sternwheeler
A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...
that operated as a snagboat, removing log jams and natural debris that prevented river
navigation
Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the motion, movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navig ...
on several
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 ...
-area rivers. She is now the centerpiece of the Snagboat Heritage Center in
Anacortes, Washington
Anacortes ( ) is a city in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The name "Anacortes" is an adaptation of the name of Anne Curtis Bowman, who was the wife of early Fidalgo Island settler Amos Bowman.National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
in 1989. Built in 1929, she is one of two surviving snagboats built and operated by the
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...
, and the only one on the American west coast.
History
''W. T. Preston'' operated from Olympia to Blaine, including the Skagit, Stillaguamish, and Snohomish rivers. Dead trees that reached Puget Sound often became half-submerged deadheads that could pierce the hulls of wooden vessels. The federal government began building snagboats to remove obstructions and facilitate river based commerce. ''W. T. Preston'' was named in honor of the only civilian engineer to work for the Army Corps of Engineers at the time of her construction in 1929. ''W. T. Preston'' used the main single expansion reciprocating steam engines, as well as many pumps and other hardware from her 1914 predecessor ''Swinomish''. The Swinomish was built to replace the earlier Skagit, the first snagboat to work the rivers of the Puget Sound.
In many respects the ''W. T. Preston'' is similar to the ''Samson V'', a former Canadian Department of Public Works snagboat now preserved as a museum in New Westminster, British Columbia. Sternwheeler machinery was simple and rugged and often outlasted the shallow-draughted hulls of the vessels. When the ''Samson V'' was built in 1937 it incorporated engines and a paddlewheel shaft from the ''Samson II'' of 1905, A-frame crane components from the ''Samson III'' of 1914 and the steam-winch from the ''Samson IV'' of 1924. Like the ''W. T. Preston'', the ''Samson V'' maintained waterways for navigation and when retired in 1980, she was the last steam-powered paddlewheeler running in Canada.
The original ''W. T. Preston'' was a 163-foot, wooden-hulled vessel which pulled snags, performed light dredging, and otherwise worked the waters of Puget Sound until 1939; when, the Army Corps of Engineers built a new
superstructure
A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships.
Aboard ships and large boats
On water craft, the superstruct ...
atop a welded steel hull and transferred the stern wheel, main engines, smokestack, foredeck equipment, and other items onto the second ''WT Preston''. The mission of ''W. T. Preston'' changed throughout the years. As rivers were used less and less for transportation of goods, ''W. T. Preston'' began to dredge, fight fires, and perform other general work. Throughout her commission, she even retrieved a sunken military bomber, and several automobiles.
The Army Corps of Engineers operated ''W. T. Preston'' out of the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, in
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 ...
, Washington. This boat served the Puget Sound for more than forty years before the Army Corps retired her in 1981. Her replacement, ''Puget'', still operates today out of ''W. T. Preston''s previous dock at the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks.
Snagboat Heritage Center
''W. T. Preston'' is now permanently dry berthed on the waterfront near Cap Sante, in
Anacortes, Washington
Anacortes ( ) is a city in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The name "Anacortes" is an adaptation of the name of Anne Curtis Bowman, who was the wife of early Fidalgo Island settler Amos Bowman.
Historic preservation
Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK) is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...