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Overview

In 1920, the Union Oil Company of California operated seven Pacific Coast docks where "Motor ships can procure lubricants and bunker oil (Diesel) from the following stations....:" including Seattle, WA, Portland, OR, San Francisco, CA, San Pedro, CA, Balboa, Canal Zone, Honolulu, TH, and Antofagasta, Chile. (See Pacific Ports Manual, 1920, Sixth Annual Edition of Frank Waterhouse and Company's Pacific Ports, [Seattle: Pacific Ports, Incorporated, 1920], p. 346 and Frank Waterhouse and Company's Pacific Ports, Third Edition, Welford Beaton, ed., [Seattle: Pacific Ports, Incorporated, 1917], p. 225-226.) The Union Oil Company had a fueling station on the Seattle waterfront by 1912, at least, as it was depicted on the Baist Map Company's 1912 Real Estate Atlas for Seattle. (See Baist's Real Estate Atlas of Surveys of Seattle, Wash., [Philadelphia: George William Baist, 1912], Map #8.)

Structure History

Originally the Union Oil Dock at Pier 18, the Port of Seattle renumbered this structure in 1944, renaming it Pier 71. (See Daryl C. McClary, HistoryLink.org Essay 9967, "Seattle docks and piers are given new designations on May 1, 1944," posted 11/26/2011, accessed 10/24/2016.)

In 2007, this terminal handled container ship cargo. In 2010, the Port of Seattle contracted with SSA Marine to operate Terminal 18.

Structure Notes

This Union Oil Company complex consisted of a long dock at which ships could be filled with diesel oil or other lubricants connected by pumping equipment and pipes to a field of oil storage tanks. In 1912, about 7 oil storage tanks were depicted in the Baist map. By the 1936, when an aerial photo was taken, the field contained at least 20 tanks of varying sizes.

In 2010, Terminal 18 had 4 berths, 7 container loading cranes, an on-dock intermodal yard, a 30,000-square-foot container equipment maintenance facility and a 97,000-square-foot warehouse.

Demolition

The oil storage tanks and supporting buildings and equipment were razed. The Seattle Art Museum's Olympic Sculpture Park, completed in 2007, has occupied the site of the Union Oil Company storage facility.

An additional 90 acre tract supplemented the size of the original 96 acres. The Port of Seattle spent $300 million on Terminal 18's expansion, completing the project in 2002.

PCAD id: 20721