The Salt Water Summer of 1878
Before indoor plumbing and private beaches, Seattle's waterfront was the city's shared, chaotic, and joyous summer escape.
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.
Down near the old coal bunkers there is a bathing house which was formerly kept by Mr. Jensen, but is now left without a keeper. In this there are a number of rooms in which persons can go and put on their bathing suits. Quite a number of ladies as well as boys and men may be seen emerging from this house every evening into the salt water which surrounds it, making the air fairly ring with their shouts and laughter. In lieu of a regularly kept sea bath house, this seems to answer very well, and some of our most respected people frequently visit the place and enjoy a bath in the warm salt water.
“quite a number of ladies as well as boys and men may be seen emerging from this house every evening into the salt water which surrounds it, making the air fairly ring with their shouts and laughter.”
While Seattle today struggles with privatization of the waterfront and public access to the Sound, this 1878 clipping reveals an era when the shoreline was an informal, democratic community space. The 'coal bunkers' mention marks a time when the city's industrial edge was also its primary summer playground.
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