With new mills opening monthly along Salmon Bay in the early 1890s the community grew rapidly. An embryo business district was developing along Ballard Ave. The sounds of sawing and hammering were heard seven days a week as small neat houses were quickly put up.

In 1888 the dominant development venture, the West Coast Improvement Co., had platted the land along Salmon Bay as Gilman Park. In the summer of 1889, the idea of incorporating the town of Gilman Park was the "hot topic" of the community. The benefits of incorporation were of great interest to the people since the community was growing willy-nilly and streets being little more than muddy lanes.

People provided for their own water with back yard wells and those venturing out at night made their way through the mud by lantern light.

Lying outside of the regulation of the City of Seattle, saloons and brothels freely flourished. Being a community of young families more and better schools were desperately needed.

By late summer public meetings were being held to seriously discuss incorporating. Early petitions to incorporate were voted down. However, on November 4, 1889 the pro-incorporation votes carried the evening.

Shortly after Washington was admitted to the Union on November 11th a citizen's committee from Ballard presented its petition for incorporation. Thus, Ballard become the first municipality to incorporate after statehood.

C.F. Treat, an ambitious land developer in Ballard and a driving force behind the incorporation initiative, was elected Ballard's first mayor. Based on population initially Ballard was a city of the fourth class. Being recognized as a city of the third class was more desirable since it brought the benefit of greater state funding for community public works.

A privately funded census in 1890 found the population to be 1,500.

The early years

Ballard was basically a rough mill town where saloons and brothels far outnumbered schools and churches. The first ordinances passes by the Ballard City Council focused on establishing law and order, for example, shooting a gun in town became a misdemeanor.

The first paid job was town marshal who was supplied with handcuffs and a pair of revolvers. Under Mayor Treat a town jail was built so the marshal had a place to put wrong doers.

The dominance of milling on the community shaped municipal policies from the beginning. The danger of fire and the disgusting muddy streets were the first issues tackled by city hall. The frequency of mill fires was diminished by requiring every mill to participate in developing a community salt water fire-fighting system whereby water was drawn from Salmon Bay and rapidly pressurized for wetting down wood yard fires.

All mill hands were required to serve as volunteer firemen. The muddy streets of Ballard Avenue were taken care of by planking them with lumber from the nearby mills.

It appears from the municipal records that for many years a group of Ballard businessmen and professionals played a "tag team" game of annually trading various city offices. The second mayor, T.W. Lake, served as city treasurer under the third mayor, J.H. Rhinehart. A.E. Pretty and Edmund Peters, Ballard's third and fourth mayors, served as city councilmen and city attorney under Mayor Rhinehart.

Ballard's early mayors were all immigrants and served without salary, so most served a single year. The Ballard Businessmen's Association formed at this time.

In 1891 Ballard had 2,000 citizens. The Polk's Guide carried the following listings for Ballard: five shingle mills, a sash and door factory, three sawmills, steel and iron works, two schoolhouses, seven churches, a boiler works, three shipyards and three blacksmith shops. Not on the list were the numerous saloons lining Ballard Avenue.

The city of Ballard had paid staff including city clerk and marshal, $900 per year; treasurer; $300; city attorney $780; health offices $300; fire chief $180; and the night watchman, $765.

Public works improve life in Ballard

Between 1894-1900 Ballard made remarkable progress in becoming a modern city. Mayor Mathew Dow, a Scots immigrant, led the way with the building of a gas light plant for the purpose of lighting the city streets, public places, businesses, mills and homes.

Located near today's 14th Avenue Northwest the project cost approximately $6,600. In spite of the objection of outspoken city councilmen, who were concerned with the expense, Dow managed to get the city to commit to building a pubic waterworks and undertake major road improvements. The city committed to $45,000 in municipal bonds to fund these important public works projects.

The crowning achievement of the late 1890s was the construction of a handsome city hall. For nine years the municipal government operated out of rented halls, unable to justify the cost of building a city hall in the face of other more pressing needs.

The city's break came when Federal government commited to constructing the Lake Washington Ship Canal and locks. The city's windfall came in the form of the compensation paid for land comdemned along Salmon Bay for this huge project.

Mayor Startup declared the day the cornerstone was laid a city-wide holiday to allow school children and their teachers to join in the festivities. The entire community turned out on the sunny May day proudly wearing commemorative ribbons and waving and cheering as the community band played and dignitaries gave optomistic speeches about Ballard's grand future.

Ballardites were pleased with their beautiful new City Hall. The first floor was occupied by the city offices, the municipal vault, a new jail and the fire department.

