A Jewel in the City: Lake Union, Seattle, Washington (Sea 12)

 

Lake Union in June, 1995, view northeast from the Space Needle (Kodachrome 25 slide)

 

Overview

 

Lake Union is a freshwater lake entirely within the city of Seattle. The lake is a glacial basin, scoured out by the Vashon Glacier about 12,000 years ago. It receives fresh water from Lake Washington to the east and discharges to Puget Sound via the Lake Washington Ship Canal that leads west. The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks (Ballard Locks) maintain the level of Lake Union and allow boat traffic to transit from salt water to fresh water. 

 

Lake Union view NW with Queen Anne Hill to the left.

(2004 panorama taken with Hasselblad XPan panoramic camera with 40mm lens)

Lake Union view west towards Queen Anne Hill

(2004 panorama taken with Hasselblad XPan panoramic camera with 40mm lens)

 

November on Lake Union, view west to Queen Anne Hill

(Kodak Ektar 100 film, 50mm ƒ/2 Summicron lens at ƒ/2.8)

East Side  

 

When I lived in Seattle in the early 1970s, much of the shore around Lake Union was industrial, with shipyards, warehouses, a power plant, and miscellaneous boat activities. Today, the area south of the lake has transformed into condos, hospitals, cafes, and tech worker office buildings. The west shore below Queen Anne Hill has condominiums and restaurants.  

The east side of Lake Union along Fairview Avenue East is still industrial and interesting. Let's concentrate on this area. We will start near the Silver Cloud Hotel and walk north.

Seattle Seaplanes with Queen Anne Hill in the background

Seattle Seaplanes (Kodak Tri-X film, Rolleiflex 3.5E Xenotar)

You can rent a seaplane for a tour. The office is on the old yacht. 

 

Shed (floating?) at 1501 Fairview Ave. E. (Fuji Acros II, 25mm ƒ/4 Snapshot Skopar lens)

Lake Union Drydock Company

It looks like a homeless person occupied this old camper.

Howe and East Blaine Stairs

 

Seattle is hilly. The glaciers left drumlins throughout the Puget lowland. Early in the 20th century and continuing to recently, the City built stairs on the edges of many bluffs and hills. Sometimes, a street stops, and the stairs ascend or descend to the continuation of the street at a different elevation. Seattleites in the know use the stairs for exercise. 

A handy book, SEATTLE STAIRWAY WALKS, An Up-And-Down Guide To City Neighborhoods by Jake & Cathy Jaramillo, lists 25 of the best neighborhood walks in the city. 

If you are exploring east Lake Union, take the Eastlake, North Capital Hill, and Portage Bay walk. You walk under the I-5 pilings and ascend the East Blaine steps. Then you walk to the top of Capital Hill, past magnificent early 20th century mansions, descend to Portage Bay, then reascend and finally descend to Eastlake via the Howe steps. 

 

Underneath I-5 below the Howe steps (25mm ƒ/4 Snapshot Skopar lens)

East Blaine steps at Lakeview Blvd. E., 

Garage on Broadway East (50mm ƒ/2 Summicron lens)

Après Exploring

 

 Exploring the shore and walking 3.2 miles and about 800 steps is tiring. What do you do? Well, of course, you go eat seafood at Duke's Seafood South Lake Union. And drink a pale ale or two. Ahhh...

 

Health food Seattle style

 

The 2004 panoramas are from a Hasselblad XPan camera with 40mm lens. I had rented it at Glazers Camera for a project. I should have kept it longer and taken more panoramas around the city. The 2024 and 2025 photographs are from Rolleiflex, Pentax MX, and Leica M2 cameras with Tri-X and Fuji Acros film.

 

Ai Statement

 

The photographs and text above are mine, complete with flaws and strange syntax. I am not using Ai for any verbage. And all photos are from some place on earth with no Ai manipulation or removal/addition of "features." I consider that intellectual fraud. Here on Urban Decay, you will see the setting with all its warts and excess power lines and trash. I sometimes clean lint and chemical blobs from scans due to processing errors, and, of course, I crop frames as needed. But the scene in the frame is genuine, the photons that fell on some place at some time.

 

Dear Readers, thanks for your support. All comments/criticisms/scorn welcome. 

