The Queen Anne Streetcar Expansion
A new proposal for an electric street railway promises to connect Queen Anne Hill to the army post and Woodland Park, fueling local transit ambitions.
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.
At a special meeting of the city council held last night, William Tupper and E.L. applied to the council for a franchise for a double track electric street railway to begin on Queen Anne hill and run to Ballard. Branch lines will extend to Magnolia Bluff and another one to Woodland Park. The proposed line will start at the intersection of Queen Anne avenue and Highland drive, running thence to Third avenue west, thence north on that avenue to Albin, thence to Hawthorne avenue and north on that avenue to Marvin street. From this point the proposed line follows Fifth avenue east to Vent addition, and thence to A street in Ballard. The provisions also make for a branch line to the army post and Woodland Park to cross the following streets: Third avenue west, Nickerson drive, Thirteenth avenue, Gilman avenue, Thurman, Prospect and Garfield streets. The franchise was, on the motion of Councilman Crawford, referred to the corporation committee.
“The proposed line will start at the intersection of Queen Anne avenue and Highland drive, running thence to Third avenue west.”
This 1899 proposal highlights Seattle's century-long struggle to build effective public transit infrastructure across its challenging topography. Today, the transit debate remains remarkably similar, as the city continues to navigate complex franchise and development negotiations to connect neighborhoods like Queen Anne and Ballard to the rest of the city.
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