From 1854 until 1890, Seattle's water was provided by wells, springs and
private water companies. A public waterworks was created by City Charter
Amendment in 1875. However, Seattle was served primarily by small private water
companies for the next decade and a half. In 1888, prompted by a tenfold
population increase during the previous decade, Seattle's mayor and city
council called for an election to decide if the city should own and operate its
own water system.
Shortly before the election, the "Great Seattle Fire" of June 6, 1889,
destroyed the entire 64-acre business district. A major contributor to the
widespread destruction was the lack of water available from the patchwork of
private water suppliers. The vote on establishing a municipally-owned water
system was approved by a resounding 1,875 to 51 margin.
In 1890, a U.S. Supreme Court decision allowed municipalities to issue
bonds secured by future revenues. Shortly thereafter, Seattle issued $845,000
in bonds and purchased two private water companies -- the Spring Hill Water
Company and the Union Water Company -- both of which pumped water from Lake
Union and Lake Washington. In 1895, Seattle residents again voted to approve
revenue bonds, this time to construct the Cedar River water system. Water first
flowed from the Cedar River into Seattle's system on January 10, 1901. Water
was diverted by a dam at Landsburg, and then was channeled into a
newly-completed 28.57 mile pipeline. This pipeline carried water to the
Volunteer Park and Lincoln reservoirs on Capitol Hill in Seattle, which were
also built at the time. This new system had a capacity of 23.5 million gallons
per day.
The system was administered by the Superintendent of Water under the
auspices of the Board of Public Works. In 1905 the Department of Lighting and
Water Works was created. Five years later, the Water Department became a
separate entity. In 1909, a second pipeline was added, providing an additional
45 million gallon per day capacity to meet the water needs of a fast-growing
Seattle. The next water supply source was not added until 1964, when the South
Fork of the Tolt River began supplying north Seattle and the Eastside. In 1987,
the first ground water source was added to the system when two wells in the
Highline Well Field began operation. A third well was added in 1990.
In 1997 the Water Department was consolidated with the utilities of the
Engineering Department to form Seattle Public Utilities.
Content Description
The Water Department Historical Files, an artificial collection of
public documents that were gathered in the process of writing an agency
history, contains two types of records. The first type is comprised of the
records that Mary McWilliams compiled from several sources within the
department. These include correspondence, reports, leases, ordinances,
specifications, articles and speeches, contracts, financial records, and other
records relating to the history of the Water Department and the City's water
system. The second type consists of McWilliams' research notes and a typescript
of her book manuscript.
The departmental records that McWilliams pulled together are a valuable
compilation of materials that cannot be found elsewhere. Examples are
Superintendent Luther B. Youngs' correspondence (1906-1923); various reports on
the water system and water-related issues by Benezette Williams, Reginald H.
Thomson, and Virgil Bogue; forest management correspondence and reports by the
department's forester, Allen E. Thompson; health and sanitation records related
to the watershed; and documents providing information on logging and railroads
in the watershed. The records also provide a glimpse at the organizational
structure of the department, municipal utility finances, and other detailed
minutiae including equipment inventories and civil service issues.
A small body of material was added to the collection after McWilliams
finished the book. Presumably this was done with the idea that the collection
would serve as a living body of records that would serve a reference function
for the department.
McWilliams' research notes include drafts of topical sections, partial
transcriptions of interviews, transcribed copies of records that she was not
allowed to compile into this collection, and various other notes. Examples
include 13 pages she transcribed from the 1916 Joint Report of the City
Engineer and Superintendent of Water Works, and a 1934 report by R.H. Thomson
on the possibility of incorporating the Tolt River watershed into the City's
water system. In using these notes, researchers should be aware the dates given
to the folders are the dates McWilliams compiled the notes. The dates of issues
and events covered by the notes are often found in the folder titles.
Other Descriptive Information
In 1914, assistant superintendent John Lamb produced a brief
departmental history titled
Seattle Municipal Water Plant. In 1947, superintendent
Chester Morse assigned G.B. Schunke the task of updating Lamb's work. Schunke
in turn assigned the job to David Wallborn. However, Wallborn died within five
months and the project was set aside until March 1949, when an ordinance was
passed appropriating funds to compile the history.
