King County Railroads and Valleys Reeling from Historic Flooding
As floodwaters finally begin to recede, residents and rail companies assess the massive destruction left in the wake of the '92 deluge.
Although rain continued to pour down all yesterday and last night, the floods have spent their force and are steadily abating, both north and south of the city. Operation was resumed on the Northern Pacific and Columbia & Puget Sound railroads. The Duwamish and Black rivers are steadily falling. A large gang of men were at work on the big log jam in the Duwamish and succeeded in loosening enough of the debris to remove a great deal of the strain from the piers of the bridge. Farmers in the Duwamish valley have suffered heavily; many of the residents were awakened by the flood invading their houses in the night time, and did not have time to save their furniture. James Hart, of Slaughter, has protested against the Northern Pacific Railroad, claiming their filling of trestles impounded storm water and destroyed county roads, calling them a 'damnable corporation'.
“We look to you commissioners to protect our roads and not to permit any such damnable corporation as the Northern Pacific railroad or any other to spoil our roads.”
The 1892 flood demonstrates the long-standing tension between industrial rail expansion and the natural geography of the Duwamish valley. Similar disputes over flood control, corporate infrastructure, and environmental damage continue to shape local governance in Seattle to this day.
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