Gas Works Park - Early History

Early History

Gas Works Park occupies a 20.5 acres (8.3 hectares) promontory between the northwest and northeast arms of Lake Union. Little is known of pre–Euro-American site history, but there were Native American settlements around Lake Union. Native names for Lake Union include Kah-chug, Tenas Chuck, and Xa’ten. In the mid-19th century Thomas Mercer named it “Lake Union” in expectation of future canals linking it to Puget Sound and to Lake Washington. Dense forests still came down to the water’s edge and the lake drained into Salmon Bay through a stream “full of windfalls and brush, impassable even for a canoe”. (Bass 1947, p33) Lake Union in the 1860-70s was a popular vacation spot with Seattleites for summer house-boating and picnicking.

Several sawmills were operating on Lake Union's shore by the 1850s, taking advantage of the dense forests. Beginning in 1872, Seattle Coal and Transportation Company ferried coal from its Renton Hill mines across the lake for portage across to Puget Sound. In the 1880s came the Denny sawmill at the south end of Lake Union, brick manufacturing, ship building, a tannery, and iron works. Canals with small locks were cut in 1885 from Lake Washington to Lake Union, and from Lake Union to Salmon Bay. These were suitable for transporting logs, but not for shipping. The arrival of the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway in 1887 ensured that Lake Union would continue to be a focus for industrial development. In 1900 the Seattle Gas Light Company began to purchase lots on this promontory (Secrist, Title Search) and its coal gas plant went into operation in 1906. At the time the neighborhood was known as Edgewater (see map, Commons:File:Seattle map 1909.jpg.)

Seattle Gas Light Company purchased lots on the north shore promontory from 1900 to 1909. Despite the fact that the land was being acquired by the gas company, the Olmsted Brothers in 1903 recommended that “...the point of land between the northeast and northwest arms of Lake Union and the railroad should be secured as a local park, because of its advantages for commanding views over the lake and for boating, and for a playground.” (Olmsted Brothers 1903, p 47)

In 1911, Virgil Bogue produced a civic master plan for Seattle’s Municipal Plans Commission in which he promoted the idea of Lake Union as an industrial area: “The fact that (Lake Union) is located in the very heart of the city indicates that if properly developed it will become a most important factor in the commercial and business activities of the city.” (Seattle Municipal Plans Commission 1911, p. 78) Completion of the Lake Washington Ship Canal and Ballard locks in 1917 guaranteed the success of shipping and shipbuilding industries on Lake Union and thus of the Bogue vision, despite the fact that his plan was defeated by voters.

The Lake Station gas manufacturing plant on Lake Union was the largest private utility then existing in Seattle. It operated as “Seattle Lighting Company” until 1930, when the name was changed to “Seattle Gas Company”. Its primary product was illuminating gas (so-called because it was used for lighting) manufactured from coal. The gas was later also used for cooking, refrigeration, and heating homes and water. It was also called city gas to distinguish it from natural gas. The gas was made from coal up to 1937 when the high cost of operating the old coke oven and coal-gas generating sets forced a change-over to oil. A pair of oil-to-gas generators was built in 1937 and the old coal-gas facilities were disassembled. In 1946-47, two more oil gas generator pairs were constructed to keep up with demand for gas. Since by-products from gas manufacturing had strong markets of their own, new equipment was installed at the same time to produce “Gasco charcoal briquets”, toluene, solvent naphtha, sulfur, xylene, and resin tar.

Primary manufacturing and support facilities consisted of storage tanks, boiler house, pump and compressors house, offices, and laboratories. Onsite support included electrical, carpentry, machine, blacksmith, and welding shops. Additional facilities included a stable, first aid stations, and a foamite house for storing fire control materials. Running through the north portion of the site was Burlington Northern Railroad’s 50 ft (15 m)-wide right-of-way. Train trestles from the coal days were still in place in front of the laboratories and offices building.

By 1954, the Lake Station plant used 1,071 miles (1,724 km) of gas main to serve Seattle, Renton, Kent and Tukwila. The plant served approximately 43,198 customers in 1940, decreasing to 36,200 in 1954. The company averaged about 130 employees, with four crews of 23 men per shift, rotating 24 hours a day on a 7 day run. Production of city gas ended in 1956 when Seattle converted to natural gas.