The Ghost Map of 1889: Seattle's Lost Electoral Boundaries
When the city commissioners abruptly sliced Seattle into eight voting precincts, they left thousands of residents in the dark about where—or if—they could vote.
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.
At the August term of county commissioners court, in response to a large petition, the city of Seattle was sub-divided into eight precincts for election purposes. As the boundary lines of these precincts have never been published, a great many voters are not advised as to what precinct they belong. The subjoined description, taken from the commissioners records, show the territory of each of the eight precincts: Precinct No. 1 is bounded on the north by Mill Street (Yesler Avenue), on the east by South Tenth Street, on the south by the city boundary and on the west by Elliott Bay. Precinct No. 2 is bounded on the north by Mill Street (Yesler Avenue), on the east by Lake Washington, on the south by the city boundary and on the west by Elliott Bay. Precinct No. 3 is bounded on the north by Madison Street, on the east by Seventh Street, on the south by Mill Street (Yesler Avenue), and on the west by Elliott Bay. Precinct No. 4 is bounded on the north by Madison Street and city boundary, on the east by Lake Washington on the south by Mill Street and on the west by Seventh Street. Precinct No. 5 is bounded on the north by Stewart Street, on the east by Eighth Street, on the south by Madison Street and on the west by Elliott Bay. Precinct No. 6 is bounded on the north by Lake Union and the city boundary, on the east by Madison Street, on the south by Madison Street and on the west by Eighth, Stewart and Howard streets and Lake Union. Precinct No. 7 is bounded on the north by Depot Street, on the northeast by Stewart Street and on the southwest by Elliott Bay. Precinct No. 8 is bounded on the north by the city boundary and Lake Union, on the east by Lake Union and Howard Street, on the south by Depot Street and on the west by Elliott Bay and the city boundary.
“As the boundary lines of these precincts have never been published, a great many voters are not advised as to what precinct they belong.”
This 1889 administrative scramble over invisible city lines mirrors the ongoing frustration of modern urban redistricting and the confusion surrounding municipal bureaucracy in a rapidly expanding city. Just as residents in 1889 struggled to find their place on a new map, contemporary Seattleites often find their representation and polling locations shifted by strokes of a legislative pen.
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