A Railroad and a Tide-Flat Fight: Who Gets to Fill Smith's Cove?
Great Northern objected to a plan by W. F. Hayes and Frank Shay to fill the tide flats between Pike Street and Smith's Cove, setting up a hearing over who controls Seattle's shoreline.
The Great Northern Railroad Company has filed objections with the state land commissioners against the filling in of the tide flats between Pike Street and Smith's Cove by W. F. Hayes and Frank Shay. The railway company has large interests on the shore line and on the tide flats in the territory which Messrs. Hayes and Shay propose to fill in, and it is alleged that its officials think the work will be too expensive at the present time, and it is thought that it can be done much cheaper at a later date. On the other hand, it is alleged that many of the property owners are in favor of filling in the land at the present time, as they think the work and the consequent expenditure of money will be of great benefit. The case will be heard before the land commissioners at Olympia today.
“The railway company has large interests on the shore line and on the tide flats in the territory which Messrs. Hayes and Shay propose to fill in.”
Seattle's shoreline has always been a contest between private capital, public authority and who gets to decide what 'highest use' means. The Smith's Cove tide-flat fight anticipated today's battles over waterfront redevelopment, fill and public access.
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