Seattle Water Department Historical Files, 1889-1964

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Seattle (Wash.). Water Dept.
Title
Seattle Water Department Historical Files
Dates
1889-1964 (inclusive)
Quantity
4.6 cubic feet, (12 boxes)
Collection Number
8200-10
Summary
Public documents and research notes that were gathered in the process of writing a history of the Seattle Water Department.
Repository
Seattle Municipal Archives
Seattle Municipal Archives
Office of the City Clerk
City of Seattle
PO Box 94728
98124-4728
Seattle, WA
Telephone: 2062337807
Fax: 2063869025
archives@seattle.gov
Access Restrictions

Records are open to the public.

Languages
English

Historical NoteReturn to Top

From 1854 until 1890, Seattle's water was provided by wells, springs and private water companies. A public waterworks was created by City Charter Amendment in 1875. However, Seattle was served primarily by small private water companies for the next decade and a half. In 1888, prompted by a tenfold population increase during the previous decade, Seattle's mayor and city council called for an election to decide if the city should own and operate its own water system.

Shortly before the election, the "Great Seattle Fire" of June 6, 1889, destroyed the entire 64-acre business district. A major contributor to the widespread destruction was the lack of water available from the patchwork of private water suppliers. The vote on establishing a municipally-owned water system was approved by a resounding 1,875 to 51 margin.

In 1890, a U.S. Supreme Court decision allowed municipalities to issue bonds secured by future revenues. Shortly thereafter, Seattle issued $845,000 in bonds and purchased two private water companies -- the Spring Hill Water Company and the Union Water Company -- both of which pumped water from Lake Union and Lake Washington. In 1895, Seattle residents again voted to approve revenue bonds, this time to construct the Cedar River water system. Water first flowed from the Cedar River into Seattle's system on January 10, 1901. Water was diverted by a dam at Landsburg, and then was channeled into a newly-completed 28.57 mile pipeline. This pipeline carried water to the Volunteer Park and Lincoln reservoirs on Capitol Hill in Seattle, which were also built at the time. This new system had a capacity of 23.5 million gallons per day.

The system was administered by the Superintendent of Water under the auspices of the Board of Public Works. In 1905 the Department of Lighting and Water Works was created. Five years later, the Water Department became a separate entity. In 1909, a second pipeline was added, providing an additional 45 million gallon per day capacity to meet the water needs of a fast-growing Seattle. The next water supply source was not added until 1964, when the South Fork of the Tolt River began supplying north Seattle and the Eastside. In 1987, the first ground water source was added to the system when two wells in the Highline Well Field began operation. A third well was added in 1990.

In 1997 the Water Department was consolidated with the utilities of the Engineering Department to form Seattle Public Utilities.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The Water Department Historical Files, an artificial collection of public documents that were gathered in the process of writing an agency history, contains two types of records. The first type is comprised of the records that Mary McWilliams compiled from several sources within the department. These include correspondence, reports, leases, ordinances, specifications, articles and speeches, contracts, financial records, and other records relating to the history of the Water Department and the City's water system. The second type consists of McWilliams' research notes and a typescript of her book manuscript.

The departmental records that McWilliams pulled together are a valuable compilation of materials that cannot be found elsewhere. Examples are Superintendent Luther B. Youngs' correspondence (1906-1923); various reports on the water system and water-related issues by Benezette Williams, Reginald H. Thomson, and Virgil Bogue; forest management correspondence and reports by the department's forester, Allen E. Thompson; health and sanitation records related to the watershed; and documents providing information on logging and railroads in the watershed. The records also provide a glimpse at the organizational structure of the department, municipal utility finances, and other detailed minutiae including equipment inventories and civil service issues.

A small body of material was added to the collection after McWilliams finished the book. Presumably this was done with the idea that the collection would serve as a living body of records that would serve a reference function for the department.

