Archives West Finding Aid

A Washington territorial jail was established in 1867 on McNeil Island in southern Puget Sound to replace a small county jail in Steilacoom. A shipbuilding industry was founded at the prison in 1883 by Captain Neil Henley of Steilacoom. The first ship built on McNeil Island was a 36-foot sailboat, and the last boat under this initial program was launched in 1907. The territorial jail was declared a Federal Penitentiary in 1905, and by 1919 the island prison had 250 inmates.

Under the Federal Prisoner Industries Act incorporated in 1934, a variety of industries were instituted on McNeil Island, allowing prisoners to receive job training and earn small wages while providing labor for food production and operations. During World War II, the shipbuilding program was revived. In November 1942, the Q-86 was the first military vessel in the United States built with inmate labor. On June 17, 1943 two 65-foot sister tugboats, T-88 and T-89, were launched with great local fanfare to support the war effort. These were the second and third boats built for the Army Transport Service at McNeil Penitentiary. The prison war effort also included food preservation and cargo net construction. A similar cargo net industry was instituted at the penitentiary in El Reno, Oklahoma, possibly based on the model at McNeil Island.

The 65-foot passenger boat Warden Johnston was launched on McNeil Island in May 1945. The vessel was designed by L.H. Coolidge, a Seattle naval architect. The officials supervising construction were Henri Andersen, V.E. Smith and Evert Soldin. Prisoners were paid 15 cents an hour and selected on the basis of good behavior and the need to send money to their impoverished families. The boat was named for Warden James Johnson of Alcatraz Penitentiary, and was used as convict transportation at Alcatraz Island, California.