When the Taps Ran Dry: Seattle's 1894 Water Famine
City council rations water as Renton Heights residents go without during a dry summer, passing a joint resolution to restrict use and hire an extra inspector.
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.
Next Monday being Labor Day and a legal holiday, the city council last evening held a special meeting to clear away the docket of accumulated work and to be able to meet again within one week from adjournment according to the provisions of the City Charter. Both houses were in session with a bare quorum in each. The main business of the evening was transacted by the board of aldermen, and resulted in an action that will afford relief to the people suffering from a water famine in the Renton district.
The matter of the water famine in the Renton district again came up in the shape of a joint resolution, which, after considerable see-sawing and interlining, finally passed both houses. It reads as follows:
'Whereas, It appears that the residents of that portion of the city which is adjacent to and served with water by the Broadway pumping station, and in particular the residents of Renton Hill, are without water the greater part of the time, and that by reason of the warm weather the people of this district through the lack of water are seriously affected therefrom. Therefore, be it
'Resolved, By the board of aldermen and board of delegates concurring, that the board of public works shall give immediate notice to the residents of that portion of the city served with water by the Broadway pumping station that the residents of the lower district, said district to be defined by the board of public works, and the residents of the upper district, said district to be defined in like manner, shall only use water for other than domestic purposes for three hours each day, the board to designate the time in each day which each district may use water for all purposes, said notice to take effect immediately and to continue during such time as the board may deem necessary. Also, that the superintendent of the water department be granted such discretionary powers in the premises as may be necessary to give the greatest relief to the residents of this district. The superintendent of the water department is hereby authorized to employ one additional inspector during the dry season, at the same compensation as other inspectors are paid.'
The residents of Division Street and Dresel Avenue district, who are also suffering from a lack of water, petitioned for a larger water main, as the present two-inch pipes were inadequate to meet the requirements of the district; tabled.
“the residents of Renton Hill, are without water the greater part of the time, and that by reason of the warm weather the people of this district through the lack of water are seriously affected therefrom.”
Seattle's 1894 water crisis—driven by drought and inadequate infrastructure—echoes today's struggles with water scarcity and aging systems. Then as now, the burden fell hardest on working-class neighborhoods on the city's edges, and officials scrambled to ration a basic necessity.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.