McWilliams' research notes include drafts of topical sections, partial transcriptions of interviews, transcribed copies of records that she was not allowed to compile into this collection, and various other notes. Examples include 13 pages she transcribed from the 1916 Joint Report of the City Engineer and Superintendent of Water Works, and a 1934 report by R.H. Thomson on the possibility of incorporating the Tolt River watershed into the City's water system. In using these notes, researchers should be aware the dates given to the folders are the dates McWilliams compiled the notes. The dates of issues and events covered by the notes are often found in the folder titles.

Other Descriptive InformationReturn to Top

In 1914, assistant superintendent John Lamb produced a brief departmental history titled Seattle Municipal Water Plant. In 1947, superintendent Chester Morse assigned G.B. Schunke the task of updating Lamb's work. Schunke in turn assigned the job to David Wallborn. However, Wallborn died within five months and the project was set aside until March 1949, when an ordinance was passed appropriating funds to compile the history.

Morse again assigned the writing to Schunke; unfortunately he died in May. Morse then requested that Mary McWilliams, a stenographer in the department for over three decades, postpone retirement in order to compile data and information so he could put together a chronicle. However, Morse himself died in September 1949, and the responsibility for writing the history was given to McWilliams.

McWilliams gathered historical documents, especially related to the Cedar River Watershed and the pipelines, and corresponded with or interviewed former department employees and City officials. Her work was published by the City in 1955 under the title Seattle Water Department History, 1854-1954: Operational Data and Memoranda.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Preferred Citation

[Item and date], Seattle Water Department Historical Files, Record Series 8200-10. Box [number], Folder [number]. Seattle Municipal Archives.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into the following categories:

  • Administration
  • Finance
  • Forest Management
  • Lighting
  • Property Acquisition
  • Railroads
  • Storage and Distribution
  • Timber
  • Water Quality
  • Water Systems
  • Mary McWilliams Research Notes

