Seattle: A View Looking North from Yesler’s Wharf c. 1880

This view of Yesler’s Wharf seemed ideal as it brought in both the city and the sound, framed by the wharves of the fledgling port. One of the most appealing aspects of this composition is the fact that hardly a single feature in the scene, other than the lie of the land and the distant promontory, has survived to this day. The major structure on the hill to the right is the Territorial University Building, the first Coleman Dock foreground right. Mill Street is behind this viewpoint to the left. The Bark “Tidal Wave” was launched in Port Madison in 1869 and was a familiar sight on Puget Sound. She is reported to have made a passage to San Francisco in the unusually fast time of five days.

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