The Port of Seattle commission was created by election on September 5, 1911, voted in by a wide margin. One week later on September 12, 1911, the new commissioners met for the first time and began planning and developing Seattle's first public harbor facilities, and later, a container terminal, the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and may other facilities that continue operating out of Seattle.

This map, from May 1915, chiefly shows railroad and dock connections and was created by J.R. West, Civil Engineer. Elliott Bay's soundings are also marked in fathoms. A table at right lists "Existing Wharves and Docks" by company name and frontage in linear feet.

Full title on map: Port of Seattle General Map Seattle Harbor Showing Docks and Railway Connections, May 1915, J.R. West, Civil Engineer