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Administrative RecordsReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Subseries 1: Annual Reports
Box/Folder
1/1
Annual Report.
 1895
1/2
Annual Report.
 1896
1/3
Annual Report. Synopsis of the Present Conditions and Needs.
 1898-1899
1/4
Annual Report. Synopsis of the Present Conditions and Needs.
 1899-1900
1/5
Annual Report.
 1901
1/6
Annual Report.
 1910
1/7
Annual Report.
 1912
1/8
Annual Report.
 1913
1/9
Annual Report.
 1914
1/10
Annual Report.
 1915
1/11
Annual Report.
 1924
1/12
Annual Report.
 1926-1927
Subseries 2: Superintendents' Correspondence
Box/Folder
1/13
L.B. Youngs, Superintendent. Correspondence.
 1906-1907
1/14
L.B. Youngs, Superintendent. Correspondence.
 1908
1/15
L.B. Youngs, Superintendent. Correspondence.
 1909
1/16
L.B. Youngs, Superintendent. Correspondence.
 1910
1/17
L.B. Youngs, Superintendent. Correspondence.
 1911
1/18
L.B. Youngs, Superintendent. Correspondence.
 1912-1913
1/19
L.B. Youngs, Superintendent. Correspondence.
 1914-1916
1/20
L.B. Youngs, Superintendent. Correspondence.
 1917-1919
1/21
L.B. Youngs, Superintendent. Correspondence.
 1921-1923
1/22
George F. Russell, Superintendent. Correspondence.
 1923-1925
1/23
L. Murray Grant, Superintendent. Correspondence.
 1926-1927
1/24
W.B. Severyns, Superintendent. Correspondence.
 1928-1930
1/25
A.F. Marion, Superintendent. Correspondence.
 1931
1/26
H.D. Fowler, Superintendent. Correspondence.
 1934
1/27
W.C. Morse. Superintendent. Correspondence.
 1940-1947
1/28
Ray Heath, Superintendent. Reports, Presentations and Published Articles.
 1956-1964
1/29
Ray Heath, Superintendent. Brief Sketch of Career.
 1966
Subseries 3: Issue/Subject Files
Box/Folder
1/30
Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition.
 1908-1910
1/31
Brief Statement of the Operations of the Washington Territory Volunteer Force as it Affected Cedar River Watershed History. Muster.
 1856
1/32
Cedar River Watershed Transient Camps. Typhoid Vaccinations.
 1923-1934
1/33
City Charter. Response to Proposal for Commission Form of City Government.
 1916
1/34
City Water Statistics.
 1902-1904
2/1
Corresondence Related to Water Works Laws and Rules.
 1909-1935
2/2
Court Cases Related to Water Works.
 1906-1934
2/3
Decade of Progess of the Seattle Water Department.
 1965
2/4
Estimated Cost Per Capita of Operating City Government.
 1909-1914
2/5
Fire Boat Alki Acceptance Tests.
 1927-1928
2/6
Fort Tilton History, 1856. Cedar River Watershed.
 1927-1949
2/7
Frost Depth Penetration.
 1929
2/8
James M. Ferguson, Maintenance Engineer Correspondence.
 1923-1927
2/9
Final Report to the Board of Public Works on Specifications for the Proposed Water Works System (Benezette Williams).
 1891
2/10
Green Lake Replenishing Report. Park Board Committee.
 1922
2/11
Henry R. Herold, Chief Engineer.
 1968
2/12
Lake Youngs Development.
 1924-1927
2/13
John Lamb Correspondence.
 1911-1928
2/14
Legal Opinions Related to Water Works.
 1913-1932
2/15
Lewis & Wiley Inc. Jackson and Dearborn Streets Regrades.
 1908-1912
2/16
New Chamber of Commerce Report on Cedar River Water System.
 1911
2/17
Notes on Placing Lake Youngs Reservoir in Service.
 1925
2/18
Preliminary Report to the Mayor and City Council on a Proposed Water Works System (Benezette Williams).
 1889
2/19
Presidential Proclamations. Washington Forest Reserve Snoqualmie National Forest.
 1902-1911
2/20
Public Relations.
 1909-1948
2/21
Report of the Proposed Tide Lands of Seattle Harbor, By Virgil G. Bogue.
 1895
2/22
Report on the Industrial Water Supply of Seattle and the Industrial Zoning of Lake Washington. Chamber of Commerce.
 1927
2/23
G.B. Schunke, Assistant Superintendent.
 1939-1949
2/24
Seattle Population.
 1900-1941
2/25
Starting of a Bridge in Bellevue (Speech).
 1938
2/26
Swan Lake Development.
 1920
2/27
Allen E. Thompson. American Forestry Association Conservation Award Nomination.
 1956-1958
2/28
The Use and Development of the Cedar River Watershed, by Allen E. Thompson.
 1948
2/29
Water for Canal Lockage.
 1938
2/30
Water Troughs and Horse Drinking Fountains.
 1906-1943
2/31
Water Works Report. Seattle Chamber of Commerce.
 1894
2/32
Water Flow Test. City Hydrants near Todd Dry Dock.
 1923
2/33
World War I. Issues and Affects.
 1917-1921
2/34
World War II. Issues.
 1941-1942
Subseries 4: Personnel and Payroll
Box/Folder
2/35
Civil Service.
 1927
2/36
Civil Service Employee Efficiency Ratings.
 1921-1922
2/37
Employee Lists.
 1908-1910
2/38
Employees Requiring Transportation on Street Railways.
 1911-1912
2/39
Industrial Insurance Costs.
 1925-1930
2/40
Personnel Issues.
 1908-1927
2/41
Salary and Classification Issues.
 1921-1923
2/42
Salary and Positions. Correspondence.
 1909-1927
2/43
Salaries by Position.
 1902-1927
2/44
Unemployment Issues.
 1925-1932
Subseries 5: Property/Office Space
Box/Folder
3/1
Office Locations.
 1908-1913
3/2
Office Locations. Lease and Agreements.
 1907-1915
3/3
Water Department Properties by District.
 1947
3/4
South Shops.
 1908-1932
Subseries 6: Supplies and Equipment
Box/Folder
3/5
Horses and Vehicles.
 1906-1921
3/6
Horses in Water Department.
 1910
3/7
Hydrolic Turbine Pumps.
 1934-1935
3/8
Inventory. Equipment on Hand at Landsburg.
 1918
3/9
Inventory of Furniture (Jan. 1).
 1913
3/10
Inventory of Stock and Supplies (Jan. 1).
 1907
3/11
Inventory of Stock and Supplies.
 1910
3/12
Inventory. Summary of Water Department Inventory.
 1906
3/13
Inventory of Tools, Property, and 6" Valves on Pipeline.
 1901
3/14
Pont-a-Mousson Cast Iron Pipe.
 1924-1926
Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
3/15
Accounting System. Proposed Comptroller Work.
 1922
3/16
Accounting System. Schedule of Accounts.
 1914
3/17
Accounting System. Notes on New Accounting System, Light and Water Department.
 1910-1911
3/18
Accounting System. Voters Information League. Analysis of Water Department Financial Condition and Department Response.
 1927
3/19
Financial Operations Annual Report.
 1913
3/20
Financial Operations Annual Report.
 1914
3/21
Financial Operations Annual Report.
 1915
3/22
Financial Operations Annual Report.
 1916
3/23
Financial Operations Annual Report.
 1917
3/24
Financial Operations Annual Report.
 1918
3/25
Financial Operations Annual Report.
 1919
4/1
Financial Operations Annual Report.
 1920
4/2
Financial Operations Annual Report.
 1921
4/3
Budget Estimates Including Salaries by Position.
 1906-1911
4/4
Cost of Water Plant.
 1906-1909
4/5
Financial Matters. Miscellaneous.
 1911-1935
4/6
Financial Statements.
 1912-1926
4/7
Local Improvement District Costs.
 1922-1925
4/8
Loans form Water Fund to Cedar River Watershed Extension Utility Bond Fund.
 1917-1928
4/9
Masonry Dam. Financial Statements.
 1917
4/10
Revenues and Expenses, Estimated.
 1921-1935
4/11
Revenues and Expenses Comparison.
 1893-1920
4/12
State Auditor Report, Water Department First Examination.
 1915
4/13
Taxes. Cost for the Maintenance of City Government.
 1923
4/14
Trial Balance, General Ledger.
 1908-1912
4/15
Water Fund. Approxiamate Statement of Construction Expenditures.
 1908
4/16
Water Funds. Bonds and Bonded Indeptedness.
 1908-1934
4/17
Water Rates Issues.
 1916
4/18
Water Rates. Correspondence.
 1914
4/19
Water Supply and Changes. Commercial Property.
 1915-1916

