Maps show us roads, landmarks, and the lay of the land, but they also provide valuable clues to an area – particularly maps over 100 years old.
Seattle In 1905
The Seattle Public Library Special Collections has digitized the 1905 Baist Real Estate Atlas. This atlas contains all of Seattle – the roads and buildings we had here, in the incorporated City in 1905, divided into 23 plates – available for view by the SPL on-line.
According to Bo Kinney, of the SPL Special Collections, the G.W. Baist company, from Philadelphia, published real estate atlases for many U.S. cities in the early twentieth century. The atlases show the plats (subdivisions,) some structures, streets and railways around the city.
Baist went on to publish two later atlases for Seattle, in 1908 and 1912. Seattle area historian Paul Dorpat has the 1912 atlas, and its 34 plates, on-line on his website.
What The Map Shows
The majority of Fremont is contained on Plate #16 in the 1905 atlas. At first glance, the map shows few earthshattering differences from Fremont today. By 1905, most of our streets were named the same as they are today. A few differences are mostly curiosities – Francis Avenue appears as Sunset, and our primary commercial roads still carry the names of Fremont founders, Blewett, Ewing, and Kilbourne.
Closer examination does show some smaller, significant differences. For instance, find a remaining segment of N 33rd Street – eventually removed when construction of the Fremont Bridge raised streets here in 1917, and blocked access to that small spur. The construction of the George Washington Memorial Bridge, in 1931 – from Fremont to Queen Anne along Aurora Avenue – would drastically change the layout of streets just southeast of B.F. Day Elementary School (marked clearly on the map.)
Another detail noticeable without too close an examination of the map is the inclusion of the Ship Canal, which previous information had as being finished in 1911. In 1905, it appears the plans were well enough along to have the Canal nearly fully formed on it.
Close-up examination does, however, show some incredible details – including locations and descriptions of buildings. One hint though: The .jpg image included for illustration, by the SPL, for this column doesn’t have enough resolution to satisfactorily allow for close up detailed study. The on-line version, in the Neighborhood History pages of the SPL website, allows for minute study, property by property.
Another hint: look for the ‘Asbestos Factory’ once located near where the Lake Washington Rowing Club stands today.
Resources For Public Perusal
By digitizing its copy of the 1905 atlas, the SPL has not only made the information more accessible, but also further preserved the increasingly fragile original. They’ve been able to make high-quality prints of the pages, from the digital copy, and can provide them to visitors of the Seattle Room in the Central Library. This means a significant reduction in wear-and-tear on the original.
For more information about the Baist Atlas, and The Seattle Public Library’s Neighborhood History Project, visit the project webpage at http://www.spl.org/neighborhoodhistory.
©2013 Kirby Lindsay. This column is protected by intellectual property laws, including U.S. copyright laws. Reproduction, adaptation or distribution without permission is prohibited.