The City Moves to Banish Explosives
Seattle officials push for a safer downtown by banning the central storage of dangerous blasting powder.
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The gunpowder magazine will have to go, and to accelerate its removal Commissioner Van Brocklin has prepared an ordinance providing for its abolition. He also has one regulating and restricting the storing of explosives. If it should be passed, dealers in explosives will have to provide their own storage, and may not keep more than fifty pounds all told at any time.
“The gunpowder magazine will have to go.”
In 1893, Seattle was managing the rapid, dangerous growth of a city built on blasting through rock and regrading hills. While the 'gunpowder magazine' is long gone, the city's modern struggle with balancing high-density urban safety requirements against the needs of industry remains a persistent civic tension.
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