The Great Seattle Fire ( June 6 , 1889 ) obliterated Yesler 's Wharf and all other waterfront structures south of Union Street . The one major wharf remaining after the fire was the Schwabacher Dock ( also known as Schwabacher Wharf or Schwabacher 's Wharf ) , just north of the " burnt district " . Within four years after the fire , there was enormous redevelopment west of Front Street ( now First Avenue ) , with an 1893 Sanborn insurance map showing West Street , now Western Avenue , running the entire length of the present Central Waterfront ( and then some , continuing northwest into what is now Myrtle Edwards Park ) , and Water Street ( now Elliott Avenue ) running more or less along what was then the shore from Bell Street to Broad Street ; filling has subsequently moved that shore west . There were numerous docks , mostly perpendicular to the shore . The Sanborn map indicates the nature of the businesses along the waterfront , and suggests that fishing had not yet become an important industry at this time . More typical waterfront uses were warehouses for grain and feed . Just inland from the water were many hotels , ranging from workingmen 's hotels to a " Grand Hotel " on Front Street between Madison and Marion Streets
Great Seattle Fire
Great Seattle Fire
Central Waterfront, Seattle