History & place · Elliott Bay pilot

A landscape in motion

Follow Elliott Bay’s shore, explore the tidal ground at the river mouth, and read names that carry stories of this place. Reveal the modern shoreline to see what changed.

Start with two short landscape stories ↓

Surveyed 1874–1875Elliott Bay & the lower Duwamish
Elliott Bay shoreline comparisonHistoric survey features and modern reference shoreline, drawn in the same geographic projection. Tidal ground is hatched, channels are blue, and shorelines are outlined. Numbered place markers are approximate orientation points, not village boundaries. Use the controls and place list below the map.Elliott Baysbaq^{w}abqs · Alki Point. Approximate regional orientation.1Alki PointDzidzilalich · Downtown waterfront / Yesler Way. Approximate regional orientation.2Downtown waterfrontTuqap · Shore below Belltown. Approximate regional orientation.3Shore below Belltowntúʔulʔaltxʷ · West bank of the lower Duwamish. Approximate regional orientation.4West bank of the lower Duwamish
Historic shoreSurvey low-water edgeIntertidal sedimentMarshMapped upland coverMapped water / channel

A regional reading map. Neutral background is unclassified; only source-mapped features are colored. Historic and modern shorelines use different conventions. Their comparison does not measure fill, property boundaries or individual lots.

Read the landscape

Two short explorations. Switch the outlines, follow three observations, and find a familiar place.

A closer look

A waterfront made wider

A waterfront made wider: 1874–75 surveyA focused diagram using the same surveyed geometry as the landscape map. Historic shoreline is green, low-water edge is dashed ochre, channels are blue, and marsh is pale green. Modern reference shoreline is purple. Neutral background is unclassified. Read the observations below for a text explanation.N ↑
Green: surveyed shoreDashed ochre: low-water edgeBlue: mapped water / channelPale green: marshSand: intertidal sedimentCream: mapped upland cover

Surveyed 1874–75; modern reference dates vary or are unspecified. Neutral background is unclassified. These outlines do not measure fill or establish lot boundaries.

Follow the surveyed edge

The 1874–75 shoreline has corners, inlets and waterfront structures. Follow its green outline near downtown. This is a dated survey of an already changing city, rather than a reconstruction of the landscape before settlement.

Where is today’s Pioneer Square in this waterfront view?

Read the museum story →Explore the full map ↑
Diagram sources

Focused excerpts from the Elliott Bay landscape edition elliott-bay-1874-1875-v1, using UW’s adjusted Coast Survey sheets and the City’s marine shoreline. The historic tide datum is unconfirmed, and shoreline conventions differ between sources. No intermediate shorelines are reconstructed.

A closer look

A river made straighter

A river made straighter: 1874–75 surveyA focused diagram using the same surveyed geometry as the landscape map. Historic shoreline is green, low-water edge is dashed ochre, channels are blue, and marsh is pale green. Modern reference shoreline is purple. Neutral background is unclassified. Read the observations below for a text explanation.N ↑
Green: surveyed shoreDashed ochre: low-water edgeBlue: mapped water / channelPale green: marshSand: intertidal sedimentCream: mapped upland cover

Surveyed 1874–75; modern reference dates vary or are unspecified. Neutral background is unclassified. These outlines do not measure fill or establish lot boundaries.

Look beyond one river line

Follow the blue channels through patches of marsh and tidal ground. The river mouth was a varied landscape, rather than one river line or a single tideflats outline. Look for the separate features that the survey recorded.

Where is today’s Harbor Island near the river mouth?

Read the museum story →Explore the full map ↑
Diagram sources

Focused excerpts from the Elliott Bay landscape edition elliott-bay-1874-1875-v1, using UW’s adjusted Coast Survey sheets and the City’s marine shoreline. The historic tide datum is unconfirmed, and shoreline conventions differ between sources. No intermediate shorelines are reconstructed.

Three things to notice

Look along the downtown waterfront. Compare the surveyed shore with the modern outline: piers, seawalls and fill changed the edge between land and bay.

Read the waterfront story →

At the head of the bay, tidal ground and channels formed a changing estuary. The survey distinguishes these features. They are more complex than a single outline around today’s SoDo.

Read the river story →

Choose a numbered place. Names carry meanings and relationships across a landscape that has changed. These markers help you orient yourself; they do not locate exact village boundaries.

Read the place-name story →

Names and relationships continue

Indigenous communities live here and care for these lands and waters today. These names belong to living languages and relationships, across a shoreline that has changed.

How this map was made

Historic features come from 1874–75 Coast Survey sheets digitized by the University of Washington. The modern marine shoreline comes from the City of Seattle. Both are simplified for regional reading, with their dates and limits preserved.

Open source register

Actual U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey T-sheet features, digitized and adjusted by the University of Washington. Upland fill shows mapped land-cover polygons only; blank background outside those polygons does not establish water or land. Approximate historical context, not parcel determinations.

City of Seattle marine shoreline (TYPE=PUG), retrieved October 2, 2026 for the exact pilot extent. Survey dates are not supplied consistently. The source corresponds to mean high water elevation 8 ft NAVD88. It is not an exact tide-equivalent comparison to the historic low-water line. This marine-only reference omits inland lakes; absence does not show loss of Lake Union or another waterbody. Lines provide geographic reference; no modern land mask or fill-area calculation is inferred.

Map edition elliott-bay-1874-1875-v1. Not an archaeological inventory or a substitute for tribal consultation.

This is the first landscape pilot. More waterways and regraded hills will follow as their source maps and place-name records are checked. Help shape the next edition through the feedback links above.