SEATTLE 



5286 



SEATTLE 



and a section of Third Avenue was also graded 

 uown. The earth removed was used in filling 

 depressions. This regrading required the re- 

 moval of 11,750,000 cubic yards of earth and 

 cost the city $3,500,000, but it transformed 

 three practically inaccessible hills into valuable 

 business centers. 



The city is attractively laid out. The streets 

 are broad and straight, and with few excep- 

 tions they cross at right angles. Most of the 

 streets extend approximately north and south 

 and east and west. The wholesale and manu- 

 facturing district borders on Puget Sound, and 

 the water front has ample dock facilities for 

 the ocean-going vessels that frequent the port. 

 Adjoining this district and on slightly higher 

 ground is the business center, characterized by 

 many substantial structures of steel and con- 

 crete and not excelled by those of any other 

 city. The residential districts are on the higher 

 elevations, and many slopes are adorned with 

 beautiful homes surrounded by lawns and gar- 

 dens. An excellent street railway system con- 

 nects all parts of the city and the adjoining 

 suburbs, and two interurban lines extend to 

 important towns in the surrounding country. 



Parks and Boulevards. The parks and boule- 

 vards are unusually complete for a city of the 

 age and size of Seattle. There are 1,815 acres 

 under the jurisdiction of the park commission- 

 ers, including forty-four improved parks and 

 twenty-four equipped . and supervised play- 

 grounds. There is a well-equipped municipal 

 beach and pavilion at Alki Point, and munici- 

 pal golf links are maintained at Jefferson Park. 

 Seward Park is on Lake Washington. A 

 zoological garden is located in Woodland Park, 

 which also has an athletic field, picnic grounds 

 and bathing and boating facilities. Ravenna is 

 noted for its large trees, mineral springs and 

 beautiful cascades. Volunteer Park, on Capitol 

 Hill, overlooks both Puget Sound and Lake 

 Washington and contains the municipal con- 

 servatory and a statue of William Henry Sew- 

 ard. The campus of the University of Wash- 

 ington, with an area of 355 acres, is noted for 

 its beautiful gardens. All these parks are con- 

 nected by boulevards and winding drives. The 

 boulevard system is about fifty miles in extent 

 and touches all the more sightly elevations in 

 and about the city. 



Buildings. Among the most attractive church 

 edifices are Saint James Cathedral, the First 

 Presbyterian, First Baptist Church and the 

 First Church of Christ Scientist. The most 

 noted business or office buildings are the L. C. 



Smith Building (forty-two stories), the highest 

 office building in America outside of New York 

 City ; the Metropolitan Building, and the Hoge, 

 Alaska and Cobb buildings. Among the public 

 buildings of note are the city and county build- 

 ing, the King Street passenger station, the 

 O.-W. and Milwaukee station, Washington Ho- 

 tel and Providence Hospital. The Metropoli- 

 tan, Moore, Pantages, Wilkes and Orpheum are 

 the leading theaters. The Arctic, Sunset and 

 Rainier clubs are each housed in beautiful and 

 commodious structures. 



Manufactures. Inexpensive water power and 

 electric power obtained from plants in the 

 surrounding country have made Seattle the 

 most important manufacturing center in the 

 northwestern part of the United States. The 

 manufacture of lumber and lumber products 

 is the leading industry of Western Washington, 

 and shipbuilding that of Seattle. The fisheries 

 of Alaska and Puget Sound are centralized in 

 Seattle, and it is estimated that 100,000 tons of 

 fish and fish products are handled each year. 

 More than $7,000,000 worth of salmon, halibut 

 and cod are packed or shipped in ice, and 

 large quantities of salmon are canned here. 

 Slaughtering and meat packing, the manufac- 

 ture of flour, printing and publishing, and the 

 manufacture of machinery are among the other 

 leading industries. Port Blakeley's lumber 

 mills are the largest in the world. 



Transportation and Commerce. Seattle is the 

 terminus of eight transcontinental lines of rail- 

 way, four of which the Great Northern, the 

 Northern Pacific, the Chicago, Milwaukee & 

 Saint Paul and the Union Pacific enter the 

 city over their own tracks. The Southern Pa- 

 cific and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 

 have traffic arrangements with other lines, and 

 the Canadian Pacific and Grand Trunk Pacific 

 have steamship connection. Elliott Bay, the 

 central harbor of Seattle, is one of the best 

 land-locked harbors in the world. Owing to its 

 northern location, the routes between Seattle 

 and the ports of China and Japan are shorter 

 than those between the Orient and any other 

 port in the United States, and this advantage 

 has made Seattle one of the leading seaports of 

 the country. Large quantities of silk, tea and 

 other commodities entering the United States 

 from the Orient pass through the city. Seat- 

 tle is the headquarters for trade with Alaska, 

 and the trade with the surrounding country is 

 also important. The Assay Office here handles 

 all the gold that comes from Alaska and the 

 Yukon region. 



