In 1917, the opening of the first Ballard Bridge over the Lake Washington Ship Canal connected Ballard's business district to downtown Seattle by way of Fifteenth Avenue West and Elliott Avenue. Wooden trestles supported the two-lane roadway, streetcar tracks and sidewalk for most of the bridge's length. After twenty years of increased vehicular traffic and urban growth, the bridge was no longer safe. In 1940, after over a year of construction, a new concrete and steel bridge without streetcar tracks opened at the same location.
In this 1938 photo, the 1917 Ballard Bridge runs from south (l.) to north (r.) across the center of the image.
Caption on image: 7-3-38. Typed on verso: Ballard Bridge, July 3, 1938. Photographer's Reference Number: 15403 SHS category: Bridges
ID Number: SHS8968
Date: 1938
Physical Description: 1 photographic print mounted on cardboard : b&w ; 7 1/2 x 9 1/2 in.
