Colman Dock

Colman Dock

Colman Dock viewed from the Columbia Center
Type	ferry terminal, former shipping pier and warehouse
Locale	Seattle, Washington
Owner	Washington State Ferries
Total length	prior dock (1917): 700 ft (213.4 m)
Width	prior dock (1917):115 ft (35.1 m)
Coordinates	47°36′10″N 122°20′19″W / 47.602722°N 122.338512°W / 47.602722; -122.338512Coordinates: 47°36′10″N 122°20′19″W / 47.602722°N 122.338512°W / 47.602722; -122.338512

Colman Dock, also called Pier 52, is an important ferry terminal in Seattle, Washington. The original pier is no longer in existence, but the terminal, now used by the Washington State Ferry system, is still called "Colman Dock".

Originally Colman Dock was located at the foot of Columbia Street, and was immediately to the north of Pier 2. Before 1910, the wharf immediately to the north of Colman dock was used by the West Seattle ferry. In 1910 this wharf was replaced with the Grand Trunk Pacific dock. In 1964 the entire area was used for the much larger ferry terminal dock which exists today.

Pier 52 was historically known as Colman Dock. The original Colman Dock was built by Scottish engineer James Colman in 1882. It burned with most of the rest of the city in the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, but was quickly rebuilt. In 1908, Colman extended the dock to a total length of 705 feet (215 m) and added a domed waiting room and a 72-foot (22 m) clocktower.

Colman also set up a company, the Colman Dock Company, to conduct the dock's business affairs. Following the merger of the La Conner Transportation Company, headed by Joshua Green (1869–1975), with the Puget Sound Navigation Company (PSN), headed by Charles E. Peabody (1857–1926) the Colman Dock Company, and the Colman Dock itself, came under PSN control. In 1910, PSN was approaching monopoly control over the inland steamship routes of western Washington, with the company's most serious challenger being the Kitsap County Transportation Company (KCTC), headed by Kitsap County businessman Warren L. Gazzam (1864–1961). The rivalry between the two companies became almost a personal matter between Green and Gazzam. In 1910, Green, having obtained control of Colman Dock, and engaged in a rate war with KCTC, ordered KCTC not to land its boats at Colman Dock. KCTC then moved several piers north, to the Galbraith, Bacon dock.

Colman Dock was seriously damaged when, on the night of April 25, 1912, the steel-hulled ship Alameda accidentally set its engines "full speed ahead" instead of reversing, and slammed into the dock. The dock tower fell into the bay and the sternwheeler Telegraph was sunk. The clock was salvaged, as was the Telegraph, and the dock was reconstructed with a new tower. No one died in the Alameda accident, but a less dramatic accident the following month proved fatal. On May 19, 1912, a gangplank collapsed as passengers were boarding the Black Ball steamer Flyer. At least 60 people fell into the water. One woman and one child died.