The second floor housed council chambers and other city offices. On the third floor there were public meeting rooms, banquet facilities, and a ballroom. Throughout the first half of the 20th century Ballardites climbed the steps to enjoy dancing to local bands on Saturday nights.

"Hose Hall" immediately became the focal point of Ballard daily life and continued to be a community gathering place up to the time of its demolition after it was damaged in the 1965 earthquake. The building was taken down a mere 10 years before the designation of Ballard Avenue as a National Register Historic District-a designation that would have saved the grand old historic Ballard hall.

Saloons, Gambling, Boxing and Anarchists

At the turn of the 20th century the country was experiencing a rapidly growing temperance movement.

Mayor John Johnson elected in 1901, a popular grocer and Norwegian immigrant, was a teetotaler and supported temperance. He was also concerned with the gambling that went on in the Ballard Avenue saloons.

Betting on boxing matches was a favorite gambling activity. When Mayor Johnson was unsuccessful in getting gambling outlawed he declared that boxing must cease altogether for the next 46 weeks, stating that prize fighting, sparring matches and glove contests served "no purpose than to develop the brute forces of human nature physically and intellectually, and debase the young men."

At this time the U.S. was experiencing widespread political and social agitation arising from a number of sources. Hostile reaction to new waves of immigrants from the Mediterranean and Asia, and labor struggled to organize was accompanied by violent tactics on both sides.

Anarchist bombing was one technique used to attract attention to issues. A chapter of the Anti-Anarchist League was formed in Ballard on September 27, 1901 to promote patriotic principles and eliminate anarchy.

The seriousness of the perceived threat can be judged by the caliber of the men in the movement who included L. S. Hawley, councilman under mayors Startup and McVay, as well as future mayor James Zook and postmaster Frank Pells.

Ballard's water problem

From the beginning Ballard had been faced with the problem of maintaining a reliable source of pure potable water for its citizens.

Mayor Dow first addressed this in 1894 with the construction of a waterworks for Ballard with the goal of providing the city with "an ample supply of water for all purposes . . ." The water source was to be artesian or deep-water tubular wells situated near the foot of Railroad Avenue (14th NW).

However, the wells proved to be a temporary solution as they quickly filled with sand. In 1900 the new mayor, David McVay, attempted to enforce water conservation through the installation of water meters in the shingle mills.

While there had been recognition of the problem of a reliable adequate water supply for many years, the growing serious water contamination problem was ignored by city government.

In 1901, under Mayor John Johnson, Ballard was faced with a major health crisis. The backyard wells that had been the source of water for most residents since pioneer days were now commonly contaminated from sewer seepage form nearby privies and barns.

In downtown Ballard water born disease was spread by such unsanitary practices as drinking from a common tin cup at public drinking fountains connected to horse troughs. In 1901 Ballard suffered outbreaks of diphtheria, scarlet fever and smallpox.

The best officials could do was put infected people on the quarantine barge moored under the Ballard bridge. A new ordinance made being caught in public with a contagious disease a misdemeanor.

In an effort to find a better sewer and water system the city created the position of Superintendent of Light and Water. City council meetings were frequently spent discussing location and cost of possible new water supplies.

When Thomas C. Reed became mayor in 1902, his campaign promises included development of an adequate water supply, endorsement of action for street railway facilities, construction of a sewer system and procurement of electrical power.

Born in Wales, Reed, a Republican, had been in Ballard since 1890. His shipyard produced ships, steamers and the largest schooners built at the time on the Northwest Coast. How far Reed actually succeeded in his platform promises is unclear. He was able to procure electrical power, but the water and sewer problems continued to remain unresolved.

The new mayor, Andrew Mackie, a Ballard resident since 1900, was a very successful mill owner who had the controlling interest in the Salmon Bay and the Green Lake Mills.

After settling in Ballard, Mackie, a Canadian, became very active in the business community and improved the sewer system.

Mayor James E. Zook held the reins of municipal government from 1904-05. Zook also supported the Citizen's Party reform movement which dominated state politics at that time. Once again, concern over the proliferation of saloons and gambling halls on Ballard Ave.

On Monday November 21, 1904 Zook ordered the City of Ballard officially closed in order to put a stop to gambling. Gambling, although a violation of the law had been uneasily tolerated as law enforcement officials looked the other way.

Zook's action was considered highly moral and its timing was politically effective. Re-elected by a strong majority of the 1,400 citizens who went to the polls, Zook entered his second term confident of his new platform.

