HISTORY AT A GLANCE

In 1928, the newly organized Tacoma-Oriental Steamship company purchased seven freighters and renamed each of them for a Pacific Northwest town or county. The SS Cuprum was renamed Shelton. The remaining six ships were named after Seattle, Tacoma, Everett, Bellingham, Olympia and Grays Harbor.

Mason County Journal Editor Grant Angle wrote: "The budding City of Shelton ought to feel 'all puffed up' over the nice recognition of its present and prospective part in the shipping affairs of Puget Sound by the acceptance of its name for one of the large Tacoma-Oriental liners. Certainly the honor should be appreciated by our people, who should know that Shelton has been chosen over other and larger cities, and thus given recognition among the largest ports of the Northwest, including Grays Harbor."

On Friday, May 11, 1928, a caravan of 42 cars, carrying nearly 150 Shelton citizens and escorted by two highway patrolmen, traveled to the Sheffer Terminal in Tacoma, to attend a ceremony officially changing the ship's name. According to the May 14 Journal, "The big steamer lay in state alongside the dock with its flags and streamers flying and the name Shelton prominent in the accustomed places, even to the life buoys. The official party and an equal number of Tacoma friends thronged over the vessel and gathered on its foredeck. There, Mrs. Mark E. Reed was handed a handsome bouquet of flowers and the traditional bottle, which contained water from Shelton, and after a brief introduction by John S. Baker, chairman of the board for the steamship company, Mrs. Reed crashed the bottle over the bow while pronouncing, 'I christen thee Shelton.' Following the ceremony, the Sheltonites wandered at will over the vessel and explored its appointments to better appreciate its size and modern machinery, and quarters for officers and crew."

The Shelton, first of the seven vessels to be taken over by the new Tacoma & Oriental Steamship Company, was 402 feet long, 53 feet in beam, with a gross tonnage of 6,602. She had been built at Bay Point, California, in 1920, and had previously been operated by the American Oriental Mail line in cross-Pacific trade.

Following the ceremony on the ship, the Shelton party moved to the Tacoma Hotel, where they were the guests of T&O officials at an informal dinner. Henry Rhodes, director of the T&O and a prominent Tacoma merchant, spoke about the obstacles that had been overcome to reach the goal of naming the company's first ship. He mentioned claims by other interests that the line could not be profitable, adding his hope that with the friendly interest of Shelton and other southwest industry, the line could be a success and a great trade built up in the territory.

Charles R. Lewis, Shelton attorney, then presented to the officers and crew of the Shelton a handsome silver service as a token of the good wishes that would follow the ship in all its travel and serve as a talisman of good luck for business. He referred to the early history of the town of Shelton and its present dignity as a small city, happy in its association with the shipping center of Tacoma and joined in its future.

"Company president Samuel Jackson acknowledged the gift in words of feeling and added that the company had in preparation the gift of a wristwatch to Mrs. Reed for her services."

Mark Reed was called upon to respond on behalf of the town of Shelton to the spirit of the occasion, complimenting the company directors on their untiring work to build a city of industries and expand its power in world trade.

"You have, by your start today, taken a very constructive step toward the development of southwest Washington. I am a firm believer in our state. It is one of the greatest in the union and there is no part of it that has more promise before it than southwest Washington. The Olympic Peninsula has barely been scratched. More lumber has passed through Shelton than any other place in the state. Shelton will always be a producing center of this state."

Mr. Reed also made reference to extension of the Peninsular Railroad into the Olympic Mountains, and the encouraging signs of both copper and magnesite ore deposits, "said to be the largest known and due in good time for development and through Shelton to become a great feeder of raw material for Tacoma shipping."

He also expressed the good feeling between the two communities and the pleasure of Shelton at being recognized as one of the state's coming industrial centers.

After the dinner, the Shelton visitors scattered, either for home or for business in the city, a few taking in shows. "The roundup next day found none missing and no accidents happened that day except that Mrs. Mary Cyphert sprained an ankle and was sent to a hospital for treatment. Thus ended a great day for Shelton."

■ Jan Parker is a researcher for the Mason County Historical Museum. She can be reached at [email protected]. Membership in the Mason County Historical Society is $25 per year. For a limited time, new members will receive a free copy of the book "Shelton, the First Century Plus Ten."