University Street Station

Katie Zundel
Dr. Billo
Honors 391
11 May 2022

In the early days of Rainier Beach, travel to Seattle was up to a two-day affair. Travelers would move north either by boat up Lake Washington, the Black River (now dry), or the Duwamish River, or overland using several trails heading north towards Elliott Bay. However, this changed in 1891 when the new Seattle Renton and Southern Railway was constructed along the shore of Lake Washington and the Black River in Renton. The Seattle Renton and Southern Railway stretched twelve miles from Seattle to Renton, with many stops along the way, including at Rainier Beach. The railway hauled passengers, produce, and timber and facilitated the trade between Seattle and settlements further south. At this point in history, it was the largest electric railway globally. With the trip to Seattle reduced to two hours, many people decided to move south, and businesses and homes started to sprout up in the Rainier Beach neighborhood.
The photo below (Figure 1) pictures the streetcar along the beaches of Lake Washington in 1894. This location is the same as the modern intersection of Rainier Avenue and 57th Avenue. In the decade following 1880, King County’s population had increased by 826%, meaning people were looking for more places to live around the city. Figure 1 pictures well-dressed men at the railway stop indicating that they were possibly investors or real estate agents. Due to the new transportation in the Rainier Beach neighborhood, the area soon came into high demand and many people were investing in the area. In addition, Rainier Beach was attractive to many people living in the city because the land prices were much less expensive. Many other people who used this particular stop were workers at Taylor’s sawmill, which operated in the Rainier Valley, and traded in Seattle. Other uses of the streetcar included transportation and trade materials, and visiting relations.
The land in Rainier Beach was altered in several ways to construct the railway. First, there were several small regrades along the shores of Rainier Beach, which initially had some steeper bluffs. Figure 1 pictures the landscape in its initial stages of development with farm fields in the background. Eventually, this area would develop with houses and businesses growing in between the farms. Also, trees were cut in more inland places along the tracks. Historically there were Duwamish villages along this portion of Lake Washington, and white settlement was built over the critical lakeshore habitat and disrupted the Duwamish lifestyle. Duwamish people often harvested from the lakeshore. For example, the reed-like plant pictured in Figure 1, called tule, was often used by Duwamish people for weaving. In addition, tule provided habitat to various small fish and sheltered areas for waterfowl to nest, both of which are essential food sources for Duwamish people. Tule used to grow abundantly around Lake Washington; now, it is rare because the marshes it flourishes in have been built over.
In 1916, when the Montlake Cut was dug, the areas around the railway dried up. This included the Black River and the Dunlap slough, which further harmed the local wildlife. The railway had a couple of decades of success until the city stripped the railway of its franchise and tore it up in 1937. Eventually, the railway site was paved over to widen Rainier Avenue through Rainier Beach. The road’s large curve, just south of Rainier Beach High School, skirts the edges of the large bay known as the Dunlap Slough. Today there is no longer a marsh or lakeshore there; instead, the area is now a busy intersection with restaurants and apartments, as pictured in Figure 2.
Ironically, similar issues are arising through the new light rail line in Rainier Beach. The original Seattle Renton and Southern Railway line led to the establishment and settlement of modern-day Rainier Beach, while displacing Duwamish settlements. The present daylight rail line is sadly causing another wave of displacement as vulnerable communities can not afford the rising rent prices in what is currently one of the most diverse neighborhoods in America.

Figure 1: The Seattle Renton and Southern Railway running along the shores of Lake Washington in 1894

Figure 2: The intersection of Rainier Avenue and 57th Avenue as of January 2022
Works Cited
Calbick, John, “1890 Census” History Link (2010).

“Common Tule” The Watershed Nursery (2022).

Crawley, Walt, “Seattle Renton & Southern Railway – King County’s First True Interurban” History Link (1999).

King, Jason, “Seattle: Landfills, Regrades and Cuts” Hidden Hydrology (2018).

Rainier Valley Historical Society. Rainier Valley. Images of America. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Pub., 2012.

“The Waterlines Map Project” The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture (2014).

Wilma, David, “Seattle Neighborhoods: Rainier Beach – Thumbnail History” History Link (2001).