Zook also increased the city's electrical power supply, supported construction of the Lake Washington Canal and worked for free postal delivery. But, like his predecessors, was in failing to develop an adequate water supply

The Annexation Battle

By 1905 the ongoing water supply problem was seriously dividing the City of Ballard and its citizens. Many were convinced that by consolidating with the City of Seattle the community could secure an adequate water supply as well as access to other resources.

Seattle was eager to acquire the prosperous mill town that blocked its expansion to the north. Annexation of Ballard would also bring good tax revenue to Seattle.

The City of Seattle brought things to a head by announcing that it alone had exclusive right to Cedar River water-the source that had heretofore been the municipal water source for the smaller municipalities near Seattle.

Without access to Cedar River water, many Ballard households and industrial faucets yielded little more than a trickle and no lawn sprinkling was allowed.

In Ballard water took over all other municipal issues with pro and con annexation clubs forming to push for their opposing goals. Seattle supported is drive to acquire Ballard through daily newspaper coverage of the issue. Even nature seemed to join the controversy with 1905 being a drought year.

Throughout the struggle, Mayor Zook continued to oppose consolidation. As time went on many former opponents joined the pro-annexation forces. Still others, dissatisfied with the present mode of administration, supported consolidation as a way of making political change.

Justin Wiley, won the mayoral election in 1906 and attempted to rectify the water shortage problem by installing a new pump. Councilman Kean enthusiastically announced that Ballard's water crisis was over. Unfortunately two weeks later it was revealed that although the new well was in use, the supply was not "what it should be and will be."

Once again summer water rationing was enforced and, when discovered, offenders had their water supply terminated immediately. The new administration was pledged to conservative government. Local improvements would be made only when petitioned for by a majority of the property owners affected.

Improved telephone service and a larger appropriation for dredging Ballard's Mill District harbor were considered necessities.

The final blow came for Ballard on July 19, 1906 when the Washington Supreme Court ruled that the City of Seattle had exclusive rights to Cedar River water for municipal use. One by one, the bothersome little municipalities in Seattle's outlying areas, whose independence was stifling Seattle's unlimited expansion, fell under the Supreme Court decision on municipal ownership of Cedar River water.

Like Ballard, almost all these communities lacked reliable water supplies. In Ballard the debate continued although the anti-annexationists were rapidly dwindling in numbers. They defiantly wore lapel buttons stating: "Boost for Ballard's Independence. Annex Nix. "

Ballard did not hold out much longer. Legend has it that in the week before the crucial annexation election, many Ballardites came down ill from water in a reservoir contaminated by the bloated carcass of a dead horse. The talk on Ballard Ave. and at Hose Hall was that goons hired by the City of Seattle had perpetrated this dastardly deed to pressure Ballard voters to vote for consolidation.

On November 6, 1906 Ballard citizens went to the polls for what would be the town's last special election. Pro-annexation received 996 votes while 874 voted "no." In addition to better and cheaper water and sewer service, many Ballardites believed they would receive other benefits including lower taxes, more comprehensive police and fire protection, and better education and health services.

For H. K Pecks and his council, issues still remained to be settled before joining the greater metropolitan area. Although Seattle promised $65,000 for local improvements, Peck's council upheld contracts already let while Ballard was still a city rather than waiting until the red tape of annexation unraveled, releasing Seattle funds.

In fact, Ballard's last ordinance, No. 1260, dealt with the improvement of East Times Street (NW 58 St). The city's fiscal position on May 29, 1907 when Ballard's city council met for the last time, is recorded as follows: assets - $307,569; liabilities - $452,405.

On May 29, 1907 Ballard's proud City Hall was draped with black craepe, and the flag on the city hall pole hung at half-mast. The faces of those crowding the streets were a mix of smiles and sad eyes blinking back the tears.

Many people wore black arm bands as a sign of mourning. As the dray from the City of Seattle pulled up to the front door of city hall and the men began hauling out Ballard's municipal records, some cheered while others boo'd; few were indifferent.

A century has passed since Ballard's City Hall closed its doors as the town's administrative center. However, in 1989 a monument was raised to commemorate the grand days of the City of Ballard.

The original bell that rang out regularly to notify people of fire, publilc meetings and celebrations hangs once again on the site of city hall. The late Ted Peterson, former State Representative from Ballard, rescued the bell the day the building was demolished in the aftermath of the 1965 earthquake.

This historical narrative is based on the research done by Susan Hennig and Patricia Trip of the municipal records of the City of Ballard, preserved in the Puget Sound Region State Archives, and recorded in Passport to Ballard, Chapter 7, "The Rise and Fall of the City of Ballard, 1890-1907."