• Visit
    • Museum Accessibility
    • Community Access
    • Group Visits and Tours
    • Programs
      • History Café
      • MOHAI Mercantile Literary Series
      • First Thursday
      • Denny Lecture
      • Al Young Educator of the Year
      • Everyday Heroes
    • MOHAI Mercantile
    • Gourmondo at MOHAI
  • Exhibits
  • Events
  • Collections and Research
    • Collections Search
    • Themed Collections
    • Research Library
    • Image Ordering
    • Donate an Artifact
    • Curator’s Fellowship
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Membership at MOHAI
    • Gift Memberships
    • Corporate Support
  • Education
    • Field Trips
      • Self-Guided School Year Explorations
      • Creating Our Community
      • Cracking the History Code: Salish Stories
      • Cracking the History Code: Settling Around the Sound
      • Hands on History
      • Self-Guided Summer Field Trips
      • Homeschool Group
    • Portable Museum Program
    • Scholarships
    • Education FAQ
    • Primary Source Analysis
    • Online Curricula
    • Teen Programs
    • Idea Lab
    • Discovery Packs
    • Summer Camps
  • About
    • Annual Reports
    • The MOHAI Blog
    • Contact MOHAI
    • Opportunities
    • Leadership
    • Private Events
  • Donate
  • Tickets
  • Membership
HomeCollections and ResearchCollections Search

Collections Search

Explore stories in Northwest history through highlights from MOHAI’s collections. Search by keyword below or browse the entire online collection by entering the asterisk symbol (*). Filter your search by type of materials.

Download lower resolution images directly from an item page. MOHAI offers high-resolution digital reproductions of photographs and other materials from our collections for personal and professional use.

We have many more items in our collections and not everything you see online is on view at the museum. We have additional materials online at the University of Washington’s Digital Collections.

MOHAI Statement on Harmful Content

Search by Collection

Not finding what you are looking for?
Ask the MOHAI Collections Staff

25 results for: City of Seattle, Engineering Department

Share:
Image of Waterway Connecting Puget Sound with Lakes Union and Washington, sheet 10, November 1904
Cartographic material

Waterway Connecting Puget Sound with Lakes Union and Washington, sheet 10, November 1904

Since the city's earliest days, Seattleites proposed canals to cheaply and easily move logs, coal, and other resources between Elliott Bay and Lake Washington. Possible routes extended from the Black River at the south end of Lake Washington to canals through Lake Union and Shilshole Bay in the north. A 1891 report commissioned by the federal government explored five possible…
ID Number:2019.3.11.11
Date:1904
Image of Waterway Connecting Puget Sound with Lakes Union and Washington, sheet 11, circa 1905
Cartographic material

Waterway Connecting Puget Sound with Lakes Union and Washington, sheet 11, circa 1905

Since the city's earliest days, Seattleites proposed canals to cheaply and easily move logs, coal, and other resources between Elliott Bay and Lake Washington. Possible routes extended from the Black River at the south end of Lake Washington to canals through Lake Union and Shilshole Bay in the north. A 1891 report commissioned by the federal government explored five possible…
ID Number:2019.3.11.12
Date:Circa 1905
Image of Condemnation of Lane Street et al Establishing Grades map, Seattle, July 1916
Cartographic material

Condemnation of Lane Street et al Establishing Grades map, Seattle, July 1916

Starting in 1897 and continuing through 1930, the topography of central Seattle was radically altered by a series of regrades. An estimated 50 tons of earth removed from the city's hills were moved into the tide flats and other low areas, and into Elliott Bay.In June 1916, a bill was passed for the condemnation of property for changing and establishing…
ID Number:2019.3.21
Date:1916
Image of Denny Way sewer outfall into Puget Sound, Seattle, May 12, 1913
Photograph

Denny Way sewer outfall into Puget Sound, Seattle, May 12, 1913

Prior to 1890, Seattle relied on a haphazard assortment of sewers and cesspools that, at best, drained into surrounding lakes and salt water. Faced with recurring threats of waterborne diseases including typhoid and cholera, City Engineer Benezette Williams designed the Seattle's first centralized combined sewage system plan in 1891. This plan sought to remove as much city sewage as possible…
ID Number:SHS8888
Date:1913
Image of Alder Street sewer outfall into Lake Washington, June 19, 1917
Photograph

Alder Street sewer outfall into Lake Washington, June 19, 1917

Prior to 1890, Seattle relied on a haphazard assortment of sewers and cesspools that, at best, drained into surrounding lakes and salt water. Faced with recurring threats of waterborne diseases including typhoid and cholera, City Engineer Benezette Williams designed the Seattle's first centralized combined sewage system plan in 1891. This plan sought to remove as much city sewage as possible…
ID Number:SHS8917
Date:1917
Previous 1 2 3

Land Acknowledgement

MOHAI stands on the historic and contemporary lands and shores of the Duwamish, Suquamish, Muckleshoot, and other Coast Salish Nations. We acknowledge the forced displacement of Native Communities from this land while honoring the endurance of the Duwamish people who still live here.
Address: 860 Terry Ave N, Seattle WA, 98109
Phone: 206 324 1126
  • Plan a Visit
  • Directions and Parking
  • Accessibility
  • Group Tours
  • About

Sign up to Receive our Newsletter

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright 2026, Museum of History & Industry. All Rights Reserved