Among the many boats displayed in the Foss Waterway Seaport Maritime Museum in Tacoma, Washington are some rowboats.
1930s Wheeler 16’ Rowboat
This was the last boat built by Gage Mason Wheeler, the owner of Pioneer Boathouse at Point Defiance. The hull of this boat is built in the lapstrake style which means that the hull is made from overlapping wood planks.
1910 Andrew Foss Rowboat
Thea and Andrew Foss rented their more than 200 boats to fishermen, duck hunters, picnickers, and workers needing transportation to jobsites. According to the Museum:
“This rowboat, of typical wooden lapstrake construction, is one of two surviving boats known to be built by Andrew Foss.”
1930s Point Defiance Park Rental Rowboat
What was to become Point Defiance Park began in 1888 when Grover Cleveland allowed the city of Tacoma to turn a federal military reserve into a public park. In 1895, the park began renting rowboats. According to the Museum:
“If a family did not own a boat they could rent one from a handful of boathouses in the area, one of the most popular being the Point Defiance Boathouse.”
According to the Museum:
“This boat from the Point Defiance rental fleet is a lapstrake rowboat from the 1930’s. It features double oarlocks, a flat back for mounting an outboard motor, and a round bottom hull with wood bumpers.”
Unidentified Rowboat
More boats
Museums 101: Some skiffs (photo diary)
Indians 101: Coastal canoes (museum exhibit)
Naval Destroyer Museum: Turner Joy boats and marina (photo diary)
Naval Destroyer Museum: On the deck of the Turner Joy (photo diary)
Museums 101: A couple of deep diving vessels (photo diary)
Indians 101: A Cowlitz canoe (museum tour)
Museums 101: A Collection of Boats (Photo Diary)
Schooners, Ketches, and Yawls (Photo Diary)