The $300,000 Fortress: Seattle’s Federal Building Deal Is Sealed
Congress approves the final appropriation for a massive new federal complex in Seattle, signaling the city's arrival as a major Pacific port and administrative hub.
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 FEDERAL BUILDING AT SEATTLE IS NOW ASSURED
COST $300,000; OTHER SITES FOR OTHER TOWNS
When It Will Be Built Is Not Specifically Stated.
Seattle is to have a federal building in the late 1900s, and Commissioner [Name Redacted] is reported to be responsible for the arrangement.
At first, the bill provided for $500,000, but the House has dropped it to $300,000, leaving available in the event that this large item will not be needed. The bill is now in his hands.
The following details of appropriations for other cities:
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 3 — Monroe [Name Redacted], chairman of the committee on public buildings and grounds, explained the care in which the committee had decided to call upon the federal money upon committees of the whole day. Sixty-one bills passed both houses. Thirty-nine in the final classification five preferred proposals for buildings like post offices, federal courts, customs houses, etc. The other twenty-eight bills carried $1,300,000.
The bills providing for federal buildings were then as follows:
Oakland, Cal. $25,000 Elmira, N.Y. $40,000 Hot Springs, Ark. $75,000 Fitchburg, Mass. $30,000 New Brunswick, N.J. $100,000 Joint, ID $200,000 Brunswick, Ga. $150,000 Cleveland, O. $1,500,000 Topeka, Kan. $100,000 Bismarck, ND $75,000 Dubuque, Iowa $100,000 Wilkes-Barre, Pa. $25,000 Jackson, MI $25,000 Elgin, Ill. $40,000 Minneapolis, Minn. $75,000 State Worn Pass $100,000 Fait Lake, FL $75,000 Seattle, Wash. $300,000 Quilcene, O [Error: likely Quillayute or similar] $25,000 Eaton, Neb. $25,000 New York $250,000 Farewell, Cal Minn $75,000 Kansas City, Kan $100,000 Baltimore $60,000 Louisville, Miss $190,000 Jarrettsburg, N.Y. $25,000 Tampa, Fla $100,000 Aberdeen, ND $15,000 Abilene, KS $15,000 Newport, VT $25,000 East Clair, Wis $25,000 Minifl, Ga $25,000 Columbus, Ga $25,000
(Appropriation for Alaska increased to limit of cost is $1,500,000. New York city's appropriation of $250,000 is for customs house.)
This 1903 approval of a $300,000 federal building (a massive sum then) marks Seattle’s transition from a rough frontier port to a permanent seat of federal power. Today, that legacy continues with the heavy concentration of federal agencies in downtown Seattle, including the FBI field office and federal courthouses, anchoring the city's economy just as this appropriation did over a century ago.
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