Waterlines

Discover and Explore Seattle's Past Landscapes

Maps & Images

  1. Intro

    Map/Image Credit
    The Waterlines Project Map
    Production by Amir Sheikh in collaboration with Brian Collins, Don Fels, Peter Lape, Joyce LeCompte, Coll Thrush, Cynthia Updegrave, and David Williams. Additional contributions and reviews provided by Brian Atwater, Brian Boram, Steve Denton, Jolene Hass, Warren King George, Lorraine McConaghy, Jess Milhausen, Megon Noble, Laura Phillips, Aaron Raymond, and Ken Yokum. Map designed by Michael Lewis and Jordan Monez of About Nature.

    This project was supported, in part, by an award from 4Culture.
    Bird's eye view of the city of Seattle, Puget Sound, Washington Territory, 1878.
    A.L. Bancroft & Co., lithographers
    Drawn by E.S. Glover
    Library of Congress Geography and Map Division, Washington, D.C.
  2. Puget Sound

    Map/Image Credit
    20,000 Years in Puget Sound
    From glaciers to volcanoes to earthquakes, witness the processes that have shaped the Puget Sound landscape. (YouTube)
    Production by Amir Sheikh. Model developed by Ralph Haugerud with assistance from Harvey Greenberg. Edit and titles by Britta Johnson. Content assistance by Brian Atwater. Courtesy of WSDOT. Created for Milepost 31.
    Pacific Northwest and the "Missoula Floods"
    Topinka, USGS/Cascades Volcano Observatory, 2002;
    Modified from: Waitt, 1985
    Mt. St. Helens, 1982 Eruption
    Photograph taken on March 21, 1982, by Tom Casadevall
    USGS
    Osceola Mudflow, Mt. Rainier, Washington
    Animation by Jose Vigil
    USGS
    Seattle Fault Earthquake, Seattle Inundation
    Animation courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Center for Tsunami Research
    Earthquake Damage Pictures: Capitol Lake, Olympia
    From the Nisqually Earthquake Information Clearinghouse
    Photo by Steve Kramer
    2001
    West Point Sewage Treatment Plant
    Photo courtesy of King County
    Labrets from the West Point site
    Photo courtesy of King County
    Button style steatite labret, Burke Museum cat.# B1-1277.01
    T-shaped stone labret, Burke Museum cat.# B2-1161.02
  3. Duwamish River

    Map/Image Credit
    The Duwamish Valley/South Seattle mid-1800s & today
    Detail of The Waterlines Project Map
    The Transformation of the Duwamish Estuary
    Historical data from USCGS Topographic Sheet T-1406, 1875; USGS Land Classification Sheet, Seattle Quadrangle, 1897; USGS Topographic map, Seattle Quadrangle, 1909; USGS Topographic map, 1943
    United States Coast & Geodetic Survey Topographic Sheet T-1406; Duwamish Bay, (part of) Washington Territory, Scale: 1:10,000;
    Surveyor: Jas. S. Lawson
    1875
    USGS Land Classification Sheet, Washington, Seattle quadrangle. 1:125,000
    1897
    USGS Topographic Map; Seattle quadrangle 1:125,000
    1906
    USGS Topographic Map; Seattle quadrangle 1:24,000
    1943
    Elliott Bay in 1901 before the tidelands were filled, showing South Canal trestle and Grant St. Bridge
    Photo by Curtis, Asahel, 1874-1941
    1901
    Negative number: A. Curtis 01771
    Courtesy of University of Washington Libraries
    Bird's-eye view of Harbor Island and the East Waterway, Seattle, ca. 1915
    Photographer unknown
    ca. 1915
    Negative number: UW5987
    Courtesy of University of Washington Libraries
    South Canal trestle; filling tideflats near Bay View Brewery, Seattle, 1901
    Photo by Curtis, Asahel, 1874-1941
    1901
    Negative number: UW26754
    Courtesy of University of Washington Libraries
    Newly-filled land on West Duwamish Waterway, looking west, Seattle
    Photo by Curtis, Asahel, 1874-1941
    ca. 1904
    Order number: CUR308
    Courtesy of University of Washington Libraries
    Panorama from Centennial Mill showing Seattle in 1902
    Photo by Curtis, Asahel, 1874-1941
    1902
    Negative number: A. Curtis 00553
    Courtesy of University of Washington Libraries
    Cutting away the cofferdam at the Montlake Cut between Lake Washington and Lake Union
    Photographer unknown
    ca. 1899
    Order number: WWDL0572
    Courtesy of University of Washington Libraries
    Building a dam on the Black River near Renton to divert the path of the Cedar River, ca. 1899
    Photographer unknown
    Possibly not before 1916
    Negative number: UW 2382
    Courtesy of University of Washington Libraries
    Salmon Bay Charlie's house at Shilshole with canoe anchored offshore, ca. 1905
    Photo by Webster & Stevens
    ca. 1905
    Negative number: MOHAI 83.10.9,067
    Courtesy of University of Washington Libraries
    Angeline, daughter of Chief Seattle, ca. 1893
    Photo by La Roche, Frank
    ca. 1893
    Negative number: NA895
    Courtesy of University of Washington Libraries
    Duwamish River today
    Photo © Cassy Jarvis
    2008
    Native plant: Chamerion angustifolium
    From the Burke Museum Herbarium/WTU Image Collection
    Photo © Ben Legler
    2004
  4. Pioneer Square

