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apollonaut. Built by People Who've Been

Journal / History

History

From the Red Barn to Boeing Field

A wooden building of 1909, bought for a dollar and floated up the Duwamish River.

Wooden aircraft frames and early workshop machines inside the Red Barn, Boeing’s first factory building

Boeing’s first factory

The Red Barn is an all-wooden building of 1909 that became Boeing’s original factory. Today it is part of the Museum of Flight.

Up the river

The museum acquired the barn in 1975 for one dollar from the Port of Seattle, and it was floated about two miles up the Duwamish River to its present site.

A rounded control tower above one of the museum buildings, with cars parked in front

Read next

A British Airways Concorde under the high steel roof of the Aviation PavilionVisitor guide

What to see at
the Museum of Flight

Fighters, trainers and light aircraft on the floor and hanging from the glass roof of the Great GalleryHistory & heritage

The story
of the Museum of Flight

The Apollonaut collection

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