Forest ManagementReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
4/20
Fire Protection. Patrolling the Cedar River Watershed.
 1918-1919
4/21
Fires in the Cedar River Watershed.
 1920-1927
4/22
Cedar River Watershed Forest Management.
 1911-1915
4/23
Cedar River Watershed Forest Management.
 1916
4/24
Forest Management on the Cedar River Watershed, by Allen E. Thompson.
 1949
4/25
Hamilton C. Johnson. Cedar River Watershed Forest Ranger.
 1912-1915
4/26
Report of the Forester on the Cedar River Watershed.
 1925-1929
5/1
Report on Planting Operations. Spring 1925.
 1925
5/2
Report on the Reforestation of the Lands in the Cedar River Watershed (RH Ober and HC Johnson Report).
 1913
5/3
Report on the Reforestation of the Lands in the Cedar River Watershed (RH Ober and HC Johnson Report).
 1913
5/4
Allen E. Thompson. Reports, Presentations and Published Articles on Forest Management.
 1948-1963
5/5
Tree Planting and Reforestation in the Cedar River Watershed.
 1914-1950

LightingReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
5/6
Moore Theater. Street Lighting.
 1909
5/7
Street Lighting Specifications.
 1897
5/8
Union Electric Company Agreement.
 1893
5/9
Contract Electric Lighting. Investigation of Costs.
 undated

