Location: Swantown Marina (currently in dry dock)
National, State and Local Registers, Transportation
Sand Man, 1930s, from Tug Sand Man website |
Sand Man today (2013), photo by Deb Ross
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The tug Sand Man is a beloved emblem of the once-robust maritime industry in Olympia. It was built in 1908 and originally hauled sand and gravel for the Olympia Sand and Gravel Company (link is to listing for its headquarters). In 1925 it was sold to Delta Smyth, who owned a fleet of tugs on the Olympia waterfront (see Smyth Tugs and Barges site near Percival Landing. The photograph at above left shows Sand Man hauling a raft of logs on Budd Inlet. The superstructure in the left background is the Standard Oil yard, and the smokestacks are from the veneer plants in the port area. The tug was purchased and donated to the Sand Man Foundation, which has lovingly restored it and made it available for free public tours. Currently (2024) it is in dry dock at the Swantown Marina for repairs. It is one of the last remaining historic tugboats in lower Puget Sound (see also the Parthia, also at the Swantown Marina). It is on the national, state and local registers.
Additional resources:
Sand Man website (including many historic photographs)
Copyright © 2022 Deborah Ross