Commemorating the Ship Canal Centennial: the Mills of Salmon Bay

Detail of photograph of Sobey Manufacturing Shingle Mill, 1915. Item 51879, Series 2613-07, Engineering Department Photographic Negatives, Seattle Municipal Archives.

Detail from cross-section drawing of the Seattle Cedar Lumber Manufacturing Company mill, 1915. Series 276, Salmon Bay Waterway Condemnation Survey No. 1255, King County Archives.

Plat of Salmon Bay Road, 1880. Road Book Volume 4, Series 30, King County Commissioners’ Road Books, King County Archives.

Announcing the opening of a joint exhibit from the King County Archives and the Seattle Municipal Archives:

The Mills of Salmon Bay and the Lake Washington Ship Canal

Created in commemoration of the Lake Washington Ship Canal Centennial, our new exhibit presents a history of the sawmills and shingle mills in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood that were affected by the canal.

The exhibit is part of Making the Cut, a series of exhibits, projects, and events from local organizations and individuals commemorating the centennial of the canal’s opening.

Exhibit background

On July 4, 1917, fifty-thousand people celebrated the opening of Seattle’s Lake Washington Ship Canal with fireworks, a carnival, and a boat parade.

Some forty years had passed between when the Ship Canal was first envisioned by non-native settlers and its completion. One of the last decisions to be made about the canal’s design was the placement of the locks, which would impact the sawmills and shingle mills along Ballard’s Salmon Bay.

The Mills of Salmon Bay and the Lake Washington Ship Canal features maps, technical drawings (steampunk fans take notice!), and photographs that were created by the City of Seattle and King County for the canal project. These records provide a view into the operation of these early 20th Century mills.

The exhibit presents a brief history of the Salmon Bay mills, regional labor issues in the timber industry, and the impact of the canal’s design and construction on Ballard’s Shingletown.