Launch of the Schooner Chehalis
The largest vessel ever built on Grays Harbor slides into the water at Hoquiam.
The four-masted schooner Chehalis was launched at Hoquiam at 2:45 p.m. last Saturday, in the presence of a large crowd. The launching was a success in every particular, the schooner going off the ways smoothly. She is the largest vessel ever built on Grays Harbor, and has a capacity for about 1,000,000 feet of lumber.
“She is the largest vessel ever built on Grays Harbor.”
This event highlights the absolute dominance of the timber economy in 1890s Grays Harbor. The transition from wooden schooners to modern industrial shipping mirrored the town's evolution from a timber camp to a major maritime port.
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