National Historic Landmark · snagboat · Anacortes, Washington

W. T. Preston (snagboat)

American steamship in Anacortes, Washington. Added to the National Register in 1972, and a National Historic Landmark.

National Historic Landmark Listed 1972

Photos via Wikimedia Commons · 6 in the Commons category

What it is

W. T. Preston is a specialized sternwheeler that operated as a snagboat, removing log jams and natural debris that prevented river navigation on several Puget Sound-area rivers. She is now the centerpiece of the Maritime Heritage Center in Anacortes, Washington. She was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989. Built in 1939, she is one of two surviving snagboats built and operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, and the only one on the American west coast.

Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The record

Property type	Structure
Address	Anacortes waterfront, R Ave., at foot of 7th St., Anacortes, WA
County	Skagit County
Listed	Mar 16, 1972
Listed for	Politics and government, Architecture, Maritime history
Level of significance	National
Reference number	72001270
Type of place	snagboat, preserved watercraft
Designations	National Historic Landmark, Seattle Landmark
Contributing resources	1 structure

The nomination form, the document that argues why this place matters, is in the National Archives: Read the nomination ↗

Visiting

Address	Anacortes waterfront, R Ave., at foot of 7th St., Anacortes, WA
Coordinates	48.5162° N, 122.6093° W · Directions ↗
Nearest national park unit	San Juan Island National Historical Park · 21 miles · on Park Atlas
Federal campgrounds nearby	Fort Casey Campground 25 miles

Listing on the Register does not open the door. Unless a museum or park runs it, treat this as private property and see it from the sidewalk.

At a glance

State: Washington
County: Skagit County
Listed: 1972
Type: Structure
Landmark: Yes

Cell signal

Verizon: 5G
AT&T: 4G LTE
T-Mobile: 5G (fast)

Outdoor coverage as modeled by carriers in FCC filings as of 2025-12-31. This product uses FCC APIs and/or Data but is not endorsed or certified by the FCC.

Official links

Sister site

Park Atlas

Every unit of the National Park System, with its fees, hours, alerts and campgrounds.

Open Park Atlas →

This record is built from National Park Service sources, re-read every Saturday, and Wikidata, re-read on the first Saturday of each month. Register Atlas is independent and is not affiliated with any agency, and a listing does not mean a place is open to visitors. How the data is built →

Explore

Drawings & photographs

Snagboat W.T. Preston, 713 R Avenue, Anacortes, Skagit County, WA

Port side elevation showing entire vessel.

3/4 view of port side from the bow looking aft.

3/4 view of starboard side from the bow looking aft.

Detail of boom crane with deck house from starboard side.

Close up detail of boom crane showing blocks and sheaves.

Measured drawings and photographs from the Library of Congress. Public domain. All 6 records ↗

Map

Nearby in Skagit County

All listings in Skagit County →

Fraternal Order of Eagles Hall-Anacortes

Public land around it

San Juan Islands National Monument ↗National Monument, Bureau of Land Management

About a mile away431,571 acres

Wilderness Atlas publishes a centroid and an acreage for each unit, not a boundary line. Distance here is measured to a circle of the same area drawn around that centroid, so treat it as roughly right rather than surveyed.

Guidebooks to historic places and travel in Washington

We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.

Walking Washington's History
Judith M. Bentley, 2016
Find at Bookshop.org
Lonely Planet Washington, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest
2020
Find at Bookshop.org
Motorcycle Touring Washington
Christy Karras and Stephen Zusy, 2017
Find at Bookshop.org

Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.

Reference

Questions people ask

When was W. T. Preston (snagboat) listed on the National Register?

Mar 16, 1972. It is also a National Historic Landmark, the higher of the two designations.

Source: National Park Service

Where is W. T. Preston (snagboat)?

Anacortes waterfront, R Ave., at foot of 7th St., Anacortes, Skagit County, Washington. The nearest national park unit is San Juan Island National Historical Park, 21 miles away.

Source: San Juan Island National Historical Park

Are there historic photographs or drawings of W. T. Preston (snagboat)?

Yes. The Historic American Buildings Survey at the Library of Congress has drawings or photographs of it.

Source: Library of Congress

Where is the nomination form for W. T. Preston (snagboat)?

The National Archives holds the nomination form, the document that made the case for listing.

Source: National Archives

Are there campgrounds near W. T. Preston (snagboat)?

One federal campground is within reach, Fort Casey Campground, 25 miles away.

Source: Campsite Atlas

Is there cell service at W. T. Preston (snagboat)?

FCC coverage maps show Verizon 5G, AT&T 4G LTE, and T-Mobile 5G at the listed point. Coverage indoors and behind old masonry is another matter.

Source: FCC Broadband Map

Sources

Location, type and contributing counts come from the National Park Service's National Register spatial data. Listing dates come from the National Register office's spreadsheet where it carries the listing. Construction date, architect, style, photograph and encyclopedia link come from Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons, matched on reference number 72001270. Nothing here is transcribed by hand. The nomination form and photographs ↗ at NPGallery are the original nomination as filed with the National Park Service, and the form is often the best description of the place. The description under "What it is" is the opening of the Wikipedia article, CC BY-SA. Drawings and photographs are Historic American Buildings Survey records at the Library of Congress, public domain.