The Port of Seattle will celebrate its first centennial on September 5, 2011. It was organized as the first port district in the state of Washington after the passage of the Port District Act on March 14, 1911. Created as an independent governmental entity with the power to levy taxes with voter approval and to issue bonds, the Port of Seattle was the only entity of its type in the United States at that time. Despite the early challenges, the port began to flourish within the first 10 years of its operation. Over the past 100 years, the Port of Seattle has burgeoned into one of the 10 most successful ports in the United States.
The number of vessel calls at the Port of Seattle has increased more than 20 percent since 2001. In 2010, more than 1,244 commercial vessels carrying either cargo or passengers called at the Port of Seattle’s eight terminal facilities. Of those vessels, 787 were container ships, 93 were grain vessels and 141 were barges. Last year, the three busiest of the eight terminal facilities of the Port of Seattle were Terminal 18 with 310 vessel calls, Terminal 5 with 228, and Terminal 46 with 188.