Past and present structures on Elliott Bay in Seattle, Washington, U.S. include: piers, wharves, terminals, etc. mills and industrial buildings, mostly in the 19th and early 20th centuries. trestle bridges, mostly in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Bridges of various types along the Spokane Street corridor
Although the focus is on structures built over water, this list also includes some terminals etc. built on fill. Especially in the early years, it can be difficult to make a distinction between the two. "[O]ne of ... [the] basic practices," writes David B. Williams, "was to drive a double row of pilings out from the shoreline, lay timbers across the tops of the pilings to form piers and wharves, and build out atop the wood. They could then dump material under these structures, undertaking the land-making practice known as wharfing out."Williams 2015, p.48.
It is not possible for a list like this to be complete. In the late 1880s and 1890s, a lack of legal clarity about ownership of lands between the low- and high-tide lines resulted in a massive number of structures on the tideflats, mostly poorly built and short-lived.For example, see image 35 between pages 19 and 20 of (On p. 28 of PDF.) It shows a large number of minor structures—shanties and the like—at the base of the bluff at the foot of Lenora Street. "The craze for salt water," remarked Judge Thomas Burke, had "broken out again with greater violence than before ... [with] lunatics of high and low degree ... like so many cawing crows on the mudflats."quoted in Klingle 2007, p. 54. Even today, there are numerous small, anonymous piers and ruins of piers.
The geography of Elliott Bay has changed considerably in the period since people of European ancestry first settled in the Seattle area in the mid-19th century. In particular, virtually all of the Industrial District and Sodo, as well as all of Harbor Island are built on landfill; also, there have been a series of smaller adjustments to the terrain of the Downtown waterfront, including the construction of the Alaskan Way Seawall.
In general, when listing variants of names we have not listed minor variants such as "Yesler Wharf/Yesler's Wharf".
Before the Great Fire Structures from before the Great Seattle Fire, June 6, 1889.
Besides what is listed below, there is the following from Daily Pacific Tribune, January 15, 1877: "Last year the Seattle Coal Company pushed out a new dock, as also the Seattle Gas and Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad Companies." The Seattle and Walla Walla later became the Columbia and Puget Sound. This suggests either slightly earlier dates for the Columbia and Puget Sound piers than given by other sources, or that they were begun in 1876 and not rapidly completed, or that short-lived piers were quickly replaced; similarly for the coal pier (presumably the one at King Street). Conversely, it suggests a slightly later date than given elsewhere for the "Gas Cove" gas works, although this could have been the addition of a pier to an existing operation. Also, that same 1877 article refers to a pier "for Mr. Isaac Parker, in the rear of his lot on Commercial Street [First Avenue South], and immediately alongside the Craig & Hastings Wharf." That suggests two structures south of Yesler's Wharf, neither mentioned below, at least not by those names. Even if the Parker wharf was never built, the Craig & Hastings Wharf appears to have already existed in January 1877.
West Seattle Name(Alternative names in parentheses) Image Year completed Year destroyed Type Location Notes1(unnamed piers)Seen in this photo of a 1916 landslide.(1889 or earlier) Anderson's new guide map of the city of Seattle and environs, Washington, O.P. Anderson & Co.; published 1890, shows the pre-Fire configuration of the city.after 1916two piers Near present-day Elm Place West, West SeattleWest Seattle Machine Works, visible at upper left of photo shown here, is described in the 1916 Polk's Directory as located "Alki Av[enue], [at the] f[oo]t [of] Maryland Place", which puts it at the present site of Hamilton Viewpoint Park.Polk's Seattle City Directory, 1916. In this general area, a 1910 listing of piers in 1907 lists "King & Wing Shipyard (leased of West Seattle Land and Improvement Company)" and "city docks (partially occupied by Calhoun & Krauss Lumber Company)." ("King & Wing" is certainly a typo, should be "King & Winge".) The 1912 Baist maps show four unnamed piers of various sizes in this area; the second from the north shows a "machine shop" on a pier at the foot of Maryland St.Baist's Real Estate Atlas of Surveys of Seattle, Washington from 1912, Plate 27 (PDF).2West Seattle Ferry Slip1888after 1918ferry slipNear site of today's Seacrest ParkThe West Seattle end of the West Seattle Ferry run. The ferry started running December 24, 1888. In 1907 this was still owned by the West Seattle Land and Improvement Company. A 1918 map by the Port of Seattle Commission indicates this as property of the Port: "Port Commission, W. Seattle Ferry Landing".3Wheat Elevators and WarehousesSeattle Terminal and Railway Elevator Co. circa 1891.by 1891, possibly earlierafter 1950multiple piers West Seattle, extending south from site of present-day restaurant "Salty's on Alki Beach" (which is not on Alki Beach)The 1890 Anderson map says "Wheat Elevators and Warehouses" but gives no specifics; given that it shows rail lines in that area that were definitely not yet built, it is possible that this represented structures that were merely proposed or under construction. An 1891 map shows the extensive Seattle Terminal Railway and Elevator Company facility at this site.Birds-eye-view of Seattle and environs King County, Wash., 1891, Koch, Augustus; Hughes Litho. Co. Salty's is on the site of the Novelty Mill, "a working flour mill from the late 1890s to the mid 1950s." See further discussion of these structures in the section "Since the Great Fire".
