Northwest Seaport, Maritime museum at South Lake Union waterfront, Seattle, United States
Northwest Seaport is a maritime museum on the South Lake Union waterfront in Seattle, Washington, where historic wooden vessels and fishing boats are kept moored at the docks. Most of the collection sits directly in the water, so visitors can walk along the pier and see the boats up close.
The museum was founded in 1964 by Seattle residents who wanted to save the last wooden ships from Puget Sound's commercial fishing fleet before they were scrapped. Over the following decades, additional vessels from across the Pacific Northwest joined the collection.
Many of the vessels were restored by volunteers who lived and worked on the water in the Pacific Northwest. That personal connection gives the place a feel quite different from a conventional museum.
The museum sits along the eastern shore of South Lake Union and is easy to reach on foot from nearby neighborhoods. Dry weather makes the outdoor setting much more comfortable to walk around, so checking the forecast before going is a good idea.
One of the most recognized vessels in the collection is the Wawona, a three-masted schooner built in 1897 that once carried cod from Alaska. It is one of the last surviving schooners of its type in the United States.
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