Montlake Bridge (historylink.org)
The Montlake Bridge spanning the Montlake Cut in Seattle was completed in 1925, the last-built and easternmost of four double-leaf bascule bridges that carry vehicle and pedestrian traffic across the Lake Washington Ship Canal. It is set apart from its sister bridges by both its Gothic architectural details and its mechanical design, and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1982.- The Montlake Cut, between the Montlake and University District neighborhoods in Seattle, connects Lake Washington and Lake Union as part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal. When it was completed in 1916, it marked the realization of a 62-year-old idea to link the lakes with Puget Sound, creating a freshwater harbor in Seattle and a waterway connecting Seattle’s shipping harbor in Elliott Bay with the resource-rich interior of King County. The canal boosted economic development on the lakes and helped reduce flooding in the Duwamish River valley (its former outlet), but it also had far-reaching environmental and cultural consequences.