On Tacoma’s Thea Foss Waterway, this maritime museum developed from the 1990s Life on the Sound project and became part of the nonprofit Foss Waterway Seaport after earlier incorporation as the Commencement Bay Maritime Association. Housed in the historic Puget Sound Freight Warehouse with the Balfour Dock building at its core, it connects directly to a former cargo wharf that operated for more than seventy years. Its mission centers on Tacoma’s maritime heritage through exhibits on trade, industry, everyday waterfront life, historic boats, and restoration work, along with programs on marine biology, pre-contact maritime culture, recreational boating, and family activities.