900. These warehouses were built to accommodate cargo carrying, square–rigged ships that frequented the port during the early years of Tacoma's history. These wharves hosted many beautiful sailing vessels, as well as steam– and diesel–powered cargo traders well into the twentieth century. The Balfour Dock building was last commercially active in the 1970's. The building is owned by the City of Tacoma.

The WWMM is an active participant in Tacoma's annual Maritime Fest, held each September and the annual Classic Boats/Clasic Cars Show, held on the last weekend in June. The Museum has also facilitated visits to Tacoma by the historic tugboat Arthur Foss, the steamship Virginia V and Argosy excursion cruises. We have a cooperative relationship with the Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Association, Lady Washington's parent organization, hosting her visits to the Port of Tacoma.

Following is the museum's list of its core exhibits:

• Early Waterfront Life: The Native American Canoe Culture — Origins of our working waterfront as a cultural, economic and transportation resource used by the Puyallup and Nisqually tribes and other Indian residents and linkages to the contemporary Indian story.
• Connecting Waterfront Communities: Our Row, Sail, Stream and Ferry Boat Past — Uses of early watercraft to transport people and products, and connect the region's communities and their cultures.
• The Lumber Capital of the World — How the manufacture and distribution of this natural resource built Tacoma and our region and shaped global maritime commerce and trade.
• The Foss Story: From Family Enterprise to Worldwide Maritime Business — A comprehensive case study about how an immigrant family's hard work and dedication to their customers founded and developed what has become a major maritime company.
• Tacoma Ships, Shipyards and Ship workers: Building a Proud Heritage — The people who built the ships, shipyards and related businesses that helped make Tacoma a maritime industrial center.
• Our World Waterfront Link: The Port of Tacoma, International Shipping and Trade — How Tacoma's natural harbor and river estuaries became the basis for establishing today's port as a world class shipping and trade center.
• Labor and the Working Waterfront: A strong Longshore Union Tradition — How labor and management energies worked together to create one of the world's most productive, hard-working port cities.
• The Waterfront and the Environment: Balancing the Uses — Exploring the natural history of the region; early industrial uses of the waterfront, and today's efforts to restore and reconnect it to the greater community.
• How Waterfronts Work: A kid's View — Encouraging youth and their families to learn about the working waterfront through hands–on exhibits and activities.
• The Recreational Boat Building Business: Combining Wood and Water — How Tacoma's early small boat builders, including the famed Willits Brothers canoe business, helped to establish the city's significant recreational boat construction industry.