Lake Washington steamboats and ferries sternwheeler "Lena C. Gray" was built in Seattle, and operated on Lake Washington most of the time, towing barges. In about 1886, Edward F. Lee established a shipyard on the west side Lake Washington. The Lee yard is believed to have built the following ships that worked Lake Washington and Puget Sound: the small steam scow "Squak", "Laura Maud", "Elfin", "Hattie Hansen" (also known as "Sechelt"), and "Mist". Other early steamboats on the lake were "Kirkland" and "Mary Kraft". G.V. Johnson also built a shipyard on the lake in 1888, and from it launched, among others, the steamers "L.T. Haas",
Lake Washington Ship Canal Ship Canal, otherwise known as the Salmon Bay Waterway, water used to exit Lake Washington via the Black River which flowed from the south end of Lake Washington into the Duwamish River. As early as 1854, there was discussion of building a navigable connection between Lake Washington and Puget Sound for the purpose of transporting logs, milled lumber, and fishing vessels. Thirteen years later, the United States Navy endorsed a canal project, which included a plan for building a naval shipyard on Lake Washington. In 1891 the US Army Corps of Engineers started planning the project. Some preliminary work was