Property AcquisitionReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
5/10
Cedar River Watershed. Abstract of Title. SE Quarter, Sect. 15, Township 23.
 1910
5/11
Cedar River Watershed Condemnation Account.
 1913
5/12
Ellet Property. Purchase and Condemnation. Appraisal, Timber Cruise and Condemnation.
 1891-1925
5/13
Hearing to Authorize Seattle to Purchase Federal Lands to Protect Source of Water Supply (U.S. House Committee on Public Lands).
 1911
5/14
Judgement on Verdicts. Ordinance 3990.
 1895
5/15
Town of Cedar Falls. Leases.
 1920
5/16
Town of Cedar Falls. Leases.
 1921-1928
5/17
Town of Cedar Falls. Leases. Correspondence.
 1920-1927
5/18
Town of Cedar Falls. Assignment and Releases of Leases.
 1921-1928
5/19
Property Ownership and Transactions.
 1899-1923
5/20
Forestry. Purchase of Lands in Cedar River Watershed.
 1899-1913
5/21
Real Property in Custody of Water Department. Property Value.
 1917-1934
5/22
Relinquishment of Rights to Land by City.
 1922-1923
6/1
Report on Cedar River Watershed Proposed Land Grant to the City of Seattle.
 1910
6/2
Seattle Tidelands. Acquisition and Sale.
 1923-1946
6/3
Wood's Greenlake Park Addition. Quit Claim Deeds, Real Estate Contracts, Correspondence.
 1925-1928

RailroadsReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
6/4
Cedar Falls Railway. Cost Adjustment Between Lighting and Water Departments.
 1913-1916
6/5
Railroads in the Cedar River Watershed. Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific RR Co.
 1909-1934
6/6
Chicago, St. Paul and Pacific Rail Road Company.
 1907-1919
6/7
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific RailRoad Company.
 1920-1934
6/8
Railroads in the Cedar River Watershed. Columbia and Puget Sound Railway Company.
 1909
6/9
Railroads in the Cedar River Watershed. Great Northern Railway Company.
 1925
6/10
Great Northern Railway Line.
 1906-1907
6/11
Railroads in the Cedar River Watershed. Northern Pacific Railway Co.
 1908-1925
6/12
Railroads in the Cedar River Watershed. Pacific Coast Railroad Co.
 1917-1934
6/13
Report on Logging Railroads of Pacific States Lumber Co.
 undated
6/14
Seattle Southeastern Railway Company.
 1910

