Summer Concerts at the Locks

 

Summer is here and it's time for the Ballard Locks concert season to start. Come on over and enjoy free concerts every weekend through the summer at Seattle's historic Chittenden locks. Bring your lawn chairs or picnic blankets and enjoy the music, watch the boats coming and going and watch the salmon returning. It's all free and is one of Seattle's best, family friendly events. 

 

 

The Crystal S (updated)

 

Researched and written by Tom O'Grady

 

 

While most of the posts on this blog feature aspects of the locks and grounds themselves, or historical events, this post will mark a decided departure from past posts. This is an article where the Ballard Locks are really just part of the backdrop of one of the more dramatic stories we've come across. But the fact that the locks were involved in even the slightest fashion, is all the excuse needed to share a great story.

This is not a drill!

Crystal S crew being rescued by the Bering Sea

The above photo was taken by the cook aboard the Bering Sea as it reached the 5 crew members from the now sunken Crystal S after they had spent the last 3 hours sitting atop their overturned lifeboat after abandoning ship. Although the text accompanying the photograph mentions that they had spent 9 hours adrift, 3 hours seems more accurate, although it might well have been 9 hours until they were landed safely back on shore after the incident.

Before going into what's known of the details of the boat's sinking, let's look into the development of the most crucial piece of equipment which was the primary reason for this story to have had the best of all possible outcomes, given the boat's failure.

David Williams and Jennifer Ott new Waterway book release event at Chittenden Locks

 On May 7 at 6pm Jennifer Ott and David Williams will give a presentation for the release of their revised Waterway book originally released in 2017. Their first release event of the revised edition was held at MOHAI and featured a slide show accompanying their talk, displays, and publications available for purchase and autographs by the authors. 

 

 

 

Here's a link to the event with all the details and which is free to the public.
 

Upcoming presentation at Chittenden Locks. 

 

MOHAI revised Waterway release event.

 

 Some historic photos from the Corps' photo archives.

Early laborers at the construction of the Government Locks

The White Sands drydock being towed through the large lock Oct. 4, 1975

Photo courtesy of MOHAI showing breaching of Montlake cofferdam.

July 4 1917 with USS Roosevelt leading boat parade through the Ship Canal.

David Williams StreetSmart Naturalist website

David Williams and Jennifer Ott new book launch at MOHAI

Book Launch at Mohai March 24, 2026 

 

Local authors David Williams and Jennifer Ott will be giving a presentation at MOHAI on Tuesday March 24, which will accompany their new book launch. Here's a link to the MOHAI post for further information. The event is free with registration by following the link. This is an updated version of their 2017 book, Waterway, which told the story of the construction of the Lake Washington Ship Canal and the Chittenden Locks. A highly detailed story of the project from it's inception in the late 1800's through it's construction, completion in 1916 and was published just before the Centennial Anniversary of it's official dedication on July 4, 1917.

 

Mohai book launch 

 

 

The brochure below was created from historical maps and documents and was included in a time capsule for the Army Corps of Engineers, to be opened in 2075. It uses the same type of records and maps preserved and relating to the construction of the Ship Canal and Chittenden Locks. It gives a flavor of the historical value sure to be present in the author's new release.

 

 

 

The Crystal S

Researched and written by Tom O'Grady

 

Some new information has been received about the story behind the Crystal S and so an updated post is available here. And here's the link for it:

 

Crystal S updated post

 

At some point soonish, this original post will be removed so that hopefully only the most accurate information will be posted on our blog site. 

Visitor Center Juvenile Salmon

 

Salmon smolt tank at Visitor Center

The Visitor Center has a new display for viewing until sometime in May. It is a tank of salmon smolt which will be kept in the tank until they reach a size where they can be released into Lake Washington, eventually to make their way into Puget Sound and parts unknown for the following few years. Here's a good chance to see them and wish them Bon Voyage before they head off.

 

 

March 5 2025

March 21 2025

 

 

 

April 3 2025

April 12 2025

 

Center Gates Removal

Jan 2024 Center Gate progress photo from Greg Shaw

 

 Here's something you might see every 107 years or so. The center gates at the large lock were being removed recently and will be replaced late next year. This will necessarily cause disruptions in the use of the large lock as it will be closed for extended periods of time until the new gates are installed. Here's a link to the Army Corps page with projected dates for the closures.

Large lock closure information 

 

Both gates were removed late in the night so the public missed a great photo opportunity but for several days it was possible to see the work crews preparing for the rarely performed procedure. We know the gates were removed at least once before in 1973, brought to Tacoma for repairs and reinstalled again. Here's a few pics of the process.

 

Crane and barges entering large lock

 

Center gates partially open in preparation for removal

Using torch to burn through wood fender on gate

Axes, chainsaws, torches and crowbars were all used in cutting through the wood before installing the equipment used in lifting the gate from lock. on deck of the large crane was this smaller crane used in bringing the crew close enough to the gate to complete the process.

Here's a small video of a chainsaw in use to cut away a section of the wood fender.

 Chainsaw at work.

 

Photo by Fred Mitchell and published in Seattle Times Oct 18, 2023

 

 

In the meantime, the small lock also needed a little TLC. 

Small lock getting some attention

While all employees were hard at work, there was one who was clearly just phoning it in.

The Center Miter Gates Are Leaving Us

We received the following information today and will copy it from the Chittenden Locks Facebook page. Sounds like a great time and not to be missed. A bit of history is in the making.

The links below will direct you to a site where you can purchase the official tshirt. There doesn't seem to be any other registration information or requirements. If you have any questions, please direct them to Discover Your Northwest who are organizing this event.

(From the Facebook post) ...

Grab your family, friends and your running shoes for a commemorative Great Miter Retire 5K Fun Run at 10 am, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023, at https://www.facebook.com/ChittendenLocks!

 

Our large lock center miter gates are the original gates and have facilitated navigation since 1916.

 

This October, we'll start work to replace them. Improving this 106-year-old navigation infrastructure will help us provide dependable navigation for the next 100+ years.

 

Walk or run along these engineering marvels one last time during this fun run that'll start and end at these gates.

 

Registration is now open. Click  https://www.discovernw.org/great-miter-gate-fun-run.html or scan the QC code, to register or for more info. 

 

All registration funds will go toward supporting new exhibits in our fish ladder viewing room.

Here's our upcoming extended large lock center gate closure schedule: Lock Closure Schedule

Discover Your Northwest