The Blanchard Boat Company was one of the leading yacht builders of Seattle. Founded by N.J. (Norman J.) Blanchard (1885-1954) in 1905, the company built nearly 2,000 boats over its 64-year history, including commercial ships, classic motor cruisers and sailing yachts, some of which are still in use today. Following N.J.'s death in 1954, his son Norman C. Blanchard (1911-2009) took over as head of the yard. Partly due to the growing popularity of fiberglass, the Blanchard shop closed in 1969, as did many of the wooden boat shops in the region.
Prior to founding his own boatyard, N.J. Blanchard formed the Johnson Bros. & Blanchard boatyard with his friends Dean and Lloyd Johnson in the Georgetown neighborhood around 1905. This photograph shows Blanchard with the Johnson brothers and another man at the Johnson Bros. & Blanchard yard.
Written on verso: Left to right: Joe McKay, Dean Johnson, N.J. Blanchard, Lloyd Johnson Johnson Bros & Blanchard Boat shop on Fidalgo Street, Georgetown, near Seattle, ca. 1912
ID Number: 1989.89.470
Date: Circa 1912
Physical Description: 1 photographic print : b&w ; 5 x 7 in.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant. Metadata updated as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State. View the finding aid for this collection at https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv38317
Credit: MOHAI, Blanchard Boat Company Photographs and Other Material, 1989.89.470
