Magnolia was a wooden-hulled steamship that operated on Puget Sound

Puget Sound

Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...

 from 1907 to 1937.

Career

Magnolia was built at Tacoma in 1907 for the Tacoma and Burton Navigation Company, which intended her to replace Burton

Burton (steamboat)

Burton was a steamboat built in 1905 in Tacoma, Washington and which was in service on Puget Sound until 1924.-Career:Burton was built for the Tacoma and Burton Navigation Company, whose principals had once been partners with the owners of a rival steamer Norwood on runs from Tacoma to points on...

 on the company's routes around Tacoma and Vashon Island

Vashon Island

Vashon is a census-designated place in King County, Washington, United States. It covers an island alternately called Vashon Island or Vashon-Maury Island, the largest island in Puget Sound south of Admiralty Inlet. The population was 10,624 at the 2010 census. At , it is about 60 percent larger...

. The company's chief rival was the Vashon Navigation Company, which ran the steamer Vashon

Vashon (steamboat 1905)

Vashon was a wooden steamboat built in 1905 at Dockton, Washington on Vashon Island. The vessel was active on Puget Sound in the early decades of the 1900s...

, under Captain Chauncey “Chance” Wyman. Once launched, Magnolia, under Capt. Fred Sutter, raced Vashon daily between landings to be the first boat to pick up the business. By 1909, the rate wars had died down, and Magnolia and Vashon were running on different schedules.

Magnolia had been transferred to the route between Seattle and Olympia

Olympia, Washington

Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat of Thurston County. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 46,478 at the 2010 census...

. For a time in 1911, the steamer Nisqually was run on the same route, but when Nisqually was taken off the route and sent to the Columbia River

Columbia River

The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...

, Magnolia became the last steamboat to make the Seattle-Olympia run. As passenger fares fell off, Magnolia was converted to a towboat.