Ballard’s Big Expansion Ambitions
The growing town of Ballard moves to annex territory, aiming to secure land before Seattle can claim it.
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 town council of Ballard last evening passed finally an ordinance calling a special election to be held on March 14, on the extension of the town boundaries. The territory described extends to the Sound on the west and eastward to the boundary of Gilman, and includes all the platted land north of Salmon Bay for some distance beyond the present town limits. It includes a large part of the territory which it was proposed to annex to Seattle.
“It includes a large part of the territory which it was proposed to annex to Seattle.”
This 1891 tug-of-war illustrates the aggressive annexation era that defined Seattle's borders, long before Ballard was formally swallowed by its larger neighbor in 1907. Today, residents still debate the unique identity of Ballard, which remains distinct in the cultural imagination despite being a neighborhood for over a century.
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