The Unsung Pioneer: A Plank Road to the Beach
While Seattle boomed, a local booster named Michael Kelly set out to connect the rural fringes of the Duwamish Valley to the city, one subscription at a time.
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.
Thinking you might have a desire to know how your neighbors are getting along in these parts, take the present opportunity to say they are all doing well and in good spirits. A large majority of them are putting in hops, though there will be a potato or two raised; also a considerable quantity of grain, and Mr. McNatt is going into the cranberry business. Hogs grow spontaneous along the roadside, and killing dogs are a nuisance. Some of the ladies of White River are circulating a petition in favor of woman's rights, which is not, however, receiving as favorable a patronage as one by Michael Kelly for a plank road along the beach to Seattle. Mike says he has one thousand dollars and has not seen one-third of the parties interested. He is making a very energetic effort to make all contribute liberally to this enterprise.
“Mike says he has one thousand dollars and has not seen one-third of the parties interested. He is making a very energetic effort to make all contribute liberally to this enterprise.”
In 1882, Seattle's growth was literally paved with grassroots effort. Michael Kelly’s struggle to fund a plank road to reach the city echoes today’s ongoing, contentious debates over regional transit funding and the infrastructure required to connect Seattle’s sprawling outskirts to the urban core.
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