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Engineering Department Court Engineering Records, 1890-1982

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Seattle (Wash.). Engineering Dept.
Title
Engineering Department Court Engineering Records
Dates
1890-1982 (inclusive)
Quantity
13.1 cubic ft., ((31 boxes))
Collection Number
2608-05
Summary
Records of the Seattle Engineering Department's Court Engineering division. Records include annual reports, maps, drawings, correspondence, and documentation of legal proceedings.
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
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Historical Note

The Engineering Department (SED) maintained the City's streets and bridges, designed and oversaw construction of public works projects, provided traffic and transportation planning, and operated the sewer and solid waste utility. The position of City Surveyor was created in 1873 to survey the City, establish boundaries and street grades, and administer condemnation processes. This position was renamed City Engineer in 1890. In 1931 the Engineering Department absorbed part of the Department of Public Utilities and in 1936 it assumed the responsibilities of the Department of Streets and Sewers and the Traffic Department. In 1997, the water, solid waste, drainage, and wastewater utilities from the Engineering and Water departments were merged with the Engineering Services Division of SED and the Customer Service Call Center and Construction Engineering Sections of City Light to form Seattle Public Utilities. The traffic and transportation functions of the Engineering Department were consolidated in the Seattle Transportation Department.

Court Engineering, a division of the Engineering Department, provided engineering services primarily to the Law and Legislative Departments until the early 1990s. Court Engineering researched condemnation ordinances, damage suits, appeals from assessment rolls, and suits to quiet title. In the early years of the Engineering Department, Court Engineering was also responsible for surveying land for various purposes such as the Cedar River Watershed and land around Newcastle for a water reservoir. Work relating to condemnations included regrades, widening, sewers, and street extensions. As the City grew, court work related to bridges, city facilities, and arterial highways became a part of the scope of their work. Also known as the Legal Engineering Division, or the Court and Right of Way section, the division worked with City Council and Corporation Counsel to draft agreements with other governmental agencies and researched legislation pertaining to Engineering Department functions. Work also included obtaining necessary franchises and permits and assuring compliance with environmental laws.

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Content Description

Records related to condemnations for regrades, street widening, sewers, and street extensions; damage suits; appeals from assessment rolls; land surveys in the Cedar River Watershed and the area around Newcastle for a water reservoir; and court work related to bridges, city facilities, and arterial highways. Records include annual reports, maps, drawings, reports, and correspondence. Documentation of legal proceedings and legislative history is also included in some cases. Also included are photographs of University Way, Lake Union, Cedar River watershed and other scenes. Of note are records documenting the proposal to build a bridge from Seward Park to Mercer Island in the 1920s, Railroad Avenue seawall plans, a report on the South Sewer Tunnel from 1925, and maps pertaining to the dredging of the Duwamish River dating from 1917 to 1927. Legal issues associated with several bridges and viaducts are well documented, including: the West Spokane Street Bridge Number 1, the Spokane Street Drawbridge, the University Bridge and the Albro Place Viaduct. Other subjects include extension of the sewer system, the Cedar River watershed and pipelines, Tolt River water system project, street and highway construction, and railroad right-of-way negotiations.

Annual reports from 1909 to 1958 describe the work of the section, and information on salaries and classification of engineers is especially well-documented from 1932 to 1938. Court work is documented through maps, reports, notebooks and correspondence. Documentation of legal proceedings and legislative history is also included in some cases. Maps and drawings are included in almost every folder.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

[Item and date], Seattle Engineering Department Court Engineering Records, Record Series 2608-05. Box [number], Folder [number]. Seattle Municipal Archives.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged in five sub-series: Central files, Proposed Condemnations and Condemnations, Project Files, Water System Projects, and Notebooks.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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

Finding aid prepared by Anne Frantilla
2004

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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