The Wooden Walls of Puget Sound
A survey of the booming fleet of vessels built in Washington Territory in 1877, and why the local economy was missing out on the profits of its own timber.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Within the past week, nearly all the largest and best-finished vessels of the Pacific-built fleet have been within the waters of Puget Sound. Notable vessels include the ship Wildwood, built at Port Madison; the bark Pacific Slope, constructed at San Francisco; and the barkentines Portland and Tam O'Shanter, launched at Coos Bay. Locally, we have the ship Western Shore, built at North Beach, Oregon; the barks Forest Queen and Quickstep, constructed at Port Ludlow; the bark Tidal Wave, perfected at Port Madison some six years ago; and the bark built at Seabeck. It would well repay any person who feels desirous of investing his money in Pacific-built ships to make an examination. The Western Shore is the most noted vessel of all the lot. She was launched at Coos Bay, Oregon, in 1874. Her cost was a trifle in excess of $80,000. It is a mystery why the surplus capital of San Francisco could be invested in ships instead of squandered in stocks. Oregon squanders two millions per year in the San Francisco stock market which, if kept at home and invested in shipbuilding, would add to the opulence of the State and the improvement of her people. The profits of grain freights go to enrich Liverpool, London, Glasgow, New York and Boston, while Seattle, Portland and San Francisco furnish the material to make others richer at their own detriment.
“If the surplus capital of San Francisco could be invested in ships instead of squandered in stocks, there would be no end of our wealth.”
In 1877, Puget Sound was a global hub for shipbuilding, yet the local editor lamented the extraction of wealth to East Coast financiers. Today, Seattle's economy has shifted from timber and masts to tech giants, yet the same tension remains: whether the region's immense output benefits the community or flows primarily to distant shareholders.
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