Spanning the Black River
As Seattle grew in 1877, the County Commissioners sought to replace a private ferry with a permanent crossing over the now-vanished Black River.
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.
Notice: For proposals to build a bridge across Black River. Auditor's Office, King Co., W. T., November 13, 1877. The Board of County Commissioners of King County, W. T., hereby solicit sealed proposals to build a bridge across Black River at the place now used by Mr. S. H. Foster for his ferry. Plans and specifications giving the general outlines of the bridge to be built by the bidder to accompany his bid, and to be filed with the Auditor on or before the first of February, 1878. The Board reserves the right to reject any or all bids. M. S. Booth, Clerk of Board.
“The Board reserves the right to reject any or all bids.”
The Black River, once a major waterway flowing out of the Duwamish, was famously drained and vanished by 1916 due to the construction of the Lake Washington Ship Canal. This call for a bridge marks an early moment in the massive, often destructive, re-engineering of Seattle's hydrology that continues to influence modern transit and environmental debates.
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