![\"seattle-waterfront-1\"](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/seattle-waterfront-1.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo: <\/span>Seattle Municipal Archives\/Flickr<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\nEuropean settlers first set foot in what is now Seattle in 1792, but it took 60 years for a sawmill and wharf to be built in the area. Maritime trade was a huge industry for the city even in those days, and\u00a0according to HistoryLink<\/a>,\u00a0by 1911 King County residents had voted to create the Port of Seattle.<\/p>\n In 1910, the Grand Trunk Pacific dock at the Port of Seattle\u00a0was the largest wooden pier in North America. Three years later, in 1914, it was burnt to a crisp \u2014 though it was\u00a0rebuilt, the new structure lacked the grand tower<\/a>\u00a0that the first had.<\/p>\n As Seattle continued to develop, some people set up shacks on the tide flats.<\/p>\n There wasn’t much action on the Seattle waterfront during the 1920s due to the shipping slump after World War I and during the Great Depression<\/a>. Builders wrecked this trestle at Railroad Avenue, but didn’t have the money to fix it.<\/p>\n In the mid-1930s, thanks to federal aid, the city replaced the wooden Railroad Avenue with a seawall and Alaskan Way.<\/p>\n During World War II,\u00a0the central waterfront piers at the Port of Seattle were given numbers when the federal government imposed a uniform system in order to better manage shipments.<\/p>\n According to HistoryLink<\/a>, Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct was built in the early 1950s to divert Highway 99 traffic from downtown streets; it also walled the harbor off from the city. Meanwhile, port activity stagnated as Seattle’s outdated facilities failed to accommodate changing shipping technology.<\/p>\n In the early 1960s, the\u00a0vast Pier 46 and similar facilities on Harbor Island and along the Duwamish Waterway were constructed. The famous Edgewater Hotel was also built for the 1962 World’s Fair. The Beatles<\/a> stayed there and helped put the Seattle waterfront on the map.<\/p>\n Recreational development of the Seattle waterfront began in the 1970s. The city converted old pier sheds into shops and restaurants, and also\u00a0rehabilitated Pioneer Square and Pike Place Market. Myrtle Edwards Park, Waterfront Park and the Seattle Aquarium were all built, making the Seattle waterfront an iconic destination.<\/p>\n By the 1980s, the Seattle waterfront was buzzing with recreation and industry.\u00a0In 1982, a streetcar line was created to\u00a0link the city’s\u00a0abundant historical and waterfront attractions.<\/p>\n A new urban design for the Seattle waterfront advanced in the mid-1990s with the construction of the Port of Seattle’s modern headquarters at Pier 69 and the opening of the\u00a0Bell Street Pier complex. The complex began serving Alaska-bound cruise ships in the spring of 2000. <\/span><\/p>\n Development continues on the Seattle waterfront \u2014 there’s now a giant ferris wheel and a new park is in the works. Who knows what’s next! <\/span><\/p>\n Watch Seattle’s waterfront grow from a small hub in the 1800s to the busy port it is today. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":156259,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11108],"tags":[11105,11131,11175],"coauthors":[8840],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nSeattle waterfront fire station with fireboats Snoqualmie and Duwamish, 1910<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a>Photo: <\/span>Seattle Municipal Archives\/Flickr<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\nPort of Seattle, 1914<\/h2>\n
Photo: Seattle Municipal Archives\/Flickr<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nShacks on the tide flats, 1915<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a>Photo: Seattle Municipal Archives\/Flickr<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\nWrecked trestle at Railroad Avenue and Broad Street, 1923<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a>Photo: <\/span>Seattle Municipal Archives\/Flickr<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\nRailroad Avenue, 1934<\/h2>\n
Photo: Seattle Municipal Archives\/Flickr<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nSeattle waterfront near Pike Street, 1935<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a>Photo: <\/span>Seattle Municipal Archives\/Flickr<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\nShip loading at Pier 39, ca.\u00a01946<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/span>Photo: <\/span>Seattle Municipal Archives\/Flickr<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\nSeattle waterfront and skyline, 1952<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/span>Photo: <\/span>Seattle Municipal Archives\/Flickr<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\nAerial of Seattle waterfront, ca.\u00a01960<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a>Photo: <\/span>Wikimedia Commons<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\nDining on the Seattle waterfront, ca.\u00a01970<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a>Photo: <\/span>Seattle Municipal Archives\/Flickr<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\nAerial of Seattle waterfront, ca.\u00a01972<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a>Photo: <\/span>Seattle Municipal Archives\/Flickr<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\nSeattle waterfront streetcar, 1982<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a>Photo: <\/span>Seattle Municipal Archives\/Flickr<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\nHarbor Island and Duwamish Waterway, ca.\u00a01980<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a>Photo: <\/span>Seattle Municipal Archives\/Flickr<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\nSeattle waterfront, 2001<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a>Photo: <\/span>Seattle Municipal Archives\/Flickr<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n