Thea Foss

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Thea Christiansen Foss (8 June 1858 – 7 June 1927) was the founder of Foss Maritime, the largest tugboat company in the western United States. She was the real-life person on which the fictional character "Tugboat Annie" (originally portrayed on film in 1933 by Marie Dressler) may have been very loosely based.

Biography[edit]

Thea Christiansen was born on June 8, 1858, in the village of Eidsberg, Østfold, Norway.[1] She moved to Oslo when she was 14 where she met her sister's brother-in-law, Andreas Olsen, a ship's carpenter.[1] Olsen immigrated to America to earn money to pay for Thea's passage. She arrived in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1881 where the two were married.[1] They lived in St. Paul for eight years and had four children.[1] Andreas changed his first name to Andrew and their last name to Fossen to distinguish themselves from the many other Olesons in the area.[1] Fossen, meaning waterfall, was later shortened to Foss.[1] Andrew Fossen moved to Tacoma, Washington in 1888, what was then known as Washington Territory.[1] Thea and their children joined him in the spring of 1889, after the birth of their third child.[1]Andrew built a float house on the Tacoma waterfront for the family to settle.[2]

Thea Foss launched the future tugboat firm on the Tacoma waterfront in the summer of 1889. She started the Foss Launch Company, when she began fixing up rowboats to sell.[2] Thea started with one and sold it for $5; then she was able to buy another, and continue to do so. Andrew ended up building rowboats and their home became Foss Boathouse.[2] The business grew, expanding into other areas such as towing, and hauling lumber.[2] The company eventually became the Seattle-based Foss Maritime Company.[3]

Thea Foss died in Tacoma on the day before her 69th birthday.[4]

Legacy[edit]

  • The Thea Foss Waterway, a 1.5-mile (2.4-kilometre) mile inlet in Tacoma's industrial area, and connected to Puget Sound, is named after Foss.[5]
  • USS Amber (PYc-6), which had served as a patrol vessel in World War II, was renamed the Thea Foss after being purchased by Foss Marine Company.
  • The power yacht now known as Mitlite was originally launched in 1933 as the Thea Foss; it appears to have been the only yacht ever built by Foss Tug. During World War II, it was conscripted by the U.S. Navy for use as a Barrage Balloon Tender, J2036.[6]
  • Thea Foss Lodge of the Daughters of Norway was instituted on 29 May 2004. Lodge #45 meets in Chimacum, Washington.[citation needed]
  • Foss Peak, a 6524-foot mountain summit in the Tatoosh Range of Mount Rainier National Park[7]
  • In 1989, Thea Foss was inducted into the Washington State Centennial Hall of Honor.[8]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Mall, Scott (15 March 2022). "FreightWaves Classics/Pioneers: Thea Foss built a thriving business from a single rowboat". FreightWaves. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d Walker, Richard (4 May 2020). "The Remarkable Thea Foss". Northwest Yachting. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  3. ^ HistoryLink.org Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History
  4. ^ History of Foss Maritime Archived 19 June 2007 at archive.today
  5. ^ "History". Foss Maritime Company, LLC. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Mitlite". Classic Yacht Association. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  7. ^ Foss Peak at Peakware.com
  8. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 June 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

Other sources[edit]

External links[edit]

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