The Great Seattle Main Street Flood of 1886
Heavy rains turn a bustling thoroughfare into a literal river, driving residents from their homes and stalling city business.
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.
Heavy rains in Seattle have caused a destructive flood. The basement of the local hotel is all water, and much of the stock is drowned. The dwelling houses in the neighborhood have been invaded by water to such an extent that the inmates have been driven to the second floors. Main Street is filled with water, and the residents are trying to get to their places of business in boats. All the dwellings in the vicinity are more or less inundated. The city council met, but the conditions are such that city officials fear the damage will be extensive.
“The dwellings in the neighborhood have been invaded by water to such an extent that the inmates have been driven to the second floors.”
While Seattle’s modern downtown waterfront and the regrading projects of the early 20th century transformed the city's topography, the 1886 flooding of Main Street highlights the historic struggle of building on the city's uneven, marshy tidelands. Today’s infrastructure battles over storm drainage and climate-resilient urban design echo these 19th-century anxieties about controlling the elements in a rapidly growing port city.
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