Storage and DistributionReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
6/15
Distribution Costs.
 1910-1919
6/16
Municipal League Report on Breaks in Cedar River Pipeline.
 1916
6/17
Pipeline Capacities and Proposed Extensions of Water Supply.
 1938-1939
6/18
Pipeline Data.
 1910-1940
6/19
Pipeline Data. Engineering News Record.
 1913-1946
6/20
Pipeline Data. Pont-a-Mousson Pipe.
 1925-1930
6/21
Pipeline #1. Beacon Avenue Reservoir and Pipeline.
 1916-1928
6/22
Pipeline #1. Claims, Receipts, and Water Fund Warrants.
 1889-1901
6/23
Pipeline #1. Construction. Pacific Bridge Co.
 1899-1901
6/24
Pipeline #1. Damage/Independent Work Assessment from Construction.
 1909-1910
6/25
Pipeline #1. Estimates of Work Completed, Division 1. Pacific Bridge Co.
 1899-1901
7/1
Pipeline #1. Municipal League Report. Water System Investigation.
 1925
7/2
Pipeline #1. WH Plachy Correspondence. First Pipeline Surveyor.
 1913-1927
7/3
Pipeline #1. Reconstruction Costs.
 1911-1917
7/4
Pipeline #1. Reconstruction Costs. Comparative Statements.
 1916-1917
7/5
Pipeline #1. Right of Way.
 1901-1926
7/6
Pipeline #1. Steel Pipe.
 1910-1928
7/7
Pipeline #1. Wood Staves.
 1908-1913
7/8
Pipeline #2. Correspondence and Estimates.
 1908-1925
7/9
Pipeline #2. Estimates of Work Completed, Divisions 2 and 3. Smyth, Wakefield and David.
 1899
7/10
Pipeline #2 and 3. Correspondence and Agreements.
 1909-1920
7/11
Pipeline #2 and 3. Correspondence and Agreements.
 1922-1928
7/12
Pipeline #2 and 3. Correspondence and Agreements.
 1931-1933
7/13
Pipeline #3. Correspondence and Agreements.
 1913-1920
7/14
Pipeline #3. Correspondence and Agreements.
 1921-1930
7/15
Pipeline #3. Correspondence and Agreements.
 1931-1933
7/16
Pipeline #3. LID 3444.
 1910-1932
7/17
Proposals, Specifications, and Contract.
 1922
7/18
Reservoirs, Water Tanks, Standpipes, and Pumping Stations.
 1904-1910
7/19
Reservoirs, Water Tanks, Standpipes, and Pumping Stations.
 1911-1920
8/1
Reservoirs, Water Tanks, Standpipes, and Pumping Stations.
 1921-1930
8/2
Reservoirs, Water Tanks, Standpipes, and Pumping Stations.
 1931-1935
8/3
Reservoirs, Water Tanks, Standpipes, and Pumping Stations. Capacity.
 1946-1947
8/4
Water Mains.
 1923-1935
8/5
Water Mains. Franchise to Lay Water Mains and Pipe. C.K. Sturdevant (Hullman City).
 1903-1906
8/6
Water Meters and Metering.
 1905-1932
Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
8/7
Cedar River Watershed. General.
 1909-1910
8/8
Cedar River Watershed. General.
 1911-1919
8/9
Cedar River Watershed. General.
 1922-1927
8/10
Cruising Instructions and Timber Purchase Contract.
 1910-1929
8/11
Cruised Timber in Cedar Lake Watershed.
 undated
8/12
Deeds. Cedar River Watershed.
 1905-1913
8/13
Logging Companies. Bowers Timber Co. Illegal Logging Dispute.
 1926-1927
8/14
Logging Companies. Cascade Timber Co. Quit Claim Deed.
 1906
8/15
Logging Companies. Cedar Lake Logging Co. Timber Sales and Land to be Submerged.
 1913-1927
8/16
Logging Companies. Kent Lumber Co. Taylor Creek Dam.
 1924
8/17
Logging Companies. Northern Pacific Railway Co. Right of Way.
 1913-1924
8/18
Logging Companies. Pacific States Lumber Co.
 1940-1941
8/19
Logging Companies. Pacific States Lumber Co.
 1937-1939
8/20
Logging Companies. Pacific States Lumber Co.
 1935-1936
8/21
Logging Companies. Pacific States Lumber Co.
 1929-1934
9/1
Logging Companies. Pacific States Lumber Co.
 1927-1928
9/2
Logging Companies. Pacific States Lumber Co.
 1922-1926
9/3
Logging Companies. Pacific States Lumber Co.
 1916-1921
9/4
Logging Companies. Pacific States Lumber Co.
 1912-1915
9/5
Logging Companies. Pacific States Lumber Co. Contracts of Sale.
 1917-1928
9/6
Logging Companies. Pacific States Lumber Co. v. City of Seattle. Chronological Statement of Exhibits Taken from the Public Record.
 1930
9/7
Logging Companies. Pacific States Lumber Co. v. City of Seattle. Stumpage.
 undated
9/8
Logging Companies. Pacific States Lumber Co. v. City of Seattle. Superior Court Documents.
 1930-1931
9/9
Report on Cruise and Appraisal.
 1915
9/10
Report on Breakage in Falling.
 1912
9/11
Sale of Timber at Cedar Lake by R.H. Ober.
 1913
9/12
Seattle Engineering Department. Lumber Inventory.
 1915
9/13
Stumpage. Cedar Lake Logging Co. and Pacific States Lumber Co.
 1916-1934
9/14
Timber Contracts and Bills of Sales.
 1902-1924
9/15
Weyerhaeuser Company. Memorandum Statement of Facts in Connection with the Acquisition of Timber Belonging to Weyerhaeuser.
 1912

