The Harbor Department was created by the City Charter of 1890. The Charter authorized the City Council to regulate wharfage and dockage tolls, regulate landings and berths for water craft, and provide general control of wharves and docks. The City Council could also order construction of wharves, docks, and other "landing places." The Port Warden was appointed by the mayor as the head of the Harbor Department.
In 1962, the charter article creating the Harbor Department and office of the Port Warden was repealed by charter amendment; the functions of the department were assigned to other city departments by ordinance.
The Port Warden monthly reports include statistics on tonnage and value of goods imported and exported through the port of Seattle. Import and export information is organized by port of origination or destination and further organized by type of merchandise. Also included is information on arrivals and departures of vessels, number of passsengers and ports of destination, and financial information (including revenues and disbursements) for the Harbor Department's office.
Reports are arranged chronologically by month and year.
Records are open to the public.
[Item and date], Port Warden Reports, Record Series 1802-C7. Box [number], Folder [number]. Seattle Municipal Archives.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.