Washington Improvement Company
Named in 12 stories. Back to all names
- Mar 4, 1883The Bold Plan to Create an Island CityProminent citizens incorporate the Washington Improvement Company to carve a canal linking Lake Washington to Lake Union, promising to reclaim marshland and shift the city's geography.Seattle, WA
- Mar 7, 1883The Dream of a Lake Washington Canal Takes RootProminent businessmen incorporate the Washington Improvement Company to link the lakes, eyeing a future of farm-rich expansion and city growth.Montlake Cut, Seattle, WA
- Jun 27, 1883Digging the Portage CanalA progress report on the ambitious project to connect Lake Washington and Lake Union by a man-made waterway.Seattle, WA
- Nov 25, 1883Who Should Own the Canal That Would Make King County?In a long letter to the editor, a Seattle correspondent takes apart the bill letting King County buy the Washington Canal — and warns that handing the region's only outlet to a private company would 'sell the birthright of the future citizens.'Seattle, WA
- Jul 4, 1884The Dream of a Seattle Ship CanalProposals to link Lake Washington, Lake Union, and the Puget Sound via canals promised to unlock vast timber and coal riches, but the path forward remains a tangled mess of congressional bills and engineering hurdles.Seattle, WA
- Feb 4, 1886Connecting the Lakes: Seattle's 1886 Tunnel ProjectA new industrial contract promises to link Lake Union and Lake Washington, forever altering the local landscape to facilitate the region's burgeoning timber industry.Montlake Cut, Seattle, WA
- Feb 8, 1887Tragedy at the Portage: The Frozen Waters of Lake UnionA young immigrant worker drowns in the icy canal connecting Seattle's lakes, leaving his brother to mourn in a community built on the promise of infrastructure development.Montlake Cut, Seattle, WA
- Nov 11, 1893The Great Drain StruggleFarmers from the Duwamish and Sammamish valleys rally to demand an expanded canal to solve recurring, devastating floods.Lake Washington, Seattle, WA
- Mar 29, 1894Farmers Take Flood Control Into Their Own HandsFacing constant inundation and corporate inaction, local valley farmers plan to bypass the existing canal system.Seattle, WA
- Apr 1, 1894Farmers Take Matters Into Their Own Hands to Escape FloodsTired of waiting for the county to act, valley farmers organize a private committee to drain Lake Washington floodwaters.Seattle, WA
- Jun 5, 1894Seattle Cut Water Rates—Then Claimed the LakeIn one night at City Hall, the council trimmed water bills for every ratepayer and got legal cover to take Lake Washington water, even if it meant digging its own canal past a private company.Seattle, WA
- May 12, 1895Ballard's Tide Flats Belong to the Uplanders, State Board RulesIn a decision touching Shilshole Avenue and the Ballard waterfront, the state land commissioners gave upland owners the preferred right to buy tide lands—and warned cities not to become land speculators.Shilshole Avenue, Seattle, WA