Central Dock

Central Dock Information

1) An airplane piloted by Curly Barker once landed on Central Dock.  

2) Harry Bridges, the best-known labor leader on the west coast and the founder of the ILWU, visited Central Dock many times and married a local Marshfield woman, Agnes Brown.

3) The work could be hazardous.  Longtime foreman Earl Radford recalled the day he took control of a Hyster that had cracked through the wooden wharf. “I started her up but she didn’t get far – on land that is. She took a quick trip to the bottom of the bay with me on board. They make a pretty good anchor, you know?  I just rode her down, took a deep breath, and floated to the surface.”

4) “Just to the south of Central Dock, behind a restaurant called the Red Rooster, was a red-light district of floating shanties known as the Cozy Rooms. They had occupants who could stop the loading of a ship altogether.” – Dock foreman Earl Radford, The World, October 1982

Central Dock built a covered area for lumber and mineral export products in 1973. A large wood- chip pile can be seen on the left and the company office building is on the right. [CHM 003.6.9b]
The Yamahime Maru was one of many Asian vessels that took on lumber at Central Dock in the 1980s. [CHM 006.14.287]
Clifford Brunell operated a bulldozer in to extend Central Dock in the 1950s. [Brunell family photo]
Two ships await loading at Central Dock. [Brunell family photo]
The original Central Dock office building. [Brunell family photo]
The original Central Dock office building. [Brunell family photo]