The mission of the Foss Waterway Seaport is to celebrate Tacoma's rich maritime heritage — past, present, and future.
Working waterfronts in America are boundaries and intersections as well as destinations. Originally they were places of communion and commerce among settlers and native peoples. They later gave rise to small shops then to mighty industries that extracted natural resources that were refined, milled, and shaped into products that lifted a nation to economic strength. Hustle, bustle, and transformation are the character traits of the working waterfront. Metals are turned into automobiles and ships; forest and fiber products are refashioned into lumber and textiles. Today working waterfronts are places where people meet, exchange ideas, goods, services and cultural mores.
Tacoma's story involves one such working waterfront. And while Tacoma is but one place, its story is echoed in the development of waterfronts worldwide that allow communities to rediscover their heritage and their debt to the shorelines, waterways, bays and inlets, industries and people that gave them birth. The dramatic waterfront story of this city, region and state needs to be illuminated, treasured and told!
The development partners of this project — the Foss Waterway Seaport and the Foss Waterway Development Authority — are dedicated to creating a venue that will continue to bring the downtown waterfront to life as a place for everyone. When fully completed, the Seaport will be the most comprehensive maritime heritage and education center on the US west coast and the only authentic facility in the Pacific Northwest to showcase the region's maritime history in a location where that history actually took place!
