The Industrial Ambition of the Seattle Halibut Trade
How the establishment of a $10,000 curing plant at the foot of Pike Street in 1889 signaled Seattle’s transformation into a massive commercial fishing 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 Puget Sound halibut fishery, which has been in its infancy, is rapidly growing. Messrs. Johnston & Burch, two enterprising citizens, are building a halibut curing establishment at the foot of Pike Street, to cost in the neighborhood of $10,000. A gentleman from Gloucester, who spent 14 years in the most extensive packing houses on the Massachusetts coast, has charge of the work and is overseeing every detail. It is estimated that in five years, 100 schooners and several thousand men will be engaged in the halibut catching and curing business on the Sound, with headquarters in Seattle. The commercial demand for this fine fish is unlimited, and the markets of the world are open to it. The supply, like the demand, is almost unlimited. Halibut are taken at certain seasons of the year in all the waters of Puget Sound, and considerable quantities are shipped fresh to Portland, Oregon, and other interior towns as far east as St. Paul and Chicago.
“It is estimated that in five years, 100 schooners and several thousand men will be engaged in the halibut catching and curing business on the Sound, with headquarters in Seattle.”
In 1889, Seattle was betting its future on the industrialization of the Sound, moving from artisanal local fishing to mass-produced, global-export commodities. Today, that same waterfront remains a contested space between commercial infrastructure and the city’s ongoing struggle to balance rapid development with its maritime legacy.
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