Morse again assigned the writing to Schunke; unfortunately he died in
May. Morse then requested that Mary McWilliams, a stenographer in the
department for over three decades, postpone retirement in order to compile data
and information so he could put together a chronicle. However, Morse himself
died in September 1949, and the responsibility for writing the history was
given to McWilliams.
McWilliams gathered historical documents, especially related to the
Cedar River Watershed and the pipelines, and corresponded with or interviewed
former department employees and City officials. Her work was published by the
City in 1955 under the title
Seattle Water Department History, 1854-1954: Operational Data and
Memoranda.
Use of the Collection
Restrictions on Access :
Records are open to the public.
Preferred Citation :
[Item and date], Seattle Water Department
Historical Files, Record Series 8200-10. Box [number], Folder [number]. Seattle
Municipal Archives.
Administrative Information
Arrangement :
The collection is arranged into the following categories:
Administration
Finance
Forest Management
Lighting
Property Acquisition
Railroads
Storage and Distribution
Timber
Water Quality
Water Systems
Mary McWilliams Research Notes
Detailed Description of the Collection
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in
the collection.
Administrative
Records
Container(s)
Description
Dates
Subseries 1: Annual
Reports
Box/Folder
1/1
Annual
Report.
1895
1/2
Annual
Report.
1896
1/3
Annual Report. Synopsis
of the Present Conditions and Needs.
1898-1899
1/4
Annual Report. Synopsis
of the Present Conditions and Needs.
1899-1900
1/5
Annual
Report.
1901
1/6
Annual
Report.
1910
1/7
Annual
Report.
1912
1/8
Annual
Report.
1913
1/9
Annual
Report.
1914
1/10
Annual
Report.
1915
1/11
Annual
Report.
1924
1/12
Annual
Report.
1926-1927
Subseries 2: Superintendents'
Correspondence
Box/Folder
1/13
L.B. Youngs,
Superintendent. Correspondence.
1906-1907
1/14
L.B. Youngs,
Superintendent. Correspondence.
1908
1/15
L.B. Youngs,
Superintendent. Correspondence.
1909
1/16
L.B. Youngs,
Superintendent. Correspondence.
1910
1/17
L.B. Youngs,
Superintendent. Correspondence.
1911
1/18
L.B. Youngs,
Superintendent. Correspondence.
1912-1913
1/19
L.B. Youngs,
Superintendent. Correspondence.
1914-1916
1/20
L.B. Youngs,
Superintendent. Correspondence.
1917-1919
1/21
L.B. Youngs,
Superintendent. Correspondence.
1921-1923
1/22
George F. Russell,
Superintendent. Correspondence.
1923-1925
1/23
L. Murray Grant,
Superintendent. Correspondence.
1926-1927
1/24
W.B. Severyns,
Superintendent. Correspondence.
1928-1930
1/25
A.F. Marion,
Superintendent. Correspondence.
1931
1/26
H.D. Fowler,
Superintendent. Correspondence.
1934
1/27
W.C. Morse.
Superintendent. Correspondence.
1940-1947
1/28
Ray Heath,
Superintendent. Reports, Presentations and Published Articles.
1956-1964
1/29
Ray Heath,
Superintendent. Brief Sketch of Career.
1966
Subseries 3: Issue/Subject
Files
Box/Folder
1/30
Alaska-Yukon-Pacific
Exposition.
1908-1910
1/31
Brief Statement of the
Operations of the Washington Territory Volunteer Force as it Affected Cedar
River Watershed History. Muster.
1856
1/32
Cedar River Watershed
Transient Camps. Typhoid Vaccinations.
1923-1934
1/33
City Charter. Response to
Proposal for Commission Form of City Government.
1916
1/34
City Water
Statistics.
1902-1904
2/1
Corresondence Related to
Water Works Laws and Rules.
1909-1935
2/2
Court Cases Related to
Water Works.
1906-1934
2/3
Decade of Progess of the
Seattle Water Department.
1965
2/4
Estimated Cost Per Capita
of Operating City Government.
1909-1914
2/5
Fire Boat Alki Acceptance
Tests.
1927-1928
2/6
Fort Tilton History,
1856. Cedar River Watershed.
1927-1949
2/7
Frost Depth
Penetration.
1929
2/8
James M. Ferguson,
Maintenance Engineer Correspondence.
1923-1927
2/9
Final Report to the Board
of Public Works on Specifications for the Proposed Water Works System
(Benezette Williams).
