The Privatization of Seattle's Waterfront
The Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad declares exclusive ownership over tide lands south of King Street, locking the public out of the harbor.
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.
Whereas, by deed bearing date August 19, 1875, executed in pursuance of an ordinance approved August 18, 1873, the city of Seattle conveyed to the Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad and Transportation Company, all the tide lands south of King street, in said city of Seattle, in, along, around and about Elliott Bay, from extreme high to extreme low tide and deep water; and, Whereas, the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Washington, by an Act approved 1875 ratified and confirmed said grant and conveyance upon certain conditions, which have been fully performed by said Company; and, Whereas, said Act of the Legislative Assembly vested the title of said lands in said Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad and Transportation Company, in fee simple; and, Whereas, the United States has acquiesced in said grant and conveyance, and Whereas, the said Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad and Transportation Company has transferred and conveyed all of said lands to the Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad Company, Now, therefore the said Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad Company hereby gives notice that it claims the exclusive right to occupy said lands and to erect wharves and other structures thereon, and that all persons are hereby notified to refrain from occupying or entering upon any of said lands without the consent, in writing, of said Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad Company.
“All persons are hereby notified to refrain from occupying or entering upon any of said lands without the consent, in writing.”
This notice marks the early consolidation of Seattle's shoreline into private industrial hands, a move that fundamentally dictated the city's growth pattern. Today, Seattle is still grappling with the legacy of that era's land-use decisions, as it struggles to reclaim and open once-exclusive industrial waterfronts to the public.
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