By
Monica Wooton
Jonathon Wooton Assisting in Research
Magnolia's South Shore Wooden Trestle of 1911 (no official name is known and this name designates its location) was located west from 15th Avenue West over Railroad Avenue, over Smith Cove Waterway, South on 23nd Avenue West, out on the tidelands, west to West Lee Street, to Logan Ave W, to the uplands connection at 32nd Avenue West. Information on this particular trestle at the time the trestle chapter was written by Hal Will, "Magnolia's Wooden Trestles" in Magnolia: Memories & Milestones, was sketchy at best. Prompted by a request by the Magnolia Community Club (Council) and funded with grant money in 2015, I was tasked to look into this property to see what, if any, historcial precedent it set for a connecting path from Magnolia to the Elliott Bay Marina property. This was what I found out for that study and since.
Note: The Baist Map of 1912 shows this trestle actually running south on 22nd Avenue West, not 23rd Avenue West, as stated in the City Ordinances.
Background on this area of land: Sometimes called the “Magnolia Bluff Parkway" the land included here in the discussion is tied to: the Cotterill Bicycle Path of 1900, the Olmsted Boulevard Plan of 1903, 1908, the re-design of the Magnolia Boulevard by Samuel C Lancaster in 1910, desires of the then Park Board, Magnolia developers of the time, the proposed Bogue Plan for Seattle of 1911 (that was failed by voters in May 1912), economic factors and wrangling over property that James W Clise owned, 32nd Avenue West in particular, which is not part of the Boulevard Plan except as "parkland".
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Hal Will’s drawing of the wooden trestles of Magnolia. The one researched in this article is number 4. Not much was know about it at the time Will wrote his chapter. "Magnolia Wooden Trestles" by Hal Will, Magnolia Memories & Milestones, p.198. Trestle names: 1 - West Dravus, 2 - West Garfield Street, 3 - 23rd Avenue West, 4 - South Shore, 5 - West Wheeler Street, 6 - 20th Avenue West, 7 - Lawton Way, 8 - West Halladay. Note: The Piers will be renumbered in 1944. |
History: It appears, from the research, this standard wooden trestle (a litlle over 2,100 feet in length and 26 feet wide) was built in the year 1911, by City Ordinances #23102 (related resolution 2555), 25390, 28188, and 29241 (January 1910 to April 1912). There is documentation through The Seattle Times that the Seattle Chamber of Commerce was behind an idea for this trestle as early as 1909 hoping the commercial development and industry in Smith Cove would expand to the South Bluff of Magnolia. Magnolian land developer, David Eastman, was also behind this dream.
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| Photo of South Shore trestle looking from Queen Anne. Courtesy of Darin Deehr, Property Acquisition Specialist 3/Aquatics, Title Records Office/Engineering & General Services Division, Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Circe 1911. |
The first evidence of the “built” trestle comes in an article in the Seattle Times, May 6, 1911 which states the “newly completed trestle” is waiting for its 32nd Avenue West upland connection; and, James W Clise, owner of that property has finally agreed to give over the land to complete the connection. But, a complicated history proves that never happens.
Department of Resources has photos of the trestle and documents showing the tidelands it was built on; and, has records that the tidelands were leased by them to individuals RD Robinson, JD Farrell and Seattle and International Railway for “navigational and commerce purposes”. The documents also report that there was a plan submitted for 3 wharves at the South Bluff of Magnolia with building specifications included in request. Establishment of a connection between these parties and the City of Seattle, which appears to have built the trestle in question, could not be found.
However, 32nd Avenue West as the connection from the South Shore Wooden Trestle into Pleasant Valley, became the source of an on-going argument with the Park Board trying to get Clise to sell the land. Clise had declined an early offer from the Park Board (recorded in Park Board Minutes of October 11, 1909) for $50,000. In Park Board minutes of April 25, 1910 David Eastman motivated to get connections that help Magnolia develop as a commercial force, proposes to the Park Board that a condemnation process be begun of the land. The suit is filed. On September 26, 1910, Clise asks the Park Board to survey the proposed condemnation land. They agree to do that. On October 24, 1910 it is reported in the Park Board minutes this survey has been completed. On April 24, 1911, the Park Board meets with Clise. “Clise asks a committee be proposed to agree on a reasonable price which he would accept as a stipulated verdict in the condemnation case to come to trail in June…”. A committee is formed. April 28, 1911, Park Board meets w Clise in Executive Session and no progress reported. May 2, 1911 the Park Board asks for a strip of land 150 wide for Boulevard purposes…” (Again, this land is not included in the Boulevard Path, which is always north of the ravine…then over Howe Street when it is a wooden trestle; and, then when it becomes a concrete bridge.) May 5, 1911, the Park Board receives a letter from Clise saying he will give 150 foot strip, west of Wolf (Wolfe) Creek Ravine. They accept. Condemnation case goes forward; but, is dropped as of Park Board Minutes July 7, 1911. July 14, 1911, Clise objects to a clause in agreement of property transfer and Park Board drops it out of agreement. Not until January 19, 1912, does the Park Board authorize and begin clearing and grubbing of all proposed Magnolia Boulevard property including a 32nd Avenue West piece.
