Where is the Center for Wooden Boats?

The Center for Wooden Boats is at 1010 Valley Street in Seattle, within Lake Union Park on the south end of Lake Union. It also has a workshop and warehouse at the north end of the lake.

Can you rent boats at the Center for Wooden Boats?

Yes. The museum's livery fleet includes daysailers, rowboats and two pedal boats, and its eight Blanchard Junior Knockabouts are used for rentals and teaching. Check the official website for current rental details.

Is the Cama Beach location of the Center for Wooden Boats open?

No. As of October 2024, the Cama Beach State Park site on Camano Island is no longer operating because of park infrastructure issues.

How many boats are in the Center for Wooden Boats collection?

The collection holds more than 170 vessels, most of them small sailboats and rowboats.

Center for Wooden Boats: Lake Union's Small Craft Museum

On the south shore of Lake Union, a museum's collection does more than sit on display: some of its boats still head out onto the water. The Center for Wooden Boats, at 1010 Valley Street inside Lake Union Park, preserves and documents the boating history of the Pacific Northwest. Its more than 170 vessels are meant to be used as well as admired, and the site is an official City of Seattle landmark.

A Museum of Boats Made for the Water

Dick Wagner founded the Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle in the 1970s, and its focus has stayed on small craft ever since. Browse the collection and you will find mostly sailboats and rowboats rather than large ships. That human scale keeps the museum close to the way many people in the region have actually spent their time on the water.

The boats fall into several groups, and the one to know is the livery fleet. Made up of daysailers, rowboats and two pedal boats, these are the vessels that go out on Lake Union instead of staying put on display.

Read the full guide

Sail the Blanchard Junior Knockabout

At the heart of the rental fleet sits the Blanchard Junior Knockabout, a 20-foot sailboat with a strong local story. It was designed and built at the Blanchard Boat Company, which operated right here on Lake Union, and the museum keeps eight of them for both sailing lessons and rentals.

Take one out and you are sailing a lake-built boat back across the very same lake. Before you go, check the official Center for Wooden Boats website for current rental rules, lesson schedules, hours and prices.

Boats in the Historic American Engineering Record

Several vessels here have been documented by the Historic American Engineering Record, a federal program that captures significant engineering works through photographs, measured drawings and written data. Look for these boats on file under the Center for Wooden Boats:

Blanchard Junior Knockabout, Hull No. 7
a Haida dugout canoe
a Salish canoe
the R-Boat Pirate
a Mukilteo boat measuring 19 feet 6 inches
a double-ended Davis boat measuring 14 feet 3 inches

That list shows just how wide the collection reaches, setting Indigenous canoe traditions alongside racing sailboats and working small craft built in the region.

Where to Find the Boats Today

The Center for Wooden Boats has grown well beyond its original waterfront. Over the years it added a second Seattle site, the Northlake Workshop and Warehouse at the north end of Lake Union, while a third location operated at Cama Beach State Park on Camano Island.

As of October 2024, the Cama Beach site is closed because of infrastructure problems at the state park. Head to the South Lake Union campus at Lake Union Park when you plan your visit to see the boats.

A Protected City Landmark

The Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board lists the Center for Wooden Boats as city landmark number 679, designated under ordinance 126575. Explore it alongside the rest of the city's protected places in our guide to all Seattle landmarks.

More Landmarks Steps Away

Few corners of Seattle pack as many designated landmarks into one small area as the south end of Lake Union. Lake Union Park wraps around the museum, and you can reach all of these within about a tenth of a mile:

Naval Reserve Armory, less than a tenth of a mile away
Fireboat Duwamish
Lightship Relief/Swiftsure
Tugboat Arthur Foss
Excursion Boat Virginia V
Ford Assembly Plant
Carroll's Jewelers street clock

With a fireboat, a lightship, a tug and a historic excursion steamer close by, round out your time with the small boats by strolling past much larger working vessels from the region's past.