A Steamship Picnic on the Sound
A summer excursion by local youth captures the social pulse of Seattle in 1891.
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.
A gallant party chartered the steamer 'City of Seattle' and went to Old Man House on Thursday evening. They arrived at 8 o'clock, taking with them a large basket of lunch. After their arrival at the harbor, all the young men of the party took a dip in the surf, and on the way home, spent an hour in a social way. Among those present were Mr. and Mrs. K. V. Reith, Judge Sturdevant, Miss Bird, Mr. H. Gleason, Miss M. Wood, Mr. T. Harriotte, Miss Paddocks, Mr. J. R. and Miss E. M. Gustin, Miss H. Sefendour, Miss Kincaid, Miss H. Johnson, Miss Adams, Miss G. Lindley, Mr. and Mrs. M. W. H. Moore, Mr. Joe P. Jones, Mr. Mortimer Fryer, and Mr. D. G. Rogers.
“After their arrival at the harbor, all the young men of the party took a dip in the surf, and on the way home, spent an hour in a social way.”
In 1891, the 'Old Man House' site (the ancestral home of Chief Seattle's daughter and the Suquamish tribe) was a popular, if colonial, destination for recreational steamers departing from Seattle's wharves. Today, the site is a state park and historic site reflecting the deep, continuous heritage of the Suquamish people, a sharp contrast to the era's view of it merely as a backdrop for white socialite 'surf' parties.
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