The Waterfront Cold War: Seattle’s Battle Over the Tideflats
As railroad companies choked off the tideflats with unpermitted pilings, local manufacturers fought to keep their water access open in a clash between industrial expansion and small business survival.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The pile driving is still going on in the bay, and the anxiety of the owners of business concerns increases in proportion as the gap in the water line grows narrower. 'The railroad company intends to put in a draw here some time,' said Contractor Peter Irving yesterday. 'The people above here are kicking vigorously,' said the Post-Intelligencer man. 'Yes, it certainly seems an injustice to them, as they bought and located there with the understanding that there would be an open waterway. The manufacturers are not the only ones who are kicking,' he continued. 'I met Anderson, of the Land Company, this morning and he doesn't seem to like it a bit. He said it was all wrong.'
When pressed on why the company was replacing a necessary drawbridge with static piles, the contractors admitted it was a rush job to accommodate incoming trains. Daniel Lister, who had been waiting to build his shops at the head of the bay, expressed his frustration over the uncertain water communication. He noted that the government would likely force the company to remove the piles, but for now, the obstruction remained, threatening the livelihoods of those dependent on the bay for shipping their goods.
“The people up there who want the water left open now will have to get in and kick hard, for it is being closed up fast.”
This 1887 dispute over waterfront access and the encroachment of private infrastructure on public waterways echoes today’s conflicts over the privatization of Seattle’s shoreline and the prioritization of heavy industry over small business access. Just as in 1887, the tension between rapid industrial growth and the preservation of navigable space remains a defining, and often contentious, part of the city's identity.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.