The Fight for a Statehood Canal
Seattle boosters press Congress for infrastructure funding to link Lake Washington to Puget Sound.
Delegate Brents, Mr. Metcalfe of Seattle, and Mr. Kuhn presented arguments before the Committee on Railways and Canals in favor of a bill to aid in the construction of a canal between Lakes Union and Washington and Puget Sound. They submitted telegraphic memorials from the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, the City Council, and the Commissioners of King County, which were received with interest. The committee agreed to report the bill with slight amendments. Your Delegate also made an argument before the Senate Committee on Territories regarding the admission of Washington as a State, which is currently being thoroughly discussed.
“Satisfactory explanations were given of the salient features of the bill and the necessity and importance of the canal as a public highway.”
The infrastructure dreams of 1884 eventually manifested as the Ship Canal, which fundamentally altered the region's geography. Today, the debate over how to fund and manage that same waterway echoes the territorial-era struggle to leverage federal support for local growth.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.