page_title: Waterfront Park (Seattle)
section_title: History of the site
hierarchical_section_title: Waterfront Park (Seattle) / History of the site
caption_attribution_description: "Schwabacher's Wharf" one of a pair of photos collectively captioned "Schwabacher Bros., the Big Grocers," from brochure Seattle and the Orient (1900). The wharf is long gone. Because the pictures overlap weirdly in the original layout of this page, I've blurred the area where another picture is overlayed on this one.
context_page_description: Waterfront Park is a public park on the Central Waterfront, Downtown, Seattle, Washington, USA. Designed by the Bumgardner Partnership and consultants, it was constructed on the site of the former Schwabacher Wharf.
context_section_description: In its early years, the pier then known variously as Schwabacher Wharf, Schwabacher's Wharf, Schwabacher Dock, etc. was the location of two prominent events in the city's history. The freighter Miike Maru opened Seattle's Japan trade by docking there August 31, 1896. Less than a year later, July 17, 1897, the steamship Portland arrived from Alaska bearing a "ton of gold", from the Klondike. The ensuing Yukon Gold Rush formed strong bonds between Seattle and Alaska, and brought enormous wealth to Seattle as the "Gateway to Alaska".
  This portion of Seattle's waterfront was used by the military during World War II. By 1960, the Central Waterfront was beginning to take on its current recreational character, as shipping moved primarily to the container port in the Industrial District south of Downtown.
  In 1968, King County voters approved a bond issue to acquire the land for the park, which was matched by federal money and augmented several other sources including Model Cities programs, and donations.
caption: Schwabacher Wharf (1900).
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