Olympia Insists on a Harbor Line Big Enough for Its Future
After a correspondent misreports local opinion, Olympians say they back Capt. Symons' harbor plan—but want the state to extend a broad waterway all the way to Fourth Street.
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 correspondent of the P.-I. and Oregonian sent out a wrong impression from this city that the citizens of Olympia are dissatisfied with Captain Symons' plan for establishing a waterway in the harbor of Olympia. The people are satisfied with Captain Symons' ideas of a harbor so far as they go. What they want the state harbor line commission to do is to give us a broad harbor line clear up to Fourth street, so that the coming commercial greatness of the head of navigation on the head of Puget Sound may not be circumscribed by a narrow waterway. One of these days we will want deep water wharves on Budd's inlet from Priest's point and opposite as far up as Fourth street.
“What they want the state harbor line commission to do is to give us a broad harbor line clear up to Fourth street, so that the coming commercial greatness of the head of navigation on the head of Puget Sound may not be circumscribed by a narrow waterway.”
Olympia's waterfront has long been treated as the engine of its future, from deep-water wharves to today's shoreline redevelopment and public-access debates. The 1891 demand for a broad harbor line shows how early the city tied its commercial identity to Budd Inlet.
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