The Ghost of Belltown and the Battle for the Ballot
In 1880, as Seattle’s population swelled, the newspaper sparred with shipping reports over the identity of a neighborhood that 'did not exist' and the urgent need for more polling stations.
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.
Nine hundred and seventy-nine votes were cast at the polls in this city yesterday. In 1870, 548 were cast, and in 1878, 644. In a town like Seattle, with a floating population four years much out of proportion to the resident, extraordinary efforts were made to swell the vote, and with wonderful success. The number the present year is not out of the way as far as the town is concerned but would have been much larger had non-residents (citizens of the Territory) not been excluded from the polls. One thing is conclusively proven: that one polling place is not enough in this town. The place is divided into three wards, and for municipal purposes, an election is held in each. Having it otherwise in general elections is wrong. Judging by the past, we have reason to expect a vote of 1200 or 1300 in 1882. It is certainly to be hoped that ere another day of election comes to hand, the city of Seattle will be divided into as many precincts as it contains wards.
The 'Dakota' is reported in the Victoria papers as arriving from the Sound with a big lot of freight, 134 tons of which were from Belltown. This idea of reporting cargo from Belltown is absurd. There is no such place as Belltown. Belltown is as much a part of Seattle as is the University or Yesler’s Hall. Not even an imaginary line justifies the name of Belltown, and its constant use, though a convenience, is a wrong and an injury to Seattle. There is no store of Belltown.
“This idea of reporting cargo from Belltown is absurd. There is no such place as Belltown. Belltown is as much a part of Seattle as is the University or Yesler’s Hall.”
In 1880, the press was defensive about Seattle’s identity and struggling to manage its rapid growth—a precursor to the city’s ongoing, century-long identity crisis. The frustration with 'Belltown' as a separate entity is ironic given that it is now one of the city's most recognizable, dense, and contested urban neighborhoods.
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