The Ballard (aka Hiram M. Chittenden) Locks turned 100 years old on July 4th. To celebrate a century of making our waterways more accessible to boat traffic, what better than a boat parade?
Tomorrow, Sunday, July 9th, find a spot along the Ship Canal to watch the parade of boats. The parade starts at 10am and runs until 2pm. Here’s the route for the parade:
And, so you’re in the know, here are some Locks facts, from the Ballard Locks website:
– 100 years ago, The Locks and Ship Canal were built by Seattle and the Corps of Engineers as a commercial navigation route to develop the City of Seattle.
– Today the Ballard Locks are the Nation’s busiest with over 40,000 vessels/yr.
– Boats ‘lock thru’ 24 hours/day, except during maintenance.
– A significant salmon migration passes through the Locks that can total over 100,000 salmon.
– The Locks are a Seattle Icon, National Historic Site and a top tourist site attracting over 1.3 million visitors/yr.
– The Grounds are open from 7:00am to 9:00pm, 365 days a year.