Pier 2, Seattle Explained

Pier 2, Seattle
Locale:	Seattle, Washington
Type:	Shipping pier and warehouse
Owner:	Northern Pacific Railway
Length:	7701NaN1
Width:	1201NaN1

Pier 2 in Seattle, Washington (after May 1, 1944, Pier 51) was an important shipping terminal.

Location

Pier 2 was located at the foot of Yesler Way. Pier 2 was immediately to the north of Pier 1 and immediately to the south of Colman Dock.

History

Pier 21 and Pier 1 to its south were built between 1901 and 1904, replacing Yesler's Wharf.^[1] In 1904, Joshua Green's La Conner Trading, by then a subsidiary of the Puget Sound Navigation Company, was operating jointly with businessman H.B. Kennedy as the Navy Yard Route on the Seattle – Bremerton run. Disposing of three vessels, including the Inland Flyer, Athlon, and the sternwheeler Port Orchard, the Navy Yard route ran six sailings a day from Pier 2 to and from Bremerton, Washington.^[2]

In 1917, like Pier 1, Pier 2 was owned by the Northern Pacific Railway, although in the case of Pier 2 it was operated by the Alaska Steamship Company. Pier 2 measured 770by, with of berthing space. Pier 2 had a warehouse measuring 750by, with a cargo capacity of 17,000 tons. Track capacity at Pier 2 was 18 rail cars. Like Pier 1, Pier 2 had adjustable slips. In 1917 Pier 2 had an electric crane, with a capacity 25 tons.^[3]

As with Pier 1/50, Alaska Steamship Company left in the late 1940s. The pier had various uses over the next three decades. Washington State Ferries moored ships there; eventually the pier lost its shed and became mainly a parking lot. In the early 1960s, the restaurant Polynesia was built there.^[4] The pier was also home to Ye Olde Curiosity Shop.,^[5] In 1971, it was owned and/or operated by Seattle Piers, Inc. and, along with Pier 1/50, was the proposed site for a World Trade Center, which was ultimately built elsewhere. The pier was torn down early 1980s to expand the Washington State Ferries terminal at Pier 52 (Colman Dock).

References

• Beaton, Welford, ed. Frank Waterhouse & Company's Pacific Ports: A Commercial Geography (1917) (accessed 06-09-11).
• Newell, Gordon R., ed., H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest, Superior Publishing Co., Seattle, WA (1966)
• State of Washington, Public Utilities Comm'n, Third Annual Report (covering the period from Dec. 1, 1912 to Nov. 30, 1913), Vol. 3, at page 199. (accessed 06-09-11)

47.6017°N -122.3367°W

Notes and References

1. Web site: Context Statement: The Central Waterfront . ((Thomas Street History Services)) . Seattle Department of Neighborhoods . March 15, 2023 . November 2006. Updated January 2007.
2. Newell, ed., H.W. McCurdy Marine History, at 32, 67, 76, 87, 100, 110, 145, 175, 268, and 270.
3. https://books.google.com/books?id=SS8ZAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Port+Angeles%22+Waterhouse&pg=PA24 Beaton, Welford, ed. Frank Waterhouse & Company's Pacific Ports: A Commercial Geography (1917), at pages 27 to 37.
4. Book: Paul Dorpat

   . The Seattle Waterfront: An Illustrated History. Paul Dorpat. Paul Dorpat. 3. 198. 2005. http://www.edge-archive.com/books/SWH/3.pdf. August 2, 2019.

5. Web site: Seattle Harbor Directory. Seattle Municipal Archives. 1971. 2022-10-18. Map also available as .