Home » Travel » Washington State » Tugboat Annie and Other Famous Washington Women

Tugboat Annie and Other Famous Washington Women

© Jerri Brooker

If you are from the Pacific Northwest, you may have heard of Foss tugboats. You may have also heard of Tugboat Annie. Those of you who like old movies may remember the Tugboat Annie portrayed in movies by Marie Dressler along with Wallace Beery.

Did you know Foss Maritime Company began in 1889 when Thea Christiansen Foss, the real "Tugboat Annie," bought a rowboat on Tacoma's waterfront with the intention of renting it to make money?

Thea and her family, who emigrated from Norway, lived on an old houseboat in Tacoma waters; she had a fear of water but was used to life afloat. Her husband was gone a lot earning money on construction projects at other places, so in her desire to help with the finances Thea Christiansen Foss bought a rowboat from a passing sailor for $5.00 with the intent to rent it out for supplemental income. She painted her new purchase green and white and resold it to buy more, four boats which she intended to rent to fishermen and duck hunters. The fleet eventually grew to 200 and the rowboat rental business was off and running.

Foss Maritime Company was born of that effort. Soon Thea Foss expanded her business and transported logs on towboats flying her green and white flag, the color she painted her first rowboat, under the name of Foss Launch and Tug Company. Foss Maritime continues in business today. After her death in 1927, Thea Foss Waterway in Tacoma was named in her honor. Her tugs flew their green and white flags at half-mast during one of the largest funeral processions ever seen in Tacoma.

Washington State women like Tugboat Annie have a spirit that goes with the territory. Annie's not Washington State's only famous female. Here's a short list of Washington woman who have also made history in our state:

Mary Perkins was one of the first female doctors in Washington State.

The first woman to climb Mt. Rainier on August 10, 1890, was Fay Fuller.

Mary Richardson Walker was the first white woman to cross the Rocky Mountains in 1833. She settled in Washington.

The first female symphony conductor in the United States was Mary Davenport Engberg. She earned this honor in 1914.

The first Native American Indian novelist was Christal Quintasket, Mourning Dove, of Okanogan .

The Cornish School of Music and Art in Seattle was formed by Nellie Centennial Cornish in 1914.

Kathleen Rockwell, the famed "Klondike Kate," was born in Spokane.

The copyright of the article Tugboat Annie and Other Famous Washington Women in Washington State is owned by . Permission to republish Tugboat Annie and Other Famous Washington Women in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.