The Perilous Sidewalks of Mill Street
Seattle’s rapid urban expansion in 1878 has left pedestrians navigating ten-foot drops without a single railing in sight.
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.
Attention is called to the dangerous condition of the side-walk on the south side of Mill street, between First and Second streets. That side-walk has lately been raised to a higher grade than the street, in order to accommodate the new buildings built on that street in accordance with the grade as set down by the city surveyor, so that it is at least ten feet higher than the street and adjoining lots; and being totally unsupported by either fence or railing, it is a dangerous trap to pedestrians who are compelled to travel on that thoroughfare in the night. The walk, unless railed in, will give an item in the shape of somebody being injured there, and then somebody will have a bill to pay.
“That side-walk has lately been raised to a higher grade than the street... so that it is at least ten feet higher than the street and adjoining lots; and being totally unsupported by either fence or railing, it is a dangerous trap.”
Early Seattle's 'grade wars,' where streets were raised or leveled to accommodate rapid development, frequently created bizarre and lethal infrastructure. Today's debates over sidewalk safety and accessibility mirror these pioneer-era frustrations with city planning that prioritized private commercial building over public safety.
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