''Magnolia'' was a wooden-hulled steamship that operated on

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

from 1907 to 1937.

Career

''Magnolia'' was built at Tacoma in 1907 for the Tacoma and Burton Navigation Company, which intended her to replace ''Burton'' on the company's routes around Tacoma and

Vashon Island Vashon is a census-designated place (CDP) in King County, Washington, United States. It covers an island alternately called Vashon Island or Vashon–Maury Island, the largest island in Puget Sound south of Admiralty Inlet. The population was 10,6 ...

. The company's chief rival was the Vashon Navigation Company, which ran the steamer ''Vashon'', under Captain Chauncey "Chance" Wyman. Once launched, ''Magnolia'', under Capt. Fred Sutter, raced ''Vashon'' daily between landings to be the first boat to pick up the business. By 1909, the rate wars had died down, and ''Magnolia'' and ''Vashon'' were running on different schedules.Newell, ''Ships of the Inland Sea'', at 151, 152, 182, and 188. ''Magnolia'' had been transferred to the route between

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

and

Olympia The name Olympia may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games * ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...

. For a time in 1911, the steamer ''Nisqually'' was run on the same route, but when ''Nisqually'' was taken off the route and sent to the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

, ''Magnolia'' became the last steamboat to make the Seattle-Olympia run. As passenger fares fell off, ''Magnolia'' was converted to a towboat.

Notes

References

* Findlay, Jean Cammon and Paterson, Robin, ''Mosquito Fleet of Southern Puget Sound'', (2008) Arcadia Publishing * Newell, Gordon, ''Ships of the Inland Sea'', Binford and Mort, Portland, OR (2nd Ed. 1960) * Newell, Gordon, and Williamson, Joe, ''Pacific Steamboats'', Bonanza Books, New York, NY (1963) {{DEFAULTSORT:Magnolia (Steamboat) Propeller-driven steamboats of Washington (state) 1907 ships Ships built in Tacoma, Washington Steamboats of Washington (state)