The Chaos of Seattle’s Streets
A concerned citizen proposes a rationalized naming system for Seattle’s streets ahead of an expected influx of summer tourists.
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 delay of the city council in settling the matter of street names is making the matter harder to settle, said Mr. H. H. Dearborn last evening. Each week that we put off the change renders the introduction of a new system more difficult. We should be getting ready for visitors and putting up our street signs, for the influx of summer tourists will begin before long. Mr. Dearborn suggests that less confusion would result by terming all streets north of Yesler Avenue, no matter what their direction, avenues, and all south streets, streets. For example, Front Street would be First Avenue, and Commercial Street First Street. In numbering the houses, he suggests that in blocks north of Yesler Avenue we use the numbers 1 to 50, 101 to 150, 201 to 250 and so on; while in the blocks south we use 51 to 100, 151 to 200, 251 to 300. Thus, any possible confusion from having a Third Street and a Third Avenue would be done away with.
“Each week that we put off the change renders the introduction of a new system more difficult.”
Dearborn's frustration with Seattle's 'tangled maze' of street names highlights the city's early, chaotic development. This eventually led to the Great Seattle Fire cleanup and the 1895 street re-naming ordinance that created the grid system we know today.
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