1891
2/10
Green Lake Replenishing
Report. Park Board Committee.
1922
2/11
Henry R. Herold, Chief
Engineer.
1968
2/12
Lake Youngs
Development.
1924-1927
2/13
John Lamb
Correspondence.
1911-1928
2/14
Legal Opinions Related to
Water Works.
1913-1932
2/15
Lewis & Wiley Inc.
Jackson and Dearborn Streets Regrades.
1908-1912
2/16
New Chamber of Commerce
Report on Cedar River Water System.
1911
2/17
Notes on Placing Lake
Youngs Reservoir in Service.
1925
2/18
Preliminary Report to the
Mayor and City Council on a Proposed Water Works System (Benezette
Williams).
1889
2/19
Presidential
Proclamations. Washington Forest Reserve Snoqualmie National
Forest.
1902-1911
2/20
Public
Relations.
1909-1948
2/21
Report of the Proposed
Tide Lands of Seattle Harbor, By Virgil G. Bogue.
1895
2/22
Report on the Industrial
Water Supply of Seattle and the Industrial Zoning of Lake Washington. Chamber
of Commerce.
1927
2/23
G.B. Schunke, Assistant
Superintendent.
1939-1949
2/24
Seattle
Population.
1900-1941
2/25
Starting of a Bridge in
Bellevue (Speech).
1938
2/26
Swan Lake
Development.
1920
2/27
Allen E. Thompson.
American Forestry Association Conservation Award Nomination.
1956-1958
2/28
The Use and Development
of the Cedar River Watershed, by Allen E. Thompson.
1948
2/29
Water for Canal
Lockage.
1938
2/30
Water Troughs and Horse
Drinking Fountains.
1906-1943
2/31
Water Works Report.
Seattle Chamber of Commerce.
1894
2/32
Water Flow Test. City
Hydrants near Todd Dry Dock.
1923
2/33
World War I. Issues and
Affects.
1917-1921
2/34
World War II.
Issues.
1941-1942
Subseries 4: Personnel and
Payroll
Box/Folder
2/35
Civil
Service.
1927
2/36
Civil Service Employee
Efficiency Ratings.
1921-1922
2/37
Employee
Lists.
1908-1910
2/38
Employees Requiring
Transportation on Street Railways.
1911-1912
2/39
Industrial Insurance
Costs.
1925-1930
2/40
Personnel
Issues.
1908-1927
2/41
Salary and Classification
Issues.
1921-1923
2/42
Salary and Positions.
Correspondence.
1909-1927
2/43
Salaries by
Position.
1902-1927
2/44
Unemployment
Issues.
1925-1932
Subseries 5: Property/Office
Space
Box/Folder
3/1
Office
Locations.
1908-1913
3/2
Office Locations. Lease
and Agreements.
1907-1915
3/3
Water Department
Properties by District.
1947
3/4
South Shops.
1908-1932
Subseries 6: Supplies and
Equipment
Box/Folder
3/5
Horses and
Vehicles.
1906-1921
3/6
Horses in Water
Department.
1910
3/7
Hydrolic Turbine
Pumps.
1934-1935
3/8
Inventory. Equipment on
Hand at Landsburg.
1918
3/9
Inventory of Furniture
(Jan. 1).
1913
3/10
Inventory of Stock and
Supplies (Jan. 1).
1907
3/11
Inventory of Stock and
Supplies.
1910
3/12
Inventory. Summary of
Water Department Inventory.
1906
3/13
Inventory of Tools,
Property, and 6" Valves on Pipeline.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online
catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or
places should search the catalog using these headings.
Personal Names :
McWilliams,
Mary
Corporate Names :
Seattle
(Wash.). Water Dept.
Geographical Names :
Cedar River
Watershed (King County, Wash.)
Seattle
(Wash.)
Subject Terms :
Acquisition of
property--Washington (State)
Forest
management--Washington (State)
Pipelines--Washington
(State)
Railroads--Washington
(State)
Reservoirs--Washington
(State)
Timber--Washington
(State)
Water
distribution--Washington (State)--Seattle
Water purification
chlorination--Washington (State)--Seattle
Water quality--Washington
(State)--Seattle
Water utilities--Washington
(State)--Seattle
Watersheds--Washington
(State)
Other Creators :
Seattle
(Wash.). Dept. of Lighting and Water Works