 

 

 

 

From the Archives: a Few from the Great Lakes

 

In a previous life, I regularly traveled to the states that adjoin Lakes Michigan, Superior, and Erie. I can't begin to count the trips to Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio to conduit surveys, attend conferences, and meet coworkers. Here are a few memories of those trips a long time ago (when you are as old as I am, many memories are of events a long long time ago....).

 

North Central Ohio  

 

I landed in Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and rented a car. Heading north on W 220th Street, I came across a Chevrolet Corvair repair shop! It was owned by the legendary Jim Battenhouse (Dr. Corvair). What a treat to see some clean Corvairs again. Some of you old-timers may remember Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile by Ralph Nader. In the first chapter, Nader attacked the Corvair as a "one-car accident" because of its rear-engine, swing-axle suspension. Sales of the innovative Corvair plummeted, and, starting in 1964, the more traditional Ford Mustang totally outsold the Chevrolet product. (These photos: Fuji Super HQ 100 film, Olympus OM2S camera).

 

Green Derby, Rte 2, Benton Township, Ohio

I am unable to find this location. The restaurant probably closed years ago. 

Benton Harbor, Michigan

 

Wet departure from Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport, November 1993

Time for food, Benton Harbor

Roxy Hot Wings, 287 East Main Street, Benton Harbor

(Kodachrome film, Leica M3 camera, 50mm lens)   

One of my early projects was a sediment study at St. Joseph, Michigan, on the east shore of Lake Michigan. Benton Harbor, just across the St. Joseph River, was very rust belt back in the 1990s. I wish I had more time to explore. 

 

Friend and coworker, Mr. Charlie Johnson

(Kodak Gold 100 film, Canon Rebel camera) 

Charlie was known as Mr. Great Lakes. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of every harbor, every beach, the source of its sediment, and where it was going. He always willingly shared his expertise.

Presque Isle and Erie, Pennsylvania

Presque Isle is an arch-shaped sand peninsula that juts into Lake Erie near Erie, Pennsylvania, and encloses Presque Isle Bay. The peninsula is a state park and is forested, indicating its geologic stability for at least a few hundred years. The US Army Corps of Engineers built detached breakwaters and added beach fill along the west side of Presque Isle. The east side is open to Lake Erie and gives access to the waterfront and commercial harbor of Erie, Pennsylvania. One of the first civilian projects of the US Army Corps of Engineers was to build jetties and protect the entrance to Erie harbor, as authorized by the Rivers & Harbors Act of 1824 (yes, over 200 years ago). 

 

Erie Harbor north pier (September 1999)

 

The historic wrought iron and steel Presque Isle North Pier light was forged in France and assembled on the site in 1858. It was moved to different locations on the jetty in 1882 and 1940.  

  

 

Houseboats on Presque Isle Bay

Presque Isle is a stopover for migrating birds. One day, I met a ranger who was releasing some ducks that had entered a trap. He said the plan to check tags on the ducks was not providing new population data. The ducks learned that there was good food in the trap that did not require much work to enjoy. They entered the trap, waited for the kindly ranger to release them, and returned the next day for another easy lunch. 

Rats, raccoons, skunks, mice, and karate

Health food (exact location not recorded)

 (Fuji Super HQ 100 film, Olympus OM2S camera)

Melody Deli, 1402 East Lake Road, Erie

 

In the 1990s, Erie was a bit rough, an old time industrial city that had fallen on hard times. I do not know if it has revived in the last quarter century. In the 1990s, there were many interesting local business and stores throughout the city.

 

Toledo, Ohio 

 

My daughter and I explored Luna Pier and some of the shore along the very west end of Lake Erie. I was on my way to Cleveland to attend a conference, so she took me to Toledo to pick up the MegaBus. We looked at a map and saw that the stop was adjacent to Southwyck Mall. OK, no problem. But when we reached our destination, we saw that the mall was being actively squashed and demolished. One of the former stores was Montgomery Ward (also known as Monkey Ward). 

The MegaBus ride to Cleveland was efficient and quiet, but the company no longer serves Toledo. Why didn't I take the Amtrak?

 

Waiting for Monkey Ward to open, Southwyck Mall, July 20, 2009 

(Olympus E-330 digital file)

 

 

Cleveland, Ohio 

   

Wow, nice hotel room in Cleveland!

