Originally home to a village of the Duwamish people, the area that became known as Smith Cove was settled by European Americans in the 1850s. Doctor, farmer, and territorial legislator Henry Smith (1830-1915) received a land claim of 160 acres on the deep water cove on the north side of Elliott Bay in 1853. Smith Cove, just south of what later became known as Interbay, would be the home to the shipping docks that served the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway; the Great Northern Railway; the Port of Seattle; and the US Navy from World War II through the Vietnam War.

This photograph from 1931 looks out over the terminals at Smith Cove.

Handwritten on sleeve: Smith Cove Terminals 2-21-31.
Photographer's Reference Number: 137381

Caption information source: "Seattle Neighborhoods: Magnolia — Thumbnail History," by Louis Fiset, HistoryLink.org Essay 3415.