Case Inlet steamboats
| Locale | south Puget Sound |
|---|---|
| Waterway | Case Inlet |
| Began operation | 1870s |
| Ended operation | 1924 |
Case Inlet steamboats served the small communities along the shore of Case Inlet in southern Puget Sound from the 1870s to 1924.
Case Inlet runs in northerly direction from the Nisqually Reach and divides the Key Peninsula on the east side of the inlet from Hartstine Island and the Kitsap Peninsula on the west side of the inlet.
Steamboats served communities all along the inlet. Among others, these included, on the Key Peninsula, from north to south, Victor, Rock Bay, Vaughn, Dutcher's Cove, Herron and Herron Island, Whiteman Cove, and Taylor Bay.
On the west side of inlet, from north to south on the Kitsap Peninsula, the communities included Allyn, Eberhardt Float, Grapeview (Detroit), and Stretch Island. South of Stretch Island, Pickering Passage separates Hartstine Island from the Kitsap Peninsula. On Case Inlet, on the east side of Hartstine Island, was the small community of Ballow and also Cowans Landing.
Vaughn in particular became an important steamboat terminal for the north end of the Key Peninsula. A day when the steamboat was scheduled to arrive was known locally as a “Boat Day.” Vaughn was located near a small inlet known as Vaughn Bay which was separated from Case Inlet by a sandbar. Freight and passengers bound for Vaughn had to be lightered over the sandbar as there was insufficient depth of water to allow a steamboat to pass. Later a dock was constructed which resolved the problem.
Smaller steamboats also were constructed at Case Inlet ports, E.M. Gill, built at Vaughn in 1895, and Detroit (81 ft or 24.7 m, 97 gross tons), built at Detroit (now Grapeview), in 1889.
There was a landing on Stretch Island, called Eckert's Landing, for a winery on the island, which, during Prohibition, became a grape juice factory.
...
Wikipedia