    Map/Image Credit
    Djidjila'letch to Pioneer Square
    From native village to metropolis, the Pioneer Square neighborhood of Seattle has undergone dramatic transformations. This animation provides a bird's eye glimpse at some of the social, economic, and landscape histories of the neighborhood through time. (YouTube)
    Production by Amir Sheikh. Illustrations by Jessica Miller. Edit and animation by Britta Johnson. Courtesy of WSDOT. Created for Milepost 31.
    Plan of Seattle, 1855-6
    ca. 1855
    Courtesy of University of Washington Libraries
    Plan of city during Battle of Seattle, 1856
    1856
    Courtesy of University of Washington Libraries
    Image number: 2002.3.549
    United States Coast & Geodetic Survey Topographic Sheet T-2421; Seattle Bay and City, City from and head of bay, Wash. Ter.; Scale: 1:10,000;
    Surveyor: J.J. Gilbert
    1899
    Seattle, from Occidental Avenue and Washington Street, looking north, in the 1870s
    Prosch Seattle Views Album, Vol. 2
    Courtesy of University of Washington Libraries
    First streetcar, Seattle, September 1884
    Photo by Peiser, Theodore E.
    1884
    Image number: 2002.3.439
    Courtesy of University of Washington Libraries
    Chinese dragon parade on Third Avenue, Seattle, ca. 1900
    Photographer unknown
    ca. 1900
    Image number: 1992.025.007
    Courtesy of University of Washington Libraries
    Celebration honoring volunteers of the First Washington Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Pioneer Square, 1899
    Photo by Wilse, Anders Beer
    1899
    Negative number: Wilse 261
    Courtesy of University of Washington Libraries
    Seattle, Drawing, January 1856
    Artist unknown
    Negative number: UW 1682
    Courtesy of University of Washington Libraries
    First Avenue South and Main Street, looking northeast, Seattle, 1883
    Photo by Peterson & Brothers
    1883
    Image number: SHS3573
    Courtesy of University of Washington Libraries
    Battle of Seattle, 1856
    From a sketch or painting by Clarence Hanford
    Courtesy of University of Washington Libraries
    Gazebo in Pioneer Square, Seattle, 1901
    Photographer unknown
    1901
    Image number: SHS9129
    Courtesy of University of Washington Libraries
    Seattle, Buildings,Yestler's Cook House, 1866
    Photographer unknown
    1866
    Negative number: UW 5695
    Courtesy of University of Washington Libraries
    Log booms of Yesler Mill
    Photo by Curtis, Asahel, 1874-1941
    1878
    Negative number: UW12510, A. Curtis 59756
    Courtesy of University of Washington Libraries