''Leschi'' was a steam ferry that operated on

Lake Washington Lake Washington () is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest lake in King County, Washington, King County and the second largest natural lake in the state of Washington (state), Was ...

from 1913 to 1950, and afterwards on

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

until 1967. From 1969 to 1986 the vessel was a floating cannery in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

Career

The first ship ever commissioned by the Seattle Port Commission, and the first automobile ferry in Western Washington, ''Leschi'' was originally built as a side-wheel ferry by the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

firm of J. F. Duthie & Company. The paddle wheels were designed to give less water resistance by "feathering" which allowed the vessel to move faster through the water.Northwest Digital Archives (NWDA) Leschi Ferry Photograph Album Collection
(accessed 05-20-11) Contains capsule history of ''Leschi'' and guide to 1913 photographs of the vessel (Collection No. 606). The steel hull was built on the East Waterway of the

Duwamish River