Researched and written by Eleanor Boba
Seattle’s
Lake Union has served for more than a century and a half as a home for
maritime industries, floating homes, and water-based recreation. It
has also been a transportation hub for everything from portaged
canoes to historic sailing ships to float planes.
In 1970, nearly a half century
ago, a photographer traveled Seattle’s inland waterways from the
Ship Canal to Lake Washington. We do not know who this individual
was; the effort may have had something to do with the Corps of
Engineers’ work building trails along the route of the Ship Canal.
The images, in the care of the Friends of the Ballard Locks, provide
a somewhat rare waterside view of the structures along the
shorelines. Today we offer a selection featuring a look at Lake Union
on October 13, 1970.
Catalog
#011.126
The
Vic Franck boat works built and repaired wooden boats for decades at
the north end of Lake Union. Established in 1927 by Victor Arthur
Franck, the business remained in the hands of the Franck family until
the death of son Vic Franck in 2005. Some famous boats built here
include the Tatoosh, an 80-foot sailboat owned by actor Peter
Fonda and the 104-foot yacht Kakki M., later named the
Dorothea.
Catalog
#011.128
Lake
Union has served as a graveyard for ships in more than one way. For
many years following World War I, the unwanted hulks of the nation’s
Emergency Fleet Corporation lay dormant in the middle of the lake.
Many wrecks, including a navy patrol craft, a minesweeper, and at
least one automobile, lie at the lake’s bottom. Despite the busy
industrial nature of the lake, wrecked and abandoned vessels have
been a fairly common sight for decades. In this photo, the cannery
tug Alitak lies bow up.
Catalog
#011.130
Our
catalog lists these homes as “Copeland houseboats.” The Copeland
brothers, Gerry and Grant, designed the floating home community on
Portage Bay, which later became the Portage-At-Bay cooperative in the
late-1960s. Portage Bay is the body of water connecting Lake Union to
the Montlake Cut.
Catalog
#011.134
Some
more of the lake’s many floating homes, with Union Harbor Condos
behind at 2301 Fairview East.
Catalog
#011.137
Many
a tug made its way through the Ship Canal to Pioneer Sand &
Gravel Company on Lake Union’s east shore. The products the company
shipped in from its gravel pit in Steilacoom and elsewhere were much
in demand for the city’s building boom. The bunkers were located at
901 Fairview Avenue North, approximately where Duke’s Chowder House
is located today.
Catalog
#011.139
The
west side of Lake Union with Queen Anne Hill as a backdrop. The AGC
(Associated General Contractors) building dominates the skyline. A
seaplane skims the waters. The office building, at that time known as
the Northwest Construction Center, is still under construction in the
photo.
Catalog
#011.140
Like
the AGC building, the Lake Union Building, still under construction
here, was built on pilings over the water. When complete, it offered
seven stories of commercial space and its own marina.
Catalog
#011.143
The
Lake Union Elks Club was easily spotted from the water by the
enormous word ELKS atop the building. Although the Seattle Elks
(Lodge No. 92) left the building in the mid-1990s, the structure
still stands and houses the China Harbor restaurant.
Catalog
#011.144
The
famed Seattle Gas Works were a going concern from 1907 until 1956. In
1975, five years after this photo was snapped, the abandoned and
highly-polluted site was turned into an innovative park.
Catalog
#011.150
The
old Naval Reserve Building, now the Museum of History and Industry.
MOHAI officially opened at this location in 2012. The reserve
building, or Armory, was designed by renowned architects B. Marcus
Priteca and William R. Grant and dedicated on July 4, 1942, as the
United States ramped up its involvement in World War II. In 1998 the
Navy abandoned its interest in the building and its future was
precarious until the MOHAI deal was struck. Today the structure
anchors the newly developed Lake Union Park. Heritage ships are
berthed at the wharf just out of frame at left. The Center for Wooden
Boats occupies a series of waterways to the east of the building. The
smokestacks of the city’s former Lake Union Steam Plant, now a
biotech company, can be seen in the background at left. The structure
at right has been demolished.
Catalog
#011.151
Our
last image shows a barge loaded with pre-fabricated housing units
headed to Alaska.
All images are used courtesy of the U.S Army Corps of Engineers
for a commemorative Great Miter Retire 5K Fun Run at 10 am, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023, at https://www.facebook.com/ChittendenLocks!
or run 
along these engineering marvels one last time during this fun run that'll start and end at these gates.
https://www.discovernw.org/great-miter-gate-fun-run.html or scan the QC code, to register or for more info. 
