Although once an industrial center, Dockton today is a primarily residential area, with many commuters taking the ferry to nearby Tacoma.

Dockton, one of the first major settlements on the now-conjoined Vashon and Maury Islands, was an important shipbuilding center in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Puget Sound Dry Dock Company ship yard and drydock there from 1892 to 1909 was the largest on the West Coast of the United States.

These included the propeller steamers Vashon (1905), Verona (1910), Nisqually (later renamed Astorian) and Calista, both built in 1911, Florence J.

[5] Other surviving remnants of Dockton's past are shipyard pilings, old piers and net houses, and the homes of the managers and foremen from the industrial days, known collectively as "Piano Row".