Exhibits & Boat Shop
The Seaport is a place where stories are told with artifacts gathered on extended loan. Our hands-on activities blend the history of our region's working waterfront with the science of Puget Sound's waterways. Many of our new exhibits will be linked to schools' social studies, history, science and economics curricula and state Essential Learning Achievement Requirements (ELARs).
Balfour Dock Building Exhibit
Our building is the last remaining intact section of a continuous heavy timber frame warehouse that defined Tacoma’s waterfront for almost a century. The Balfour Dock Building Exhibit is a key exhibit in our permanent collection. The 3-section exhibit showcases the history of our building complete with sound effects of wharf and water sounds. To learn more about our building's history, visitors can watch three short videos covering the Northern Pacific Railway construction of the building, the journey of wheat from Central and Eastern Washington and the architecture of the building.
Boats for all Occasions
See our wonderful collection of classic recreational boats in an exhibit called "Boats for all Occasions," which includes original Andrew Foss rowboats; Willits canoes: Faith, our Columbia gillnetter outfitted for youth boater education; hand-built small craft for cruising local waterways, and impeccable models of Tall Ships from the 1700s. Also included are a number of antique outboard motors from the last century.
Discovery Wharf
The Seaport's Discovery Wharf is chock full of innovative activities offering children an opportunity to learn about Tacoma’s waterfront — both above and below the water!
Port Play features a collection of custom–built wooden port toys where children can don a hard hat and set to work loading containers onto a container ship or a flatbed rail car. What fun to then weigh anchor and set sail for a distant port or drive a fully loaded train out of the yard!
Try your hand at knot-typing at our knot-typing table.
Explore our truss system, a key architectural feature in our historic building. Then design and build your very own truss bridge at our new Truss Table.
Learn all jellyfish and sea stars...creature that can be seen off our dock.
Boat Shop
Our active Heritage Wooden Boat Shop will provide space for local artisans and novice boat builders alike to celebrate and preserve traditional maritime construction and craft.
Our boat shop provides:
- "Hot shop" activities for guests to observe
- A showcase for traditional maritime crafts and construction skills
- Workshops by master boat builders
- Copies of historic vessels for the Seaport’s boat livery to be offered as rentals in the future
- Opportunities to learn about restoring and maintaining boats and maritime artifacts
Volunteer opportunities are available for people at all skill levels.
