to 1910, when it was annexed by Seattle. Georgetown incorporated in 1904 largely as a defense against the prospect that Seattle would adopt local Prohibition, which could impact Georgetown's ability to keep operating saloons and breweries as an unincorporated area adjoining a dry city. With Seattle increasingly cracking down on public sinfulness within its boundaries, Georgetown caught the windfall with its twenty-four 24 hour saloons, some of which advertised lodging arrangements, and horse racing track. Once Seattle rejected local-option Prohibition, a movement for annexation gained widespread support. Following presentation of a petition for an annexation vote in 1909, a special election was held on March 29, 1910. The annexation proposition passed with 389 votes in favor and 238 opposed. The City of Georgetown, with its 4000 residents, was officially consolidated with Seattle on April 4, 1910. The Old Georgetown City Hall (1909) is now on the National Register of Historic Places as is the Georgetown Steam Plant (1906). Statewide Prohibition, enacted in 1914, closed Georgetown's brewing industry, but the district remained a growing industrial and transportation center for Seattle. Straightening and deepening of the Duwamish waterway completed in 1916 made it more accessible for maritime commerce, bringing more waterfront business to the area. A meander loop of the Duwamish through the center of Georgetown was cut off and filled; the old channel and interior of the loop became a new warehouse district served by rail spurs. The Duwamish waterway attracted the Boeing Company, who set up shop in a former shipyard across the Duwamish from Georgetown to manufacture seaplanes. Boeing expanded through the 1920s; its land plane testing airstrip in a field south of Georgetown became a public airport (now called Boeing Field) in 1928 and Boeing constructed a new aircraft assembly plant west of the airport in the mid-1930s. The main north–south automotive route through the Puget Sound region was established through the western part of Georgetown in 1928. Following the burgeoning industry and trade came a steep decline of the residential neighborhood. Dated and downscale housing stock, congestion, and the worst air and noise pollution in the city made it an unattractive place to settle. The library branch was closed in 1948, the neighborhood movie theater closed in 1952, and neighborhood stores closed. Business strips along the thoroughfares expanded onto the cheap land in the struggling neighborhood. The neighborhood population was increasingly divided between elderly long-term residents and