Water QualityReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
9/16
Cedar River Watershed. Conditions at the Source. Chamber of Commerce Study.
 1912
9/17
Cedar River Watershed [Quality] Investigation.
 1926
9/18
Chlorination Report. Landsburg Dam Keeper, JH Hopkins.
 1916-1917
9/19
Chlorination Report. Landsburg Dam Keeper, JH Hopkins.
 1918-1919
9/20
Chlorination Report. Landsburg Dam Keeper, JH Hopkins.
 1920-1923
9/21
Chlorine Control Apparatus.
 1917-1922
9/22
Logging and Water Quality Concerns. Mark A. Matthews.
 1927
9/23
Regulations Governing the Operation and Maintenance of the Landsburg Chlorination and Copper Sulfate Treating Plants.
 1926-1927
9/24
Sanitation and Chlorination.
 1909-1910
9/25
Sanitation and Chlorination.
 1911-1920
9/26
Sanitation and Chlorination.
 1921-1925
9/27
Sanitation and Chlorination.
 1926-1930
9/28
Sanitation and Chlorination.
 1931-1934
9/29
Sanitation and Chlorination. Bacteriological Examinations.
 1911-1931
9/30
Sanitation and Chlorination. Water Analysis.
 1915-1932

Water SystemsReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
10/1
Ballard Water System.
 1903-1927
10/2
Ballard Water System. Contracts and Agreements to Supply Water. City of Ballard.
 1902-1905
10/3
Ballard and Fort Lawton Water Systems.
 undated
10/4
Columbia, Town of. Contracts and Agreements to Supply Water.
 1902-1903
10/5
Dunlap. A.H. Clambey Agreement.
 1905
10/6
Columbia Heights Water Syndicate Agreement.
 1906-1907
10/7
Fort Lawton Water System.
 1898-1924
10/8
Georgetown. Contracts and Agreements to Supply Water Georgetown Water Company.
 1903-1905
10/9
Georgetown Water System.
 1905-1921
10/10
Hillman City. Contracts and Agreements to Supply Water. R.R. Spencer
 1903
10/11
Thomas, John W. Agreement.
 1905
10/12
Systems Taken Over by Seattle.
 1904-1908

