Along the quiet shores of Day Island, two brothers once shaped the rhythm of the water. In 1908, Earl and Floyd Willits began crafting cedar canoes by hand—sleek, double-planked vessels that came to define a century of Northwest craftsmanship.
From that humble workshop in Tacoma, the Willits Brothers Canoe Company built nearly a thousand boats over six decades. Their signature 17-foot design—red cedar planking, mahogany gunnels, and white oak stems—became a Northwest icon, celebrated for its beauty, balance, and enduring quality. The brothers never advertised. Their reputation traveled by word of mouth, carried by those who paddled their boats across quiet lakes and wide rivers, showing off their beautiful bespoke canoes.
When the Willits family, historians, and preservationists recently came together to document the factory site, a remarkable effort was made to preserve its legacy. The majority of the collection—canoes, records, photographs, and tools—now resides with the Foss Waterway Seaport Museum, where it continues to tell the story of the Willits brothers and their devotion to craft.
Before the workshop was cleared, several Willits experts carefully reviewed each remaining item. The pieces that were not essential to the museum’s historical narrative—offcuts, patterns, tools, work tables, and other nostalgic remnants of the shop—were entrusted to Second Use Tacoma for salvage. Every single piece was cataloged, tagged, and recorded, preserving the details of its origin and use.
These salvaged materials carry the quiet authenticity of the Willits work, the boards that framed a legacy of patience and precision. Though the canoes now rest in museums and private collections around the world, the spirit of the place remains—alive in the grain of reclaimed wood, ready to be reimagined in new hands. Keeping Tacoma History in Tacoma!
Second Use Tacoma is proud to give these materials a second life—connecting the craftsmanship of the past with the creativity of the present. In every salvaged piece , the story of the Willits brothers continues to float on.
You can find items from this job in stock on our website under Job #925T6073 .
