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 routes, two of which included Salmon Bay between Ballard and Seattle. The route chosen was proposed in 1907 and connected two canals, the Fremont Cut between Salmon Bay and Lake Union and the Montlake Cut between Lake Union and Lake Washington, with locks at Salmon Bay. The Lake Washington Ship Canal was completed in 1917.
This drawing of the north canal is comprised of four individual cross sections with measurements for the canal at various points. At the bottom is a detailed drawing of the profile of the entire ship canal, with measurements, elevations, and notations of composition of the earth to be moved for the canal.
Caption information source: "Lake Washington Ship Canal (Seattle)," by David B. Williams, HistoryLink.org Essay 1444, https://www.historylink.org/File/1444.
ID Number: 2019.3.50
Date: Circa 1911
Physical Description: 1 map : b&w ; 24.75 x 10 in.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant.