Cuyahoga River, Cleveland

This amazing railroad bascule bridge is the former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Bridge 463 at the end of Sycamore Street. The railroad built it in 1957 when the Cuyahoga river was widened. There are no tracks leading to it any more, and the bridge remains as a monument to mid-century engineering. I am always impressed at some of the engineering and construction that the railroad companies accomplished in the 20th century. 

 

On the Waterfront, Cleveland

We had a reception at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the modern building on the left in the photo above. What a treat to have a private evening there. 

This ends a too-short tour of some Great Lakes towns. I have not been back to the Lakes for at least a decade. Time to return!

I took these pictures with various cameras and film types. I scanned the slides or negatives on a Nikon Coolscan 5000ED film scanner, operated by NikonScan 4.03 software running under Windows 7. The 2009 frames are from my Olympus E-330, a very competent 4/3 format (not micro 4/3) camera with excellent lenses.

The Grand Tour 08, Finale: Kodachrome Slides from Paris and London, 1950

 

After a quick tour of Geneva, my dad took an afternoon train to Paris. 

For Americans in the mid-century, Paris represented sophistication, art, vibrancy, and culture. Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Cole Porter, Josephine Baker, Oscar Wilde and other American expatriates (even Benjamin Franklin) had lived in Paris and written and created there. American troops helped liberate Paris in 1944 and were heroes at that time. Paris was a glamorous destination. 

 

Oh, oh, tourist photo alert. Every visitor to Paris takes pictures of the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile. But in these 1950 shots, there is very little traffic. But the good news is that on one Sunday every month, year-round, the Champs-Élysées is for pedestrians only.

View of Paris from the Arc de Triomphe, December 1, 1950

View of la Tour Eiffel and Fame riding Pegasus at Tuileries garden gates, December 1, 1950 

Île Saint-Louis and the Seine

Notre Dame de Paris, the world’s finest example of French Gothic architecture

The stonework looks reasonably clean in this photo. Possibly the government had already started cleaning and restoring monuments after the war. 

 

Galeries Lafayette Haussmann (historic shopping galleria)

The Hôtel de Ville in the 4th arrondissement

After a week in Paris (many days with rain), my dad took the metro to the Gare du Nord and entrained on The Golden Arrow (La Flèche d'Or) for Dover. In In Graham Greene's Travels With My Aunt, one of the characters uses the Golden Arrow to escape to Paris.

 

London

 

The Household Cavalry on the Strand

At the gates of Buckingham Palace

Back to USA 

 

After six cold days in London, my dad took the boat train to Southampton and boarded the Neiuw Amsterdam on December 12. This elegant ship was built in 1938 and had served valiantly as a troopship from 1940 to 1946. He wrote that several days were rough (it was December on the North Atlantic!). My dad's last diary entry is December 17. He probably landed in Hoboken, New Jersey, a day or two later. 

I do not know why my dad took a sea voyage rather than fly to USA. The early-1950s were the peak of the post-war tourist boom for Atlantic ocean liners. In that era, ship travel was sophisticated and glamorous. But it would not last. The inauguration of Pan American's Boeing 707 jet service across the Atlantic in October 1958 spelled the eventual doom to ocean liner service. Impatient tourists wanted to cross the ocean quickly. (And you all know what a grotesque experience air travel is today, especially in economy class.)

This ended the Grand Tour from Guam to USA. My dad was energetic - I can barely imagine covering three continents and dealing with that many tourist sights, odd foods, hotels, customs clearances, and bureaucratic issues in two months. 

For funds back then, my dad and most tourists carried travelers cheques, which they exchanged into local currency. I used travelers cheques up to about 2000, some even denominated in French Francs and Deutsche Marks. But the almost universal use of credit cards largely eliminated the need for paper cheques. My dad also picked up extra cash at American Express offices, but I do not know how the transaction worked. He also picked up mail at American Express offices, which would hold letters for a traveler.   

My dad did not linger in USA. After two or three weeks, he was offered a job in Athens, Greece. He packed his bags, bought Kodachrome film, and left for Athens on Pan American World Airlines. 

