Steamboats served communities all along the inlet. Among others, these included, on the Key Peninsula, from north to south, Victor, Rock Bay, Vaughn, Dutcher's Cove, Herron and Herron Island, Whiteman Cove, and Taylor Bay. On the west side of inlet, from north to south on the Kitsap Peninsula, the communities included Allyn, Eberhardt Float, Grapeview, and Stretch Island. South of Stretch Island, Pickering Passage separates Hartstine Island from the Kitsap Peninsula. On Case Inlet, on the east side of Hartstine Island, was the small community of Ballow and also Cowans Landing. Vaughn in particular became an important steamboat terminal for the north end of the Key Peninsula. A day when the steamboat was scheduled to arrive was known locally as a "Boat Day." Vaughn was located near a small inlet known as Vaughn Bay which was separated from Case Inlet by a sandbar. Freight and passengers bound for Vaughn had to be lightered over the sandbar as there was insufficient depth of water to allow a steamboat to pass. Later a dock was constructed which resolved the problem. Smaller steamboats also were constructed at Case Inlet ports, E.M. Gill, built at Vaughn in 1895, and Detroit, built at Detroit, in 1889. There was a landing on Stretch Island, called Eckert's Landing, for a winery on the island, which, during Prohibition, became a grape juice factory.
Type of service
Vessels employed on case inlet were generally smaller and engaged in general purpose work, such as the transport of passengers, construction supplies, and groceries. They also did towing work on occasion.
Vessels on the route
Vessels on the route included E.M.GillMaggie Yarro, Orion, Capitol, Clara, the sternwheelerOld Settler, Arrow, Seaside,, White Cap, and Colby. The somewhat larger sternwheeler Tyconda, also ran up to Vaughn, where the shallow draft of the sternwheeler made loading and unloading easier, as the vessel could come close in to the shore. Adam Ervin Cowan, the founder of Cowan's Landing, operated two boats which served Harstine Island, Lavina, named after his wife, and Leota, named after his daughter. Cowans was killed in a boatyard accident in 1918, when the supports under Lavina gave way, and he was crushed by the hull.
Termination of service
In 1924 Ariel made the last steamer run from Tacoma to Allyn, Washington. Local service may have continued longer. It is reported that in 1923, Glen Harriman, using an ex-navy vessel he renamed Loren after his daughter, begin making runs three times weekly from Case Inlet to Olympia, with stops at Allyn, Vaughn, and Hartstine and Squaxinislands.
