The Great Sewer Standoff of 1889
For twelve months, Seattle leaders have talked, debated, and planned a modern sewerage system—while the city’s backyards and alleys continue to breed disease.
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.
We have been twelve months getting a plan for a sewerage system, and are still practically where we began. In the meantime, the foul city front, the dirty city streets, the dirtier alleys and unnumbered filthy backyards are breeding poison into the air we breathe. Already filth diseases have claimed many victims and before the end of the year there will be more.
“The dirty city streets, the dirtier alleys and unnumbered filthy backyards are breeding poison into the air we breathe.”
In 1889, Seattle was paralyzed by indecision over public health infrastructure, a recurring theme in a city that often struggles to scale its infrastructure to meet its rapid growth. Just as residents then awaited basic sanitation, today’s Seattle debates infrastructure investments in the face of modern housing and health crises.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.