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All Over The Map: The Mystery of the Phantom Canal

A detail from a 1913 map of Seattle showing a canal in the Industrial Area didn't help much in a search for evidence in the area depicted on the map. (Feliks Banel/KIRO Newsradio) An early 20th century map of Seattle shows a canal that was part of a scheme to connect Elliott Bay to Lake Washington. (Courtesy David B. Williams) A detail from a 1969 topographic map is annotated to show the route of the South Canal; a notch in the side of Beacon Hill where South Columbia Way now runs was created by workers sluicing away soil as part of the canal's construction. (USGS Archives) Hinds Street may be the south boundary of where the canal was planned or where it might have actually been at least partially dug. (Feliks Banel/KIRO Radio) Horton Street may have been the canal's north boundary. (Feliks Banel/KIRO Newsradio) Construction south of Horton Street offers a tantalizing glimpse into what might have once been the South Canal. (Feliks Banel/KIRO Newsradio) Evidence of the South Canal might be hard to come by, even with ground-penetrating radar; construction currently underway south of Horton Street is probably the closest view anyone will ever get. (Feliks Banel/KIRO Newsradio) Detail from a 1909 USGS map of Seattle shows how different the area around what's now Harbor Island and the East Waterway and West Waterway looked more than a century ago; approximate route of "phantom" South Canal is marked in red. (Feliks Banel/KIRO Newsradio)
All Over The Map: The Mystery of the Phantom Canal