Seattle’s Massive Water Ambitions
The Spring Hill Water Company is betting its future—and the city's growth—on a monumental pipeline from 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.
John Leary, Manager of the Spring Hill Water Company, has just returned from San Francisco where he secured significant new capital. The company’s stock has been raised from $100,000 to $250,000 to fund an aggressive expansion. The company will now draw its water supply from Lake Washington. An engineer named McWilliams will oversee the construction of a station on the west shore of the lake, near the Phinney sawmill. A heavy fifteen-inch iron pipe will extend 100 yards into the lake, drawing water from sixteen feet deep. The system will feature pumps capable of moving 1,500,000 gallons daily to a 5,000,000-gallon reservoir located 315 feet above sea level. This site will serve the city’s population, with a secondary reservoir planned for the Kenton tract to reach residents at higher altitudes. These improvements are intended to meet the needs of a city destined to rival the size of London, providing reliable service for families, docks, mills, and a pressurized hydrant system for fire protection.
“With Lake Washington to draw from, however, they will have a supply sufficient for a city more populous than London.”
This article captures a pivotal moment in Seattle’s infrastructure history as it moved from unreliable local springs to the deep, massive reserves of Lake Washington. Today, the city’s water system remains a point of civic pride, though the scale of the original 'Spring Hill' ambition reflects the 'boom' mentality that defined Seattle's rapid expansion in the late 19th century.
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