The historic El Primero, originally a steam yacht, has returned to the Tacoma waterfront. Once the bounty in a high stakes Tacoma poker game, El Primero was built in San Francisco in 1893 -- the first steam yacht built on the west coast and one of the few steam yachts to operate on Puget Sound. The yacht had an auxiliary sail rig, and its steam engine was capable of reaching a top speed of 13.5 knots.

Originally owned by Edward W. Hopkins, heir to the wealth of his uncle Mark Hopkins (for whom the Mark Hopkins Hotel is named), the yacht cost $240,000 to build. At a time when only 15% of San Francisco residents had plumbing, the El Primero had plumbing on board. Hopkins sold the yacht in 1906 to Chester Thorne of Tacoma, and she was based in Puget Sound. Thorne in turn wagered the yacht in a poker game, lost the game, and the yacht went to Sidney Albert “Sam” Perkins. A newspaper publisher, the Perkins Building on A Street in Tacoma is named after him.

El Primero

NEW LIFE FOR A HISTORIC YACHT

El Primero, constructed in 1893 at San Francisco, California, was the first steam yacht built on the west coast of the United State

The magnificent, historic El Primero returns to

The 120 year-old El Primero hosted numerous presidents, including Theodore Roosevelt; Warren G. Harding; Herbert Hoover and William Howard Taft during his visit to the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle.

The presidents and numerous other very important luminaries were hosted aboard the yacht. Pivotal conversations took place aboard regarding the Port of Tacoma, Camp Lewis, Point Defiance, the Stadium Bowl, Mt. Rainier and the Highway to the National Park to name a few.

During World War II, the yacht served as a US Navy patrol vessel and was returned to Perkins in 1947. Following his death eight years later, the yacht was left to Perkins’ heirs and later purchased by Sy Devening of Puget Sound Excursion Lines. It was converted to diesel power, passed through American and Canadian owners, and taken out of service in 2000, where it remained at a dock in Blaine, Washington. In 2010, Seattle engineer and tug boat captain Christian Lint purchased the yacht and brought her back to life.

El Primero in her new moorage at

Johnny’s Seafood in Tacoma

The Pacific Northwest

Donations accepted for the restoration of the El PrimeroBy the Tacoma Historical Society

A 501C(3) non profitPO Box 1866, Tacoma, WA 98401

El Primero in Bremerton, Washington