The History of Captain's Nautical Supplies  

The year was 1897, Washington was in its eighth year of statehood, and gold had just been discovered in the Klondike. Being the closest rail-head sea port in the continental United States, Seattle became a boom-town "jumping-off" point for the Alaska Gold Rush.

It was also the year Max Kuner, the son of a German immigrant, came to believe Seattle was an ideal place to establish a business catering to the navigation needs of ships calling on the port. His "Max Kuner Company" opened that year, a few doors down the hall from the U.S. Customs Office, where, in those days, a ship's master had to personally clear his vessel through customs.
 
Soon, the success of Kuner's business enabled him to move into a more spacious location on Columbia Street, where he proudly displayed a shingle that read: "Kuner, Nautical Optician." Additional lettering in the windows announced: "Nautical Instruments, compasses adjusted, chronometer and watch maker." The business also specialized in nautical charts and publications.

Max realized his need to stay close to the waterfront. However, as his reputation and inventory grew, so grew his need for ever larger facilities. His second move placed him at the foot of Marion Street-opposite the Coleman Dock ferry terminal-where it remained for many years.
 
Max Kuner died in the late 1930's and his widow, Anna, carried on the business until her death in 1943. At that time, Tom Williamson, a watchmaker and long-time Kuner employee, took the reigns and operated the business until his death in 1949.

Leonard Shrock Takes the Helm
 
Seattle native and University of Washington graduate, Leonard Shrock, developed a love of the sea early on and was especially interested in the art and science of navigation. For a time, Leonard worked for American Presidents Lines, steaming to Hawaii and various ports in the Orient, and later worked as a Puget Sound ferry captain.
 
Prior to World War II, Leonard had been working for Max Kuner in the capacity of a compass adjuster. With the outset of the war he was selected by the Department of the Navy to assist in establishing a school to teach the art / science of compass adjusting to naval and civilian personnel in New York Harbor.
 
Returning to the West Coast after the war, Shrock-billing himself as "Shrock, Compass Adjuster"- opened his own nautical instrument shop in a small frame building on dock four at the Port of Seattle's Fishermen's Terminal.
 
In October of 1949, Shrock, and Partner, Carl F. Johnson, purchased the Max Kuner Company-then located opposite the ferry terminal at Marion Street and Alaskan Way-from the Williamson family. Then, and for nearly five decades, the company had a store in downtown Seattle and one at Fisherman's Terminal.