Here is a recap of our Float Find, thank you to all who participated! Stay tuned for updates on an upcoming float auction to benefit Harbor History Museum. A very limited number of medallions are available in the Harbor History Museum Mercantile.
The Harbor History Museum has partnered with Hilltop Artists to create a set of unique Shenandoah glass floats. From now until the end of April, just one Shenandoah float will be hidden each week until the Grand Opening of the Maritime Gallery on April 26.
WEEK 1 - Ancich Dock: For many years during the Shenandoah's fishing days, she was moored at Ancich Dock, often alongside Andrew Gilich’s boat St. Mary. From 1967 to 2000, Shenandoah was owned and run by the Tony Janovich family. They primarily fished in the San Juans during the summer and various locations around the Sound in the fall.
WEEK 2 – Location: End of Dorotich Street on Dock: Pasco and Matija Dorotich and their two children, John and Lena, came to Gig Harbor from Port Guchion in British Columbia around 1910. Both had been born in Sumartin, Croatia (then Austria). The family lived in the house at 3400 Harborview until John's death in 1966. Pasco was the first skipper of the Shenandoah, then passed that job on to his son in 1943. Note: Gig Harbor actually had two Dorotich families; the Pasco and Matija (Gilich) family and the Joseph and Caroline (Jerisich) family. Both families had a son named John. Both Johns were boat captains—one of a fishing boat, the other of a ferry. Joseph Dorotich also had roots in Sumartin (St. Martin).
WEEK 3 - County boat ramp: In 2003, Shenandoah was hauled out at the county boat ramp and paraded through town. Even though her mast had been removed, telephone and electrical wires had to be moved in order for her to pass. The boat made her way to the property above Donkey Creek Park then owned by the Historical Society/Museum. It was in this location that Shenandoah was documented for the Historic Architectural and Engineering Record by the National Park Service. Her plans and images can be found online at the Library of Congress.
WEEK 4 - Gig Harbor BoatShop Brick House, with a view of the outside ways: In 1949, Shenandoah had a makeover. She was hauled out on the ways to have her original small cabin rebuilt at the then Glein Boatyard by talented shipwrights Nels Stokke and Hugh Denny. A new deckhouse was a new life, and skipper John Dorotich loved his boat. The deckhouse gave him and his crew a new galley and a place to gather. It gave him a cozy bunk and pilot house with windows that could be opened on warm days and closed against angry weather.
WEEK 5 - Gig Harbor Marina – Formerly Skansie’s Ship Yard: Float #5 was placed overlooking the birthplace of the FV Shenandoah. Constructed here in 1925 under the boat building prowess of Mitchell Skansie and shop foreman Sam Kazulin, the Shenandoah was built for Pasco Dorotich and his son John. Born with fishing in their blood, Pasco skippered the boat until 1943, and John until 1966. Pasco and his wife Matija Gilich Dorotich were originally from the Island of Brac in what is now Croatia.
WEEK 6 - Crescent Creek Park – Among the salmon: Catching and hauling salmon was the Shenandoah’s job. Abundant salmon runs have been central to the success of Gig Harbor’s fishing fleet for generations. This week’s float was hidden amidst the abundant Northwest underwater world of carver Jeff Samudosky’s incredible carving at Crescent Creek Park. It reminds us how important the care of the ocean and management of the fisheries are to the life cycle of the salmon.
Gig Harbor has two salmon creeks; Crescent Creek and the other known as Donkey Creek or North Creek. Shenandoah was built to catch and carry salmon, but every fisherman knows it’s essential for salmon to return to their rivers and creeks to spawn. Without safe and unpolluted spawning grounds, Northwest salmon will disappear forever. The biggest haul Shenandoah ever made in the Janovich years was 8600 Sockeye caught off the shores of San Juan island!
Week 7 - Gilich – Richardson Building: This week’s float was hidden in front of the 1924-25 Gilich-Richardson Building, pride and joy of our little bitty Boom Town! Andria Gilich had a dream to build a hotel, café, and office space, so he partnered with Richardson, and build it they did. The building was bustling with the new Peninsula Hotel, the Peninsula Café where Mrs. Theil served her famous pie, and even baths could be had for a mere 25 cents.
You might be wondering what the Shenandoah connection is. Well, it turns out that Matjia Dorotich’s maiden name was “Gilich” and Andria (Anglified as “Andrew”) Gilich was her half-brother. They both immigrated to Vancouver B.C. in their teens where Andria became a fishing boat skipper at 17. He immigrated to America/Gig Harbor in 1905. Matija married Pasco Dorotich while in Canada, and the couple later followed Andrew to Gig Harbor. Gilich’s fishing boat St. Mary fished with and was often moored next to Shenandoah at the nearby Union Oil dock. Find out more in our new exhibit, “Little Bitty Boom Town: Gig Harbor in the 1920s.”
WEEK 8 – Maritime Pier: In the 1920s, this spot was known as People’s Wharf. Ferries came and went. West Coast Grocery occupied the building we know today as the Tides. The new Washington Egg & Poultry Co-op warehouse was right next door. Here, wives watched for their husbands to return from fishing. Neighbors stopped to chat and shop for groceries. Many families shared a common language, having come from the Dalmatian Coast in what is now Croatia. Pasco and Matija learned early on that they were the second Dorotich Family in Gig Harbor. The first was Joseph and Caroline (Jerisich) Dorotich who had eight children, including a son named John. (Yes, there were TWO John Dorotichs in town, one skippered the Shenandoah, the other was a skipper on the Skansonia ferry). The Shenandoah was moored here, in this general location, in the 1950s-60s (possibly earlier), when it was Union Dock.
