The Straits Steamship Company was a shipping firm that operated steamships 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 ...

and the

Strait of Juan de Fuca The Strait of Juan de Fuca (officially named Juan de Fuca Strait in Canada) is a body of water about long that is the Salish Sea's outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The international boundary between Canada and the United States runs down the centre ...

Formation

The company was formed on July 1, 1894, by Capt. James Morgan, L. B. Hastings, W.S. Mann, and A.L. Horn.Wright, E.W., ''Lewis & Dryden's Marine history of the Pacific Northwest'', Lewis & Dryden Printing Co., Portland, OR (1995)
at page 278.

Operations

The company operated the steamships ''Willapa'' and ''Garland'' on the route from

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 ...

Neah Bay Neah Bay is a census-designated place (CDP) on the Makah Reservation in Clallam County, Washington, United States. The population was 865 at the 2010 census. It is across the Canada–US border from British Columbia. Originally called "Scarborou ...

, and the ''Evangel'' on the route Seattle –

Port Townsend Port Townsend is a city on the Quimper Peninsula in Jefferson County, Washington, United States. The population was 10,148 at the 2020 United States Census. It is the county seat and only incorporated city of Jefferson County. In addition to ...

–

Port Angeles Port Angeles ( ) is a city and county seat of Clallam County, Washington, United States. With a population of 19,960 as of the 2020 census, it is the largest city in the county. The population was estimated at 20,134 in 2021. The city's har ...

–

Dungeness Dungeness () is a headland on the coast of Kent, England, formed largely of a shingle beach in the form of a cuspate foreland. It shelters a large area of low-lying land, Romney Marsh. Dungeness spans Dungeness Nuclear Power Station, the hamlet ...

–

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. In the first decade of the 1900s the company provided service to Friday Harbor on

San Juan Island San Juan Island is the second-largest and most populous of the San Juan Islands in northwestern Washington (state), Washington, United States. It has a land area of 142.59 km2 (55.053 sq mi) and a population of 6,822 as of the United States ...

.Vouri, ''Friday Harbor'', at page 61. The company also owned the steamship, SS Hong Chuen, which was sunk at the beginning of World War II.

Notes

References

* Newell, Gordon, R., ed. ''H.W. McCurdy Maritime History of the Pacific Northwest'', Superior Publishing 1966. * Vouri, Mike, Vouri, Julia, San Juan Historical Society, ''Friday Harbor'', Arcadia Publishing (1909)
Wright, E.W., ''Lewis & Dryden's Marine history of the Pacific Northwest'', Lewis & Dryden Printing Co., Portland, OR (1995)
Defunct shipping companies based in Washington (state) {{US-shipping-company-stub