West Seattle Land and Improvement Company

West Seattle Land and Improvement Company
West Seattle Land & Improv. Co.
Example alt text
West Seattle ferry terminal and waterfront, circa 1913.
Type Land development with ancillary ferry service
Capital $2.1 million initial (including subsidiaries)
Areas served West Seattle
Routes Elliott Bay
Founded 1888 (1888)
Main office West Seattle
Ships owned City of Seattle; West Seattle
Terminals east : Seattle waterfront
west : West Seattle
Rail links Cable car at west terminal.
Subsidiaries Oreg. & Wash. Ferry & Nav. Co.
West Seattle Cable Rwy Co.
West Seattle Elec. Lt. & Wtr Co.
Competitors Lady of the Lake
Govt contracts Mail contract


The West Seattle Land and Improvement Company was a real estate development concern that conducted business in West Seattle starting in 1888. Through a subsidiary, the Oregon and Washington Ferry and Navigation Company, the company also owned and operated two ferries that operated between the company's developments in West Seattle and Seattle itself, which was then a separate city which was difficult to reach over land routes of the time.

Contents

Formation

The West Seattle Land & Improvement Company was incorporated July 11, 1888, and was reported to have been capitalized at $1,500,000.[1] Most of the capital came from San Francisco.[2] Thomas Ewing was the president and Morris S. Bates was secretary and general manager.[1]

Several subsidiaries or affiliated companies were later organized, all with Ewing as president and Bates as secretary. These included West Seattle Cable Railway Co, incorporated February 26, 1890, capitalized at $500,000, and West Seattle Electric Light & Water Co. incorporated February 25, 1890, and capitalized at $100,000.[1]

In 1890, the company's main office was in West Seattle, at the corner of Railroad and Grand streets. The company had a branch office in Seattle, at the foot of Marion Street. The company's ferry ticket agent was Arthur I. Gould.[1]

Course of business

The company purchased and replatted much of what later became the Admiral district. To attract potential buyers, the company organized a ferry service, constructing a terminal and purchasing a ferry, the City of Seattle In September 1890, the company also built a two-mile long cable railway, leading from the ferry dock to the top of the high ground where the company's real estate development was underway. The company had $300,000 worth of real estate sales in 1890, but was hit hard by the Panic of 1893. The cable line closed in 1897.[2] The company's ferry operation continued without the cableway. As of 1900 the company held a mail contract for the ferry route, which paid $250 per year.[3]

Rate war

In 1903, the company's ferry division was involved in a rate war on the ferry route against the steamer Lady of the Lake[4] There were two collisions between City of Seattle and Lady of the Lake during the rate war. The owners of Lady of the Lake reduced their fares to five cents, which prompted the ferry division to allow 40 rides for one dollar.[4][5] The rate war ended on June 18, 1903, when Lady of the Lake was hauled out of the water in a shipyard in West Seattle. Overnight a fire broke out.[6] The origin of the fire was reported to be “not ascertained”, with Lady of the Lake suffering approximately $3000 in damage.[6] The rate war and the circumstances of the fire caused a rumor that arson was the cause, but no charges were ever brought.

Litigation

The company was involved in a number of lawsuits over the years. These included among others West Seattle Land & Improv. Co. v. Herron, 48 Pac. Rep. 341 (Wash. 1897); West Seattle Land & Improv. Co. v. Novelty Mill Co., 72 Pac. Rep. 69 (Wash. 1903), and Town of West Seattle v. West Seattle Land and Improvement Co., 80 Pac. 549.

