Title Info: Survey of the Pacific Northwest for Essential Flag Services on Ocean Trade Routes, 1938

The Port of Seattle was established as the first public port district in Washington State by the voters in King County in 1911. Since its inception the Port has developed and operated marina, shipping and warehouse facilities on Elliott Bay, Salmon Bay, Shilshole Bay and the Duwamish Waterway. The Port also owns and operates Seattle-Tacoma (Sea-Tac) International Airport, which officially opened in 1947. Collections from the Port of Seattle include boxed paper files, maps, architectural drawings, photographs, motion picture film, audio and video recordings.

Under the direction of its governing commission the Port of Seattle worked with the Washington State Planning Commission and the University of Washington to produce a “Compilation of Significant Facts Relative to the Development of Essential American Flag Merchant Marine Services in Puget Sound and Other Ports in the State of Washington” that was presented at a hearing conducted by the Federal Maritime Commission in Seattle in February of 1938.

This survey identifies a number concerns held by the Seattle Port Commission, and Puget Sound shipping and trading companies about the low proportion registered American merchant ships carrying cargo to and from Pacific Northwest ports, protection of trade routes, the security of Port facilities and their capacity for moving goods during wars and other national emergencies. These concerns were based on the Seattle Port Commission’s apprehension of the looming military conflict across the Pacific Ocean.

The survey also includes an argument for basing a United State Merchant Marine fleet at Puget Sound, and information on the region’s climate, population trends, natural resources, industrial production, the flow of exports and imports through the Port of Seattle and other Puget Sound ports, port facilities, railroads, shipping lines, highways, ship building and national defense; a snapshot the Pacific Northwest economy in the late 1930s. The survey is enriched by statistics, charts, maps, photographs, tables and letters from businesses and trade associations.

The survey is comprised of 364 pages, broken down into seven segments, including an introduction and index, Part I – ECONOMIC JUSTIFICATION FOR MERCHANT MARINE, PART II – COMMERCE TRIBUTARY TO THE PUGET SOUND AREA (Export and Import Statistics), PART III – TRANSPORTATION, DISTRIBUTION AND HARBOR FACILITIES, PART IV – SHIPBUILDING, PART V – NATIONAL DEFENSE, PAET VI – MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS FROM BUSINESSES AND TRADE ASSOCIATIONS.

The Survey of the Pacific Northwest for Essential Flag Services on Ocean Trade Routes has been transferred to the collections of the Puget Sound Branch Archives by the Port of Seattle.