Seattle: 1900-1920 -From Boomtown, Through Urban Turbulence ...

14 Part OneCourtesy of Special Collections,University of Washington LibrariesSouth Canal contributions to the tideflats spew fromEugene Semple’s flumes.who promoted a south route throughBeacon Hill, had secured passage ofa bill allowing private companies toconstruct public waterways across stateownedproperty and to charge lienson reclaimed tideland that was sold tofinance the work. Governor McGraw hadblindly signed the bill, not realizing itfavored the Beacon Hill route. Not untilSemple filed plans with the WashingtonState Lands Commission for a competingland scheme did the implications becomeapparent to McGraw.With the blessing of the chamber of commerce, Semple lined up his financialbackers. A mass meeting of four thousand, headed by the mayor, brought in $500,000 insubscriptions. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (P-I) hailed the event as “one of the greatepochs in the history of Seattle.” Work began on 29 July 1895. By May 1896 almost onehundred acres of the tidal flats had been filled, most of it with mud dredged and drainedduring the building of the East Waterway. Sales of the newly created waterfront kept pacewith this earthmoving activity. Burke and the GN, fearing that Semple would succeed ingetting federal funds at the expense of their north canal route, filed an injunction whilechallenging the constitutionality of the 1893 law. For eighteen months Semple’s canalproject was halted while the state supreme court decided the case.Although the law’s constitutionality was upheld, Semple experienced severefinancial difficulties, even losing the backing of his St. Louis nephews Edgar and HenryAmes. (Edgar would later reap immense profits in shipbuilding at Harbor Island duringthe Great War.) Over Burke’s protests Semple reorganized his firm, the Seattle and LakeWashington Waterway Company,and got a four-year extension ofhis contract to fill the tidal flats.Burke, while failing to get a billthrough the legislature terminatingthe south canal project, did getan injunction preventing anyrailroad-owned tideland west ofthe dead end of Hanford Streetfrom being filled in. And whilethe injunction was in effect,Burke and his allies gatheredenough financial support to diga ten-foot-deep channel betweenShilshole and Salmon baysand received approval from thechamber of commerce to lowerCourtesy of Special Collections, University of Washington LibrariesSome of the trestlework used for the distribution of dirt onto thetideflats during the attempts at digging a “south canal” to LakeWashington. A portion of the Rainier Brewery is evident on thefar right.