The Battle for the Tide-Flats
A group of enterprising squatters use the cover of darkness to plant cabins on disputed Seattle waterfront land, challenging a prominent businessman's claim.
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 tide-flat jumpers were at work again yesterday; the attempt to jump the claim of ex-Governor Squire, even though abortive, seems to fire other squatters with a desire to own that part of the government domain that is covered with water at every tide. The block bounded by King Street on the north, the Front Street bridge on the east, Weller Street on the west, and the tracks of the Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad, is the prize contested. The block is claimed by Joseph McNaught, who has had it surrounded by a row of capped piles for years.
Nearly a week ago, it came to Mr. McNaught’s ears that his domain was to be invaded, so he set about heading them off by erecting a cabin on the northwest corner of the block. Up to 2 o’clock yesterday morning, no demonstration was made, but at that hour, a gang of about twenty men silently brought in rafts of lumber from the direction of the Mechanics' Mill and moored them to the piles. By 1 o’clock yesterday afternoon, twenty carpenters appeared on the scene and within fifteen minutes had a dozen bents placed upon mudsills inside the piles. In less than two hours, three rough board cabins, 20x24 feet in size, with matched floors, doors and windows, had been put together.
A large crowd of idle men gathered upon the bridge to watch the labors of the carpenters. In this crowd was a man dressed in a light gray suit and white hat who directed the movements of the carpenters. One of the bystanders said it was Charles McConnell. Another man, T.P. McConnell, who ran a confectionery and cigar store at 144 Front Street, volunteered the information that he was interested in the scheme. When approached by a reporter, Charles McConnell said the work was being done for an association of prominent business men of Seattle. 'These men,' said he, 'claim to have as much right to these tide-flats as anyone else, and they have plenty of money to back up their claims. We are prepared for a fight, and will make this a test case.'
“These men claim to have as much right to these tide-flats as anyone else, and they have plenty of money to back up their claims.”
This 1889 account of a 'tide-flat jump' highlights the long-standing volatility of Seattle's waterfront. The struggle over who owns the land beneath the city—and who gets to profit from its development—remains a core tension in Seattle's ongoing debate over housing density and public space.
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