Content Description

Annual reports date from 1894 to 1962. Early reports include information on sewers and solid waste in the City; these were issues closely related to health conditions. There are two reports for 1896. One is the annual report of the Department of Sanitation for the first and second districts recording complaints, nuisances, inspections, and condemnations. The other 1896 report is by J.H. Swyney, Sanitary Inspector in the Department of Sanitation, on public schools and kindergartens; the report discusses plumbing and sewer systems. The 1899 report from the Department of Sanitation is for the year 1899 and is by M.E.A. McKechnie, Health Officer and Secretary of the Board of Health. The report has a lengthy narrative preceding the statistical report. The report includes a list of health-related legislation passed during the year, reasons why the Health Officer should not also act as city physician, as specified in the Charter, and a discussion of unsanitary localities and mortality statistics. This report also includes a report by the quarantine inspector and a report on slaughterhouses. Other early reports are an 1896 Plumbing and Market Inspectors report and an 1896 Market Inspectors report. The 1896 Market Inspectors report is statistical and includes numbers for complaints filed, gallons of milk inspected, and pounds of meat, fish, fruit, and vegetables condemned. The second and third reports from the Market Inspector date from 1908 and 1909. The 1908 report is a letter pleading for more space at the Pike Place Market; the 1909 report is one page in length and describes space as “adequate.”

Reports from the sanitary department from 1905 to 1910 do not contain detailed statistics but include information on contagious disease, food and plumbing inspections, care of the sick poor, and, in the 1910 report, expectoration. Reports for the years 1912 to 1916 are very detailed in both the narrative and statistical sections; in cases where both published and unpublished reports exist, both were included. The 1932-1935 report traces most statistics from 1901 to 1935. The 1939-1943 report is a 433-page history and survey of public health in Seattle and includes a brief history of the city and agency histories for the City.

Reports in the 1940s and 1950s include information on venereal disease, dog bites, and statistics on the County as well as the City. In 1942, a separate report exists for Firland Sanatorium. Combined reports for King County and Seattle exist beginning in 1947, prior to the merger. Beginning in 1983, reports are less detailed than those from earlier years. Reports date through 1983, although there is not a report for every year.

Records were originally filed with the City Clerk in the Comptroller/Clerk's Files (CFs) and were removed to create this record series. Additional copies of annual reports for the Health Department are located at the Puget Sound Regional Branch of the Washington State Archives.