Mary McWilliams Research NotesReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
10/13
Annual Reports. (MCW Notes). 1891-1951
 1949-1952
10/14
Chlorination, 1892-1952 (MCW Notes).
 1950-1952
10/15
Chlorination. JH Hopkins Weekly Reports, 1916-1923. Landsburg Damkeeper (MCW Notes).
 1952
10/16
Cotterill, George. Interview re Revenue Bonds (MCW Notes).
 1950
10/17
Early Water Systems. Incl. Spring Hill Water Co. and Correspondence with Kinnear Family (MCW Notes).
 1949-1952
10/18
Financial Matters, 1899-1932 (MCW Notes).
 1950
10/19
Fin-Back, 1880-1881 (MCW Notes).
 1952
10/20
Fires in the Watershed (MCW Notes).
 1950-1951
10/21
Forest Ranger, Hamilton C. Johnson, 1912-1915 (MCW Notes).
 1951
10/22
Foresty and Forest Management 1925-1951 (MCW Notes).
 1949-1954
10/23
Forestry. Thompson-Winkenwerder Report (MCW Notes).
 1950
10/24
Fort Tilton History (MCW Notes).
 1950-1951
10/25
Frost Depth, 1913-1929 (MCW Notes).
 1950
10/26
Haller Lake (MCW Notes).
 1950-1951
10/27
Horses and Water Troughs (MCW Notes).
 1951
10/28
John Lamb's Water Department History (MCW Notes).
 1951-1952
10/29
Land Acquisition and Ownership Tabulations 1890-1950 (MCW Notes).
 1951-1952
10/30
Laws Relating to Water Works 1907-1944 (MCW Notes).
 1950-1951
10/31
Light and Water (MCW Notes).
 1951-1959
11/1
Logging the Watershed (MCW Notes).
 1950-1951
11/2
Logging the Watershed (MCW Notes).
 1950-1951
11/3
Men at Work Tabulations (MCW Notes).
 1950
11/4
North End Extensions (MCW).
 1950-1951
11/5
Office Locations (MCW Notes).
 1950-1951
11/6
Outside Water Systems. Contracts, Agreements and Acquisition, 1898-1950 (MCW Notes).
 1950-1951
11/7
Personnel Matters (MCW Notes).
 undated
11/8
Pipeline #1, 1891-1948 (MCW Notes).
 1950-1958
11/9
Pipeline #1. W.H. Plachy Correspondence, 1889-1922 (MCW Notes).
 1950
11/10
Pipeline #2 and 3 (MCW Notes).
 1949-1951
11/11
Pipeline #3 (MCW Notes).
 1950
11/12
Pipeline #3. Joint Report of City Engineer and Superintendent of Water Development, 1916 (MCW Notes).
 1950
11/13
Pipeline Data. 1910-1946 (MCW Notes).
 1949-1952
11/14
Public Relations, 1909-1948 (MCW Notes).
 1950-1951
11/15
Reservoirs, Tanks, Standpipes, Pumps, 1898-1933 (MCW Notes).
 1949-1952
11/16
Reservoirs, Tanks, Standpipes, Pumps. Property, 1909-1951 (MCW Notes).
 1951
11/17
Reservoirs, Tanks, Standpipes, Pumps. Storage and Distribution Capacity. 1893-1949 (MCW Notes).
 1949-1951
11/18
Revenue Bonds. Original Issue (MCW Notes).
 1951-1952
11/19
Sanitation, Health, and Water Quality (MCW Notes).
 1951
11/20
Seattle Tidelands, 1927-1946 (MCW Notes).
 1949-1951
11/21
South Shops Property, 1892-1948 (MCW Notes).
 1949-1951
11/22
Superintendents and Mayor's Lists, 1888-1950 (MCW Notes).
 1950-1951
11/23
Thompson, Allen E. Forester (MCW Notes).
 undated
11/24
Tolt River Watershed, 1928-1951 (MCW Notes).
 1951-1952
11/25
Union Electric Company, 1893-1894 (MCW Notes).
 1950
11/26
Wartime, 1916-1943 (MCW Notes).
 1950
11/27
Water-Driven Turbine Pumps, 1935-1944 (MCW Notes).
 1951-1952
11/28
Water Funds, 1909-1948 (MCW Notes).
 1950-1951
11/29
Water Meters and Metering, 1888-1949 (MCW Notes).
 1949-1951
11/30
Water System Information. Other Communities (MCW Notes).
 1950-1951
11/31
Benezette Williams Reports and Cedar River Watershed Development, 1889-1947 (MCW Notes).
 1951-1958
11/32
Abel Wolman Report and Background, 1910-1951 (MCW Notes).
 1950-1951
12/1
Manuscript Draft. (pp. 1-50).
 undated
12/2
Manuscript Draft. (pp. 51-100).
 undated
12/3
Manuscript Draft. (pp. 101-150).
 undated
12/4
Manuscript Draft. (pp. 151-200).
 undated
12/5
Manuscript Draft. (pp. 201-250).
 undated
12/6
Manuscript Draft. (pp. 251-300).
 undated
12/7
Manuscript Draft. (pp. 301-316).
 undated

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Acquisition of property--Washington (State)
  • Forest management--Washington (State)
  • Pipelines--Washington (State)
  • Railroads--Washington (State)
  • Reservoirs--Washington (State)
  • Timber--Washington (State)
  • Water distribution--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Water purification chlorination--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Water quality--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Water utilities--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Watersheds--Washington (State)

Personal Names

  • McWilliams, Mary

Corporate Names

  • Seattle (Wash.). Water Dept.

Geographical Names

  • Cedar River Watershed (King County, Wash.)
  • Seattle (Wash.)

Other Creators

  • Corporate Names
    • Seattle (Wash.). Dept. of Lighting and Water Works (creator)

Finding aid prepared by Scott Cline
2007

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