A State Plan to Dig the Lake Washington Canal
Chairman Prosser of the Harbor Line Commission proposes using tide land sale proceeds to finally cut the waterway between Puget Sound and Lake Washington.
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.
Col. W. F. Prosser, chairman of the state harbor line commission, made public today a plan for the construction of the Lake Washington canal that is certain to command wide attention. The method proposed is the construction of the canal by the commission with the funds arising from the sale of tide lands in Seattle harbor. By an act of the last legislature, 75 percent of the proceeds of the sales of lands within the limits of any incorporated city were appropriated for the construction of improvements in aid of commerce and navigation in such harbor. It is argued that the construction of a waterway in the city of Seattle between salt water and the fresh water of Lake Washington is as much a harbor improvement as any work that can be done to aid navigation. The fund arising for use at Seattle from the sale of tide lands will be ample to construct the canal. If the Seattle suits were disposed of, there would appear to be no good reason why the work should not be begun at an early day, and carried to a conclusion without waiting for the tardy and uncertain action of congress.
“The fund arising for use at Seattle from the sale of tide lands will be ample to construct the canal.”
This proposal highlights the century-long quest to physically reshape Seattle's geography for economic dominance. The Lake Washington Ship Canal eventually opened in 1917, forever changing the hydrology of the lake and displacing Indigenous communities who relied on the previous interconnected water systems.
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