BALLARD LOCKS WALK – January 2017

• Start from the Ballard Coffee Works, 2060 NW Market St. Cross 22nd Ave. and walk west along Market passing the historic Eagles Building. • Cross 24th Ave. and turn south on 24th Ave. Continue to the end of the Ballard Pier. • Retrace your steps and turn west on Market St. Keep left on 54th St. and proceed to the Ballard Locks. • Chittenden (Ballard) Locks. After decades of debate, the locks in Ballard were dedicated on July 4th 1917 as the final step connecting Lake Washington to Puget Sound. Named for General Hiram Chittenden of the Seattle District Corps of Engineers, a tireless advocate for the complex, the project consists of one small and one large 825-foot lock. The structure is also designed to prevent salt water intrusion into the inland lakes while allowing the free passage of salmon thru a fish ladder. Historically, Salmon Bay was a long, shallow, tidally-influenced, saltwater inlet of Puget Sound’s Shilshole Bay. Before construction of the canal, Lake Union emptied into Salmon Bay via a small creek which followed roughly the same course as the Fremont Cut does today. • Keep to the left and walk through the rose garden of the Carl S. English, Jr. Botanical Garden. Carl S. English, Jr. worked as a horticulturist for the Corps of Engineers from 1931 to 1974. During this time he transformed the barren ground left after the construction of the locks into a garden with more than 570 species and 1,500 varieties from around the world. • Bathroom stop at the lock. • Cross the locks to the Fish Ladder. The fish ladder is integrated into the locks for migration of fish making their way back to spawning grounds in the headwaters of the Sammamish River, which feeds Lake Washington. The 21-step water "ladder" allows fish to swim upstream or downstream on a gradual incline bypassing the locks. A viewing gallery lets visitors watch the fish from underwater. • Exit the locks and walk to the right through Commodore Park. Commodore Park is a 3.9-acre public park at the south end of the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks that was conceived in 1966 to prevent the construction of an apartment building. Neighborhood residents took advantage of the Locks’ golden anniversary with a 4th of July celebration that netted $20,000 as “seed money” for purchase of the property. The park was dedicated on July 4th 1978. • Proceed west along Commodore Way walking beneath the Salmon Bay Bridge (aka Great Northern Railroad Bridge No. 4). This drawbridge was completed across Salmon Bay in 1917. A 500 ton concrete counterweight is used to lift the 200 foot span. • Turn right on 40th Ave. Make a slight right on Cramer then left on 39th Ave. Turn left on Hooker for a view of Shilshole Bay. Stay left and return via 40th Ave. • Proceed south along 40th Ave to Ft. Lawton/Discovery Park. • Fort Lawton, named for civil war General Henry W. Lawton, was an artillery battery intended to defend Seattle and southern Puget Sound from naval attack. The fort opened on February 9, 1900 on a 1,100 acre site landscaped by John C. Olmsted. Over 20,000 troops were stationed at Fort Lawton during World War II. The post was also used as a Prisoner of War camp for more than 1,000 Germans and Italians. • Turn left on Texas Way and proceed through the former Army Reserve Post to Discovery Park Blvd. Turn right on the paved trail along Discovery Park Blvd and proceed to the Ft. Lawton Military Cemetery. • Fort Lawton Military Cemetery. Military personnel, their families, and civilian employees of the Army from the Spanish-American War forward are buried in the 912 sites of Fort Lawton Cemetery. The first grave was dug in 1902; all sites are now filled. One German and one Italian POW are also interred. In August 1944, an Italian POW was murdered at Fort Lawton after a night of rioting between Italian POWs and American soldiers. Twenty-eight soldiers were later court-martialed, convicted of the crime, and sent to prison. This event is well documented in the 2005 book “On American Soil” by Jack Hamann which led to a formal review of this event. After this review, the convictions were set aside in 2007. • Exit the Cemetery and Discovery Park and proceed east along Government Way. • Turn left on 32nd Ave and proceed north to the Gay Ave pedestrian bridge over the railroad right-of-way. • Continue north on 33rd Ave. Cross Commodore Way and proceed through Commodore Park and across the locks. Proceed through the lock grounds to the main entrance. • Turn right on 54th St and proceed east along Market to 22nd Ave and the Ballard Coffee Works.

Distance: 5.1 miles

BALLARD LOCKS WALK