 

Nieuw Amsterdam

 

Nieuw Amsterdam in 1949 after complete post-war refitting

Source: 

Collectie / Archief: Fotocollectie Anefo
Beschrijving:Vertrek Nieuw Amsterdam uit Hoek van Holland
Datum: 1949-05-31
Locatie: Hoek van Holland
Nieuw Amsterdam Fotograaf: Bilsen, Joop van / Anefo

 Photo Notes

 

This is the Leica IIIC camera and 5cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens that my dad used on his long trip. This Summitar is coated and has 10 aperture blades. The coating is still intact, unlike many Summitars that were scratched over the decades. 

My dad used the 1940s Kodachrome film in 35mm size. In 1945, the film speed was Weston 8 or G.E. 12. By 1953, Kodak listed the exposure index as American Standards Association (ASA) 10. At that time, Kodak sold their Kodachrome film with a processing mailer. My dad would have mailed his trip films to a Kodak laboratory (probably in Rochester) when he returned to the USA.

 

Page 42 from Kodak Data Book 5th Edition

Kodachrome Films for Minature and Movie Cameras

Gawainweaver.com prepared a comprehensive summary of Kodachrome mounts and timeline. 

 

The Grand Tour 07: Kodachrome Slides from Central Europe, 1950

 

After a week in Italy, my dad took the train to Verona and proceeded north over the Brenner Pass to Innsbruck. Before leaving for Austria, he had to check in at the office of the Allied High Command in Rome to secure the appropriate visa. Although it was five years after World War II had ended, Austria was still under joint occupation by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union.

 

Salzburg, Austria

  

Bürgerwehr fortification on the Mönchsberg mountain, Salzburg

View from the top (from Hohensalzburg Fortress)

Salzburg is such an interesting and historical town. These scenes probably do not look all that different than they do today. The Europeans manage to preserve their historical architecture and use it for day-to-day life. Compare and contrast with many ghastly American cities with their crumbling strip malls.

I traveled through Salzburg in 1979. Time to return. 

 

Vienna

 

In 1950, Vienna was still a divided city. My dad toured in the International Zone (the Innere Stadt) and possibly the US and British zones. I am sure he did not try to enter the Soviet zone, which would have been dirty and largely unrestored.  

Watch the superb film noir movie, The Third Man, directed by Carol Reed, to get the flavor of 1949 Vienna. It covers some of the issues of a divided city. Even better, read the novel by Graham Green.

 

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe outside the Burggarten Gate along Goethegasse

Goethe (1749–1832) was one of Germany's most influential writers and poet (as well as being a geologist). His masterpiece is the drama, Faust. I started to read an English translation but did not get too far. It may be easier to get the flavor of the story by watching a performance of Faust, Charles Gounod's superb grand opera in five acts. 

 

The Votivkirche on the Ringstraße 

The church was badly damaged in the war, but I do not know if this picture shows it after or before renovations.

 

The Wiener Staatsoper with wartime damage still being repaired

This is one of the most active performance houses in the world, with opera, concerts, dance and other functions every day of the week. I remember seeing Tristan und Isolde in 1979 with a student ticket -  I stood in the top balcony for over four hours.

 

Jungfrau, Switzerland 

  

Helping with maintenance on the Jungfraujoch (elev. 3454 metres)

 Zurich, Switzerland

 

In the November sun, Zurich

Zurich

Zurich is in north-central Switzerland. If you have flown to or through Switzerland, there is a good chance your flight passed through Flughafen Zürich (ZRH). This was my dad's last stop in Switzerland before taking the train to Paris. 

 

TWA Lockheed Constellation, Genève Aéroport, August 1952

This 1952 picture is from a later trip to Genève, but I could not resist showing it here. This is a Trans World Airlines Lockheed Super Constellation L-1049. TWA had just introduced it to their transatlantic service, and this would have been one of the early stops in Switzerland. The flight would have required refueling in Goose Bay and Gander en route.

I scanned these Kodachrome slides with a Nikon CoolScan 5000ED film scanner. I adjusted the color of some frames with Photoshop Elements 2024 and manually cleaned some scratches with the heal tool in Photoshop CS6. There is no Ai manipulation or "restoration" of these pictures. They were taken by a real human with a Leica camera.