1897 Map of Seattle

About this map

Seattle serves as the focal point of this turn-of-the-century landscape, a period when the city's urban footprint was concentrated around Elliott Bay and the industrial corridors of the Columbia & Puget Sound RR. The map illustrates a region in rapid transition, where early landings like Curtis Landing and Robinson Landing dot the shores of Lake Washington, and the Northern Pacific RR connects emerging timber and trade hubs like Everett and Snohomish. Beyond the growing city core, the geography is defined by maritime points such as Alki Pt. and West Pt., while Mercer Island remains largely undeveloped. The presence of the Fort Madison Indian Reservation on the Kitsap Peninsula side of Possession Sound highlights the complex cultural and political boundaries of the era, while named water bodies like Green Lake and Salmon Bay mark the edges of the expanding metropolitan frontier.