SEATTLE — It was America's first seafaring armed service. More than 200 years later, the US Coast Guard continues to enforce maritime laws and protect the nation.
Coast Guard Museum Northwest is located at the US Coast Guard Base Seattle in SoDo.
"Close to 2,000 people stationed here," said museum curator Capt. Gene Davis.
The museum tells the stories of ships and their crews, missions of peacetime and war.
Since he started as a curator here in 1978, Capt. Davis has volunteered more than 50,000 hours to keep the museum running.
"This keeps me alive because I'm doing something I like and enjoy doing," Davis said.
The oldest artifact dates back to 1789. It's a piece of the ill-fated HMS Bounty's wooden rudder, which later passed through the hands of famed explorer Admiral Byrd.
"The rest of it burned," Davis said.
One display recounts the first transatlantic flight in 1918 by a primarily Navy crew.
"The pilot was a Coast Guardsman," Davis said.
One exhibit honors the life of Doug Munro from Cle Elum, the only Coast Guardsman awarded the Medal of Honor. Munro took enemy fire to save the lives of his comrades.
Another exhibit features the old lens from Seattle's Alki Point, one that stood hanging from a post long before a lighthouse was ever built.
Coast Guard Museum Northwest has thousands of stories to tell, and you're invited to come look and listen.
The museum is free and open to the public on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. It's located at 1519 Alaskan Way South in Seattle.
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