The Great Canal Vision of 1894
Captain Symons reports on the ambitious, multi-million dollar proposal to carve a ship canal through Seattle's south end to connect Puget Sound with Lake Washington.
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.
A project is on foot to construct a canal from the head of the bay, starting near the old brewery, just south of the city boundary, and thence running east to Lake Washington. It is estimated to cost $3,000,000. A corporation is being organized, of which, it is stated, ex-Gov. Ferry will be president. The canal would run through the tide flats and through the hill south of Beacon hill, utilizing the surplus soil to fill in the tide flats. Under state law the company undertaking the work would benefit by the increased value of the tide lands. Capt. Symons, the well-known army engineer, was requested to investigate the project and report upon the feasibility of the plan. He states that the project presents no insurmountable engineering difficulties. If carried through, it must be of enormous advantage to Seattle, create values of great magnitude and richly reward those who originate and carry it through.
“The project as outlined, presents no insurmountable engineering difficulties, and is remarkable chiefly for the magnitude of the interests, areas, elevations and costs of material involved.”
The project described here reflects the early industrial imagination that birthed the Lake Washington Ship Canal and the massive Duwamish Waterway regrades. While the canal was eventually built to the north, the debates over filling the 'unsightly' tide flats for commercial expansion set the stage for the physical geography of modern-day SODO and the industrial waterfront.
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