Mudflats south of King Street Prior to the Great Seattle Fire, anything south of King Street and west of roughly Eighth Avenue was on mudflats.
Name(Alternative names in parentheses) Image Year completed Year destroyed Type Location Notes1Hemrich & Co's BrewerySanborn Fire Insurance Map from Seattle, King County, Washington, Plate 34 writes "Hewrich" (sic) for "Hemrich"Bay View Brewery1905 Baist's Real Estate Atlas of Surveys of Seattle, Wash, Plate 11 shows this area as completely filled.Pictured in 1901.more images(1888 or earlier)between 1901 and 1905Bottling plant on pilingsWest of Grant Street on east shore of Elliott Bay.Most of the Hemrich/Bay View facility (today's Old Rainier Brewery) was always on solid ground, but planks on pilings extended past the Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad (C. & P.S.R.R.), then across Grant Street, to the bottling plant pier. Grant Street was roughly along the same route as today's Airport Way S., but was a causeway over water: the area had not yet been filled. Between Grant Street and the shore, also on pilings, was the C. & P.S.R.R. By 1905 the area was solid ground.2Palouse Feed Mill Warehousec.1888?Feed mill on pilingsEast of Grant Street, but west of the C. & P.S. R.R. on east shore of Elliott Bay, "about 1 miles south of Mill and Front Sts."Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Seattle, King County, Washington, Plate 34Described as "new" in 1888 3Slaughterhousec.1888?slaughterhouse on pilingsWest of Grant Street on east shore of Elliott Bay, "about 1 miles south of Mill and Front Sts."Described as "being built" in 18884McDonald & Rice's Planing Mill(by 1888)Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Seattle, 1888, :File:Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Seattle, King County, Washington. LOC sanborn09315 002-36.jpg(after 1888)Pier with planing mill at endBetween Judkins and B Streets, extending across C. & P.S. R.R. and Grant Street on east shore of Elliott Bay.The 1888 Sanborn map notes that the mill is "not in operation...building and mach[iner]y becoming impaired...Tatum & Bowen (owners)". The map shows over a dozen structures on a complex of connected piers, with the mill being the farthest from dry land, some from shore.
This is right in the path of today's Interstate 5, with the mill falling roughly along the line of Royal Brougham Way. 5"Gas Cove" gas works1873?gas works with piersouth of Jackson, between Fourth and Fifth AvenuesSeattle's first gas works was built partly on land and partly on a pier extending south from Jackson Street over the salt water that became known as "Gas Cove". Fourth and Fifth Avenues were then known as Fifth and Sixth Avenue, respectively.6Mechanics Wharf 1878 United States Coast Guard Survey Map representing Seattle in 1875, reproduced in part as an illustration between pages 15 and 16 (on p. 21 of PDF). Also relevant discussion on p 45 (64 of PDF).by 1875by 1889south of King Street, foot of what was then Second Street and is now Occidental Avenue South 7Atkin's WharfWilliams 2015, p.71; visible on an 1875 United States Coast Guard Survey Map shown on p.72.by 1875by 1889wharfsouth of King Street on line of Commercial Avenue (later First Avenue South)8 (no known name for the planked area as a whole) by 1884Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Seattle, July 1884; plate 9 1889planked area over mudflatssouth of King Street, east of Stetson & Post MillThe 1884 Sanborn map shows several buildings of the Hall and Paulson Furniture Manufactury on planks extending about a block south from King Street, extending from Second Avenue in the east to the railroad tracks beyond the line of Commercial Street (later First Avenue South) in the west; on the other side of the tracks was the Stetson & Post Mill. The 1888 Sanborn map shows this much expanded. Hall and Paulson has packed in more buildings and has extended south onto another small pier; extensive C. & P.S. R.R. rail infrastructure has been added between Commercial and Second Avenues in the west and Third Avenue in the east. The area extending roughly a block-and-a-half south of King Street includes a railway turntable, a locomotive house, car shop, machine shop, etc.Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Seattle, 1888; plate 9 A distinct rail line on planks continues south several blocks roughly along the line of Second Avenue, where the Oregon Improvement Company Mill is located on another large planked pier. (The 1890 Anderson map does not detail this area.) This either incorporated or replaced Atkin's Wharf.
Central Waterfront Name(Alternative names in parentheses) Image Year completed Year destroyed Type Location Notes1 (no known name for the pier as a whole) Seattle Dry Dock and Ship Building Company, circa 1889; however, this may be a picture of the post-Fire replacement for this dock. Describes this picture as "after the Great Fire". 1888Absent on Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Seattle, 1888, Index & Plate 1; shown on Anderson's new guide map of the city of Seattle and environs, Washington, O.P. Anderson & Co., published 1890 1889 pier Between Plummer and Lane Streets Structures on pier (from land outward): Mechanics Mill Seattle Dry Dock
The east edge of this was Railroad Avenue, running due south from King Street, a block west of Commercial Street (today's First Avenue South), along the line of today's Alaskan Way South. Very little of Plummer Street remains anywhere as of 2019; it is a block south of Charles Street.