Heading for the Open Roads
June 30, 2023 at 12:54 p.m.
Cover, dedication booklet, Lake Washington Floating Bridge, July 1940, image courtesy Washington State Department of transportation
...by Marie McCaffrey, Alan Stein, and the HistoryLink Gang
In this update HistoryLink.org watches as automobiles drive by and notes past events on the Fourth of July.
| This week, as some folks prepare to travel during the upcoming holiday, HistoryLink notes a few anniversaries involving Washington's many highways and byways. We begin with the dedication of the Sunset Highway through Snoqualmie Pass on July 1, 1915. This highway – the precursor for what is now Interstate 90 – followed the route of an old wagon road built between Seattle and Ellensburg in 1867, which in turn followed a trail that Native Americans had used for centuries. Three days after the Sunset Highway opened, a dedication took place at Blaine for the Pacific Highway, which was destined to run all the way between Canada and Mexico. Fifteen years later, the Pacific Highway was in the news again when the Seattle City Council voted to place its path right through the middle of Woodland Park. This decision divided the local citizenry, not unlike the placement of Interstate 5 following President Dwight Eisenhower's signing of the Interstate Highway Act on June 29, 1956. Finally, we mark the opening of some notable bridges built in Washington's past. On July 1, 1891, Seattle's Latona Bridge was dedicated, connecting Eastlake with the University District, but it was replaced on July 1, 1919 by the University Bridge, still in use today. In 1940 the Tacoma Narrows Bridge opened for traffic on July 1, and the Lake Washington Floating Bridge opened the next day. And on July 1, 1958, the second Columbia River Interstate Bridge was opened between Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington. |
On the Fourth |
| It comes as no surprise that the 4th of July is noted for a number of significant events in Washington history, beginning with Puget Sound's first 4th of July celebration, held by the Wilkes Expedition in 1841. On July 4, 1889, Joseph Pearsall staked the first mining claim in Monte Cristo, which led to a brief boom for the mountain community. On July 4, 1915, Bill Boeing reportedly took his first airplane ride. And on July 4, 1918, the Stonehenge replica was dedicated at Maryhill. Seattle has had its share of noteworthy Independence Day events. It was the day that Lake Union and Lake Washington were given their adopted names in 1854. On July 4, 1914, the Smith Tower officially opened, and it was on July 4, 1917, that the Lake Washington Ship Canal was formally dedicated. |
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