The Promised Heights of West Seattle
A booster-era description of a neighborhood rising above the clouds, promising a future of wharves, factories, and mountain views.
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 take an exceptional interest in the growth of the coming 'West End' and must run the risk of being called 'gushing' in our praise by some, and 'cheeky' in our talk by others. We have seen this coast from Alaska to the Mexican border. We have seen the Alps and have revelled in the beauties of Lucerne from the lake, we have felt the soft influence of the Mediterranean and delighted in the beauties of the glorious Rhine. But never have we been so impressed with the beauty of the landscape as that viewed from the table land of West Seattle. It is simply unique. Upon the horizon, Mount Rainier points his hoary crest into the very heavens, while in his grandeur, like a very god, his massive front of eternal ice dwarfs into pigmies the surrounding mountains. To the right and left of you, the Cascade and the Olympic ranges form one of the most exquisite mouldings that the mind of man can conceive. Through this property will pass the Seattle electric railway, which will at once be rapidly pushed to completion with a direct line to the ferry slip. On either side will extend wharves and factories and stores.
“We have seen the Alps... but never have we been so impressed with the beauty of the landscape as that viewed from the table land of West Seattle.”
This 1889 promotional copy captures the exact moment West Seattle transitioned from a remote viewpoint to an industrial and residential prospect. While the 'wharves and factories' vision largely gave way to the dense residential growth we see today, the battle over the 'electric railway'—later the West Seattle Bridge and light rail projects—remains the central theme of West Seattle’s civic identity.
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