Lake has served many needs over the decades

By TERESA TALERICO
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

South Lake Union has always been utilitarian.

Duwamish Indians were among the first to use it, as a canoe landing, says Dick Wagner of the Center for Wooden Boats.

In the 1860s, it was used to transport coal. In the 1870s, it became a popular recreation site for white settlers, who built a beer garden and swam in South Lake Union. Villages, which later developed into areas such as Fremont and Latona, sprang up near its shores. A lumber mill was established in 1882, which marked the first hint of development along South Lake Union, according to Seattle historian Paul Dorpat.

In 1916, Boeing began manufacturing seaplanes on the lake. The Ballard Locks opened the same year, linking the fresh water of Lakes Union and Washington with the salt water of Puget Sound. This further spurred industrial development along the lake's southern shores.

For a time, many people called the lake home. Houseboats were especially popular in the 1950s before city codes regulated them. They drew starving artists, poets and writers.

"Houseboats used to be a very cheap way to live," says Jim Francis, vice president of finance at Lake Union Dry Docks. "It was kind of a shantytown. In the late '60s, that started to change when the city started passing new regulations."

See: More on houseboat living.