The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-04-04
THEIR DAY rs PAST.
Railroads Fast Replacing the
Steamers on the Sound.
REVOLUTION IN THREE YEARS
How the Iron Horse Has Met and Con-
quered the Floating House
Rapid Travel the Result.

The recent consolidation of the three
largest Puget sound steamer lines and the
withdrawal of a number of the boats
emphasizes an important fact in the his
tory of the Puget sound country. That is,
the change from steamers to railroads as a
means of transportation. The palmy days
OF steamboating on the Sound have gone
by, and railroads will hereafter carry
\ slmost all the passengers and freight.
This change has almost all taken place
within the last three years. This time
three years ago the only points which
could be reached by both rail and water
from Seattle were Tacoma, by the North
ern Pacific, Olympia by the Northern
Pacific and the Olympia & Chehalis Valley,
and Snohomish by the Lake Shore road
The towns on the Skagit flats were reached
BY steamers, which threaded their way
through the channels. Whatcom was the
only town on Bellingham, and was only
reached by nights or days steamer
Journey Blaine was in the same
fix, and Vancouver was more difficult to
reach than Helena, while trip to New
s Westminster involved a steamer VOYAGE
1 TO Vancouver and a railroad journey over
! the Canadian Pacific. Gray's Harbor and
Willapa harbor were two days Journey
off. The result was that settlement was
confined almost entirely to the shores of
the Sound and the banks of its streams as
far up as they could be navigated, and
there were no inland towns except at the
coal mines.
Then began the change, and once be-
gun, it proceeded rapidly. The Seattle &
Northern was built up the Skagit valley,
made Anacortes town and gave birth to
other settlements along its line. The
Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern was ex-
tended northward, and in connection with
the Seattle Northern, took away the
choicest business of the steamers at Ana
cordes and along the Skagit, while the
two roads combined to give birth to sew
eral thriving towns in that valley. The
\ Tarhaven g. Southern was built from
Bellingham bay to edro, and gave Sc
attic an all-rail route to BelIipgham bay,
thus cutting off another slice of the steam
Ser business. The Mission branch of the
Canadian Pacific was built to Sumas and
the Bellingham Bay & British Columbia
road from that town to Whatcom, COM
peting rail connection with Vancouver
and New Westminster. Then the Great
Northern was built along the shore and
broke the steamer monopoly at Edmonds,
Mukilteo, Everett and Marysville, and
further shortened the time to Bellingham
bay. The New Westminster Southern was
built to Blaine, gave direct rail line to
the city whose name it bears, shortened
the time to Vancouver and cut out the
steamers at Blaine. The Port Townsend
( Southern was built and created Quilcene.
The Northern Pacific ran its own line into
Olympia and through that city to Gray's
harbor, thus depriving steamers of bust
ness for both points.
The time occupied in reaching the ma
jority of points up and down the east
shore of the Sound has been cut down one
half two-thirds and even three-fourths in
some cases. The interior of the country
has been opened up and towns have sprung
up by the dozen where three years ago was
unbroken forest.
1t is only matter of time until the
Port Townsend Southern will be built to
Olympia. and thus cut out the steamers
along the straits and bring the towns
which line them into the world. Another
road will cut across the Kitsap peninsu-
lar and make the east shore of Hood canal
accessible.
The time is not far distant when the
steamers will do service only for ferrying
across the Sound, and to the islands with
which it is studded, or for excursion par
ties on bright clear days of summer, but as
the sole regular means of travel among
u TIE great towns of the Sound their day is
a mast