Bringing Fresh Water to a Growing Seattle
Capitalists John Leary, Gatzert, and the Schwabacher brothers race to construct two massive reservoirs to serve a city of 60,000.
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 Spring Hill Water Company now has fifty-two men employed under the direction of Mr. Pierce, pushing forward their water works as rapidly as possible. On the 15th of May, a telegraphic order was sent to the factory at San Francisco for 2,000 feet of 12-inch pipe, 1,000 feet of 10-inch pipe, 1,000 feet of 8-inch pipe, and 10,000 feet of 6-inch pipe. Mr. Gatzert and the Schwabacher Brothers are at the back of this movement, which ensures its success, and men enough will be employed to have an abundance of fresh water for all uses in Seattle by August. A force of men are now at work on the reservoirs, two in number. One will be 36x100 feet in size and 12 feet high, and the other 100x170 feet and 12 feet high. Thanks to the energy of John Leary, Esq., and the capital and enterprise of Mr. Gatzert and the Schwabachers, Seattle will soon have water works capable of supplying a city of 60,000 people.
“Thanks to the energy of John Leary, Esq., and the capital and enterprise of Mr. Gatzert and the Schwabachers, Seattle will soon have water works capable of supplying a city of 60,000 people.”
In 1883, Seattle was betting on a rapid population explosion that would eventually necessitate modern infrastructure. Today, Seattle faces a different kind of infrastructure crunch, balancing the needs of a dense urban core against aging systems and the cost of growth.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.