Peak ferry year and decline

In 1907 City of Seattle was still on the same route, but demand had increased so much that a new and larger vessel was commissioned to handle the ferry traffic. This was the West Seattle, which was built at Tacoma and entered regular service on June 27, 1907 on the Seattle – West Seattle route. The company had its own ferry terminal in Seattle.[7]

With the new ferry on the route, City of Seattle was then shifted to run to the Luna amusement park then located at Duwamish Head. 1907 was the peak year for ferry transport on the Seattle-West Seattle run, with 103,000 passengers carried in July alone. After that, rising competition from the expanding network of street car lines over time proved too much for the West Seattle ferries, and City of Seattle was taken off the route in 1911.[5] West Seattle was kept on the run, and in June 1913, the money-losing ferry was sold to the Port of Seattle.[5]

Property ownership

In 1910, almost the entire waterfront of West Seattle, which by then had become part of the municipality of Seattle, was owned by the West Seattle Land & Improvement Co., and occupied by tenants on short-term leases.[7]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Polk, R.L. & Co., Seattle city directory (1890) (accessed 5-18-11), at pages 92, 94, 104, 726, and 823.
  2. ^ a b Tate, Cassandra, “Seattle Neighborhoods: West Seattle -- Thumbnail History”, HistoryLink.org Essay 3428, July 08, 2001. (accessed 05-18-11)
  3. ^ Congressional report listing mail contracts by steamboat routes in Puget Sound, by route number and companies on route. (1900), at page 400 (accessed 05-18-11).
  4. ^ a b Newell, ed., McCurdy Marine History, at 146.
  5. ^ a b c Kline and Bayless, Ferryboats, at pages 5-8, 78, 94, 114, 146, and 345.
  6. ^ a b U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service, 1903 Annual Report, at 23.
  7. ^ a b U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Corporations, Report of the Commissioner of Corporations on Transportation by Water, Vol III, Water Terminals (1910) (accessed 05-18-11) , at pages 240-241.

References

External links



Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • City of Seattle (steam ferry) — City of Seattle circa 1891 Career Name: City of Seattle …   Wikipedia

  • List of company towns — This is a List of company towns.Towns listed in bold are still considered company towns today; other entries are former company towns. See for an unannotated list of articles. Europe Belgium * Louvain la Neuve, home of the Université Catholique… …   Wikipedia

  • Neighborhoods in Seattle — Seattle, Washington contains many districts and neighborhoods. Former Seattle mayor Greg Nickels has called Seattle a city of neighborhoods. [1][2][3] Early European settlers established widely scattered settlements on the surrounding hills,… …   Wikipedia

  • Business and Industry Review — ▪ 1999 Introduction Overview        Annual Average Rates of Growth of Manufacturing Output, 1980 97, Table Pattern of Output, 1994 97, Table Index Numbers of Production, Employment, and Productivity in Manufacturing Industries, Table (For Annual… …   Universalium

  • Agriculture and Food Supplies — ▪ 2007 Introduction Bird flu reached Europe and Africa, and concerns over BSE continued to disrupt trade in beef. An international vault for seeds was under construction on an Arctic island. Stocks of important food fish species were reported… …   Universalium

  • History of Seattle before 1900 — Two conflicting perspectives exist for the early history of Seattle. There is what one might call the establishment view, which favors the centrality of the Denny Party (generally the Denny, Mercer, Terry, and Boren families), and Henry Yesler. A …   Wikipedia

  • Cascade, Seattle, Washington — Cascade is a small neighborhood abutting Downtown Seattle, Washington, USA; it constitutes the eastern portion of what has come to be known as South Lake Union. It is bounded by: Fairview Avenue North on the west, beyond which is the rest of… …   Wikipedia

  • Health and Disease — ▪ 2009 Introduction Food and Drug Safety.       In 2008 the contamination of infant formula and related dairy products with melamine in China led to widespread health problems in children, including urinary problems and possible renal tube… …   Universalium

  • Media and Publishing — ▪ 2007 Introduction The Frankfurt Book Fair enjoyed a record number of exhibitors, and the distribution of free newspapers surged. TV broadcasters experimented with ways of engaging their audience via the Internet; mobile TV grew; magazine… …   Universalium

  • Ballard, Seattle, Washington — Ballard is a neighborhood located in the northwestern part of Seattle, Washington. To the north it is bounded by Crown Hill, ( N.W. 85th Street); to the east by Phinney Ridge and Fremont (along 8th Avenue N.W.); To the south by the Lake… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”