The Daily Struggle: When Seattle Was Made of Mud
A local pedestrian finds himself literally stuck in the muck of Mill Street, illustrating the primitive state of 1885 infrastructure.
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 'business man' got bad and mixed up on Mill Street the other day. He was bedraggled to his hat and cleaner in body, and when he fell down he couldn't get up. The mud was soft and deep, and he floundered about in it. It was with great difficulty a 'law and order' man succeeded in reaching him and pulling him out, or perhaps, to save his life. The fellow was mud all over, every stitch of his outer garments being thickly plastered over, his face, hands, and hair being likewise covered. It was a living illustration of how a little rain will make a man.
“It was a living illustration of how a little rain will make a man.”
Today, Mill Street is known as Yesler Way, the historic heart of Pioneer Square. In 1885, as the city expanded rapidly, the lack of paved infrastructure meant that rainy seasons turned the streets into treacherous, deep pits of mire—a far cry from the modern urban grid that sits on the same ground today.
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