Waterway: The Story of Seattle's Locks and Ship Canal

by David B. Williams, Jennifer Ott (Contributor)

Why does a city surrounded by water need another waterway? Find out what drove Seattle's civic leaders to pursue the dream of a Lake Washington Ship Canal for more than sixty years and what role it has played in the region's development over the past century. Historians Jennifer Ott and David B. Williams, author of?Too High and Too Steep: Reshaping Seattle's Topography, explore how industry, transportation, and the very character of the city and surrounding region developed in response to the economic and environmental changes brought by Seattle's canal and locks.?

Genres: Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2017

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

(5.0) Simply excellent, an amazing collection of photographs and complete history of the locks and canal

Every Seattleana collection should include a copy. Views the canal project from economic, political, military, social and environmental perspectives. Certainly taught me a lot and will be a reference going forward.

[Thom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Large format (coffee table) book that still contains a lot of history (words). The maps and bird's eye views are quite nice. Liked the information about the Black River and salt water wedge, would have liked more lake-changing biology information.

I was drawn to this after reading Too High and Too Steep: Reshaping Seattle's Topography. This book stays more on topic with more illustrations, and was overall a better information source - though it focused only on the lakes and ship canal. The historical photos and maps were a definite plus. Recommended!

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

INFORMATIVE WELL RESEARCHED ANECDOTAL TOPICAL OVERVIEW. LOTS OF PERIOD PICTURES APPROPRIATELY LAID OUT TO COMPLEMENT TEXT. NICE BALANCE OF POLITICAL PUBLIC SOCIAL SCIENTIFIC, AND TECHNICAL SUBJECT. ALL IN DIGESTIBLE MIXED SPOONFULS.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderfully-illustrated book on the building of the Chittenden Locks (Ballard Locks) in Seattle. The locks would have a long-term impact quite different from what Seattle thought at the time: it was expected that industry would develop along Lake Union and Lake Washington, one businessman expecting to make Kirkland the "Pittsburgh of the West" with steel mills.

Instead, the locks would house the North Pacific fishing fleet, which accounts for 50% of the U.S. seafood catch. And it is a conduit for pleasure boats from the fresh waters of the lakes to the salt water of the Puget Sound.

The book is written by the historylink.org staff and has charts, diagrams and pictures on nearly every page. A first-class reference book for anyone in the state of Washington.

[Nikky Southerland · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting history of the Ballard Locks and Ship Canal project. Working with scant primary source material, the book traces the conception of the locks from the earliest ideas (where at least one serious project started building them at Beacon Hill!) to completion. Construction is well-explained, and the historical photographs and sidebars are fascinating.

Most interesting of all is how the book details the ecological changes that the project brought onto the area. Lake Washington was lowered 9 feet, and vast tracts of wetland habitat were devastated. Salmon bay turned into a freshwater lake instead of a tidal bay, and the Black River—a quiet meandering outlet of Lake Washington—is now the location of the Boeing Renton plant. The impacts to the local tribes with the Black River's loss is also documented, as well as the destruction of the local salmon runs.

Did the questionable commercial benefits outweigh the environmental damage of the Ship Canal project? Decide for yourself by reading this book.

[Ben Lobaugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a lot of great pictures and stories from the creation of the lock and all that precipitated it. Where it fell short with me was significant political chatter that was not necessary. It detracted from the history by imposing today's political standards inappropriately. If you are looking for a book with a lot of historical photos though this one is great!

[Glenn Fleishman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrifically interesting history of the making up Seattle's canal, and all the effects on peoples and environment that it required. I finally learned about some of Seattle's oddest topographical features (a lot of terrible excavation that was unnecessary or excavation used to fill in the bay and build on it). The stories and photography are great, and it's got a wonderful arc of history to it.

[Shayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful book that had lots of visuals, plus maps to help the geographically challenged among us to orient themselves. Thanks!

[Andria Kerkof · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blue cover
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