Wawona, Dismantled lumber schooner in Seattle, United States

The Wawona was a three-masted wooden schooner built of Douglas fir, 165 feet long with a 35-foot beam and 110-foot masts. Dismantled in 2009, its salvaged wood and steel were reformed into a 65-foot sculpture by John Grade, standing in the Grand Atrium of MOHAI in Seattle.

Launched in 1897, the vessel initially carried lumber between Puget Sound ports and California until 1913, then shifted to cod fishing in the Bering Sea. After serving as a military cargo barge during World War II, the ship was eventually recognized as a significant maritime heritage vessel and preserved.

The name Wawona comes from a Native American term for a tree species, though another source says it refers to an owl. The ship carried a crew of 36 cod fishermen in the Bering Sea, and captain Ralph E. "Matt" Peasley inspired a series of popular novels. The captain's cabin was built especially strong in case lumber broke loose on deck.

The ship no longer exists: it was dismantled in 2009, so there is nothing to board at Lake Union. To see salvaged material, visit the Museum of History & Industry in Seattle, where John Grade's 65-foot Wawona sculpture hangs in the Grand Atrium; the front desk and Compass Cafe bar are also made from its wood.

The 65-foot sculpture by John Grade, made from the ship's salvaged wood, stands in the Grand Atrium of the Museum of History & Industry and extends below the floor and above the roof. Wood from the Wawona also forms the museum's front desk and the bar of the Compass Cafe.