Wapama is the last of hundreds of steam schooners working along the Pacific coast.

Shipyards along the Pacific coast more than 200 steam schooners to service the lumber industry. Builders took advantage of plentiful timer to construct this type of vessel long after most builders had shifted to iron and wood construction.

Of those numerous vessels, Steam Schooner Wapama is the last afloat, serving now as a museum ship. She was built by the St. Helens Shipbuilding Co. on Sauvies Island, St. Helens, Oregon.

This project is part of the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) Eric DeLony, Chief, a long-range program to document historically significant engineering and industrial works in the United States. The HAER program is administered by the Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record Division(HABS/HAER) of the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, E. Blaine Cliver, Chief. The project was prepared under the direction of HAER Maritime Program Manager Todd Croteau. The historical report was produced by Marc Porter, and edited by Richard O’Connor and Justine Christianson, HAER historians. Drawings were deliniated by Don Birkholz Sr, Richard K. Anderson Jr. More information can be found in the Library of Congress, HAER survey number CA-67.