Tidal mudflats once extended all the way to the foot of Seattle's Beacon Hill. Roads and railroad tracks were built over the flats on wooden trestles. Developers bought these tidelands and filled it in for sawmills, shipyards, flour mills, and other waterfront industries.

This photo by Anders Wilse, probably taken in 1898, shows what much of Seattle's waterfront looked like before the tidal flats were filled in. The Centennial Flour Mill is the large white building at the distant left. The Moran Brothers' shipyard is just to its right. In the center of the photo, you may be able to make out a row of sternwheelers being built for the gold rush.

Original copy negative
Original photograph: Wilse, Anders B., 1898?.
Copied after 1902 by Webster & Stevens
Description in handwritten inventory: From Beacon Hill
Webster & Stevens number: 380x