Floodwaters Threaten the County Farm
Spring flooding on the Duwamish River forces the county to intervene as a private sawmill's boom logs threaten to divert the current into public land.
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.
The fine warm days of last week, and especially the south winds, have rapidly melted the snow in the foothills drained by the Green, White, and Cedar rivers, and, as a result, the Duwamish river valley is almost wholly under water. A large slice of the county poor farm is in danger of being washed away by the high water in the Duwamish river. Some time ago, the owners of the Allen & Nelson sawmill, below the poor farm and on the same side of the river, drove a row of piles in the bed of the stream opposite the farm to divert logs to their boom. The present high water has brought down a large amount of driftwood which has lodged against these piles, forming a dam that directs the entire current of the river against the poor farm bank. The county commissioners yesterday notified the owners of the mill to immediately remove the obstruction in the stream, piles and all.
“The present high water has brought down a large amount of driftwood which has lodged against these piles and formed a wingdam which directs the entire current of the river against the poor farm bank.”
Long before the Duwamish was straightened and industrialized, the river's seasonal flooding was a constant challenge for farmers and public works. Today, the location of the old County Poor Farm is a reminder of how the geography of Seattle’s southern valleys has been permanently altered to tame the very waters that once defined them.
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