William Delbert Barkhuff Photographs, 1892-1921

William Delbert Barkhuff was born at Fayette, Iowa, June 10, 1873, and came west with his parents in 1875. They located at what was then Leitchville (since abandoned) seven miles west of Colton, Washington. He enrolled at the State College of Washington on the opening day in 1892 and was the first editor of the college paper, then called the College Record. He would normally have graduated with the first class, but he stayed out of school one year to earn money, and subsequently graduated with the Class of 1898. After Barkhuff graduated, he was an engineer with the Northern Pacific Railroad in establishing what was known as the Auburn Cut-off that made Seattle rather than Tacoma its terminus. Other positions held by Barkhuff include: City Engineer for Everett; construction engineer with the Union Pacific and the Spokane International, for which he was in charge of constructing some 30 miles of railroad out Dawson City, Alaska; district engineer in Seattle; Superintendent of Streets and Sewers for Seattle; and finally, starting circa 1921, City Engineer for Seattle under three different mayors. In 1930, William Barkhuff was killed in an automobile accident while on his way to Camano Island.