It appears there is time-lag, confusion and ultimately inaction on work at 32nd Avenue West for several years because of different government entities are invovled, pending legal cases, the wrangling with Clise over the property and ultimately the City/Park Board not moving forward “in a timely manner”, as David Eastman regularly appears before them to remind them. This slowness also appears it might be, in part, because Magnolia's South Bluff is not drawing the development as hoped by City businessmen and local developers. The most "offical" connection to Magnolia at this time was over the short Dravus Street Wooden Trestle, then over and up Grand Boulevard (now Dravus). Other assorted wooden trestle connections were used as seen in the drawing. Connections and commerce went hand in hand.
According to the Engineers in the Seattle Engineering Vault, road work was first commenced on 32nd Avenue West in November 1915 and final inspection of the land takes place in February 1917. By this time, the South Shore WoodenTtrestle is having serious problems with teredos (shipworms that bored into the wood) weakening the timbers. Some of the wooden piles are fixed approximately in 1916; but, by 1919 more damage is incurred and the trestle is condemned; although, foot traffic is still allowed there.
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| The South Shore Trestle, also from Queen Anne looking down. No views of the 32nd Avenue West side connection have been found. Museum of History and Industry 83.10,9385. Circa 1911 |
On April 15, 1920, according to The Seattle Times: 1,500 feet of the trestle suddenly collapsed. And, 600 more feet collapsed the following day, virtually taking the majority of the South Shore Trestle down. The article quotes Charles R Case, superintendent of streets, as saying: “There is little likelihood of the bridge being rebuilt…It was built originally at the behest of certain real estate interests and the Chamber of Commerce which hoped for certain industrial developments in that part of the city which failed to materialize.” A Port of Seattle photo circa 1920 confirms that almost all of the trestle surrounding Magnolia's south bluff (excepting a small piece on 22nd Avenue West going south) is now gone.
Photos like the above, show lots of activity at the piers at Smith Cove, not far east of the south shore of Magnolia, around the time this trestle was conceived and built. Railroads and ships and four working warves made Smith Cove a busy, lucrative commercial enterprise. It was the place of the longest pier on the West Coast. The existences of businesses like the Glass Works Factory and the Rope Walk Portland Cordage CO. (producing rope for Tubbs Cordage Company the largest rope making firm on the Pacific Coast) located near the south bluff seemed to portend commercial endeavors would most probably expand to that area. But, that dream, as stated above, did not ever "materialize".
Conclusion: All evidence points to the envisioned use of 32nd Avenue West and the south shore of Magnolia as a place for commerce and commercial purposes connected with navigational uses, be it: wharves, a ferry landing, or a coal deposit network, all mentioned in various documents researched, with eventual ties to Smith Cove or Pleasant Valley land. It is never part of the Boulevard Path or used as part of the bicycle path of 1900 or on the driving tour of 1917. Most documents refer only to “the west side of Wolf Creek” when talking of the 32nd Avenue property in question as being used as a connector/connecting street. There is no talk of the east part of 32nd Avenue West as anything other than “parkland”. Therefore, the South Shore Trestle was never a completed, viable connector; nor, did the area grow into the commercial vision some had for it. The South Bluff Trestle was virtually a road to nowhere.
Researched :
Live links in story
Internet General
HistoryLink General
Seattle Times Historical Newspapers - 1900 to 1984 through Seattle Public Library Site
Flickr
The Bogue Plan for Seattle 1911
Baist Map 1912
General Map Seattle Harbor Port of Seattle May 1913
US Coast and Geodetic Map 1918
Army Corp Map Seattle Harbor Lines Elliot Bay Section Apr. 30, 1920
Copy of (Don) Sherwood Papers: Magnolia Boulevard
Magnolia: Memories & Milestones Hal Will’s chapter: “Magnolia’s Wooden Trestles”; pp 197-203
Magnolia: Making More Memories Claudia Isquith’s chapter: “Magnolia Boulevard West”, “A Long and Winding Road”; pp 42-47
Port of Seattle Photo circa 1920
Photo by Wallace Stevens (1911)
Photos/Documents sent by Department of Natural Resources
City Resolutions and Ordinances - Seattle City Archive
Park Board Minutes 1909-1913
Seattle Historical Sites Search Result - Department of Neighborhoods (DON)
Contacts:
Public Information Port of Seattle, Pubic Information Request
Seattle Engineering Vault
Paul Dorpat private conversation and, reading/studying Blog on Glass Factory at Smith Cove; Blog: Dorpat, Sherrard, Lomont
Washington State Department of Natural Resources, Property Acquisition Specialist and Public information Request
Seattle Municipal Archive
SDOT, Seattle Department of Transportation, Senior Public Relations
Seattle Parks, Public Information
MOHAI Photo Archive
Army Corp Maps and Engineering Records - maps and aerial photos,
Friends of Seattle’s Olmsted Parks
Washington State Puget Sound Regional Archive
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