The Day the City Council Abandoned Seattle for Cedar Lake
In a bizarre twist of municipal governance, Mayor Curry, Comptroller Parry, and Engineer Thompson fled downtown to inspect water pollution at Frankson’s Cedar Lake, leaving the city’s daily operations in limbo.
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.
LEFT FOR CEDAR LAKE
The City Council, Comptroller Parry and Engineer Thompson left this morning for Cedar Lake. Frankson, secretary of the board of public works, left yesterday afternoon to prepare accommodations. The party will make a tour of the water shed tributary to the lake; the question of the possible pollution will be discussed thoroughly. They will return Saturday.
Judge Moore, of the equity department of the superior court, is confined to his room by an attack of fever. In his absence, Judge Williamson, of Tacoma, will hold court.
It’s hard to imagine today’s mayor and city council abandoning their desks for a weekend inspection trip without a press pool in tow. This 1903 departure highlights how local governance was often less about bureaucratic procedure and more about the personal whims of a few powerful men who could literally walk away from their posts to investigate environmental concerns—or perhaps just escape them.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.