Tragic Discovery at Wall Street Mill
The body of a local sawyer who vanished days earlier is recovered from the bay, confirming fears of an industrial accident.
The body of Oscar Nelson, a sawyer employed in Green Erich's mill at the foot of Wall Street who disappeared last Friday, was found in the bay yesterday. Nelson, who was about 25 years old, had been missing since last Friday and it was supposed he had slipped and fallen from the mill wharf into the harbor. This theory has been verified by the recovery of his remains. The body was taken to the morgue.
“It was supposed he had slipped and fallen from the mill wharf into the harbor.”
The waterfront of 1894 was a perilous place for mill workers, defined by the constant risk of falling into the harbor or industrial machinery. Today, this stretch of the waterfront has been transformed from an industrial hub into a public space, yet the inherent danger of working on the edge of the deep water remains a historical constant for Seattle's maritime labor.
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