Tug Adeline Foss, from the Joe Williamson Photo Collection.
Since the founding of the Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society in 1948, PSM has acquired an extensive photograph collection containing over 150,000 images. The signature collection is that of longtime Seattle waterfront photographer, Joe Williamson. It includes over 50,000 images of sailing, steam, and motor vessels of all sorts that operated on (or even just visited) Puget Sound during the early and middle decades of the twentieth century.
You can explore a portion of our photograph archives online. The main digital archive is accessible by visiting our online collections catalog. Photos are continually being added to that database.
Earlier selections of photos were digitized as part of an IMLS Digital Collections grant, and numerous others were made available for viewing at King County Snapshots.
All of these digitized photographs are protected under copyright laws and may not be used for any purpose without the express written permission of PSM. If you wish to purchase a copy of any photograph, please contact our researchers for assistance.
In addition, researchers should consult the MOHAI library staff regarding important maritime holdings in MOHAI’s own McCurdy and Seattle Waterfront collections. We also recommend checking with the Tacoma Public Library and its special collections, the Whatcom Museum, and the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park Research Center.
S.S. Clallam, from the Joe Williamson Photo Collection.
