Tunnel vision
July 15, 2009 · Updated 5:22 PM
Three years ago, before the governor got into the act of deciding to fix the viaduct tunnel, I wrote to her to tell her the history of the waterfront. I received an answer back, which I still have, saying she would take it under advisement.
The history of Seattle’s waterfront is this. The bay was close to at least Fourth Avenue. First Avenue was called “Skid Road” as it was planks put together for the loggers to get logs to the sawmill. The sawmill was called “Yesler’s Mill.”
Later, the Yesler and Boren families, along with the Dennys, decided to level some of the hills. Denny’s was the largest, and all of the Denny Hill was dumped into the bay, filling it in where it now is. The project was called the “Denny Regrade.”
First and Second avenues are all fill dirt. By digging a tunnel deep enough for a double-decker, the construction worker will hit water. My statements can be proven by looking at Seattle when the first settlers came. There are countless photos of the bay area.
I am 74, so I have seen a lot of changes to the waterfront.
– McClaire Powers
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