Guiding Questions for Historical Research
As part of the brainstorming process Dick Wagner and Lorraine McConaghy have asked questions to help direct their research.
To see the questions, select the "Extended Entry". If you have any other questions that you believe should be researched, or ideas of source material that would be helpful for answering these questions, please contact us via email or using the comment field below.
South Lake Union Guiding Questions
These questions provide structure to our research.
What were the natural lake and lake shore like at South Lake Union?
How did Native people perceive and use Lake Union? What Native transportation networks was the lake part of?
What was life like for Native people at South Lake Union, before American settlement?
How about after American settlement, through time?
What were the earliest settler uses of the Lake? How did settlers perceive the lake?
What was the significance of Mercer’s renaming of the Lake?
What were the early settler industrial uses of the Lake, prior to 1890?
How were canoes used on the Lake? What were the early vessels on the Lake, prior to 1900?
What were the changing transportation networks that the lake was part of, after settlement through 1900? From 1900 through 1950? From 1950 through 2006?
How did steam transportation affect Lake Union and its uses?
How did northward streetcar extension affect Lake Union and its uses? How about automobility?
What was the agricultural and residential history of the lakeshore? The lakeshore suburbs?
What is the industrial history of Lake Union, 1890 through the present? Are there larger processes that govern the individual stories of businesses?
What were the effects of industrialization and development on the lake, as a habitat, through 1950? What have been the results of efforts to “cleanse and save” the lake?
What were the civic uses of the lake, through the present day? How were those uses affected by transportation?
What were the recreational uses of the lake, through the present day? How did transportation change those uses?
How have perceptions of Lake Union changed through time? Why?
These questions provide structure to our research.
What were the natural lake and lake shore like at South Lake Union?
How did Native people perceive and use Lake Union? What Native transportation networks was the lake part of?
What was life like for Native people at South Lake Union, before American settlement?
How about after American settlement, through time?
What were the earliest settler uses of the Lake? How did settlers perceive the lake?
What was the significance of Mercer’s renaming of the Lake?
What were the early settler industrial uses of the Lake, prior to 1890?
How were canoes used on the Lake? What were the early vessels on the Lake, prior to 1900?
What were the changing transportation networks that the lake was part of, after settlement through 1900? From 1900 through 1950? From 1950 through 2006?
How did steam transportation affect Lake Union and its uses?
How did northward streetcar extension affect Lake Union and its uses? How about automobility?
What was the agricultural and residential history of the lakeshore? The lakeshore suburbs?
What is the industrial history of Lake Union, 1890 through the present? Are there larger processes that govern the individual stories of businesses?
What were the effects of industrialization and development on the lake, as a habitat, through 1950? What have been the results of efforts to “cleanse and save” the lake?
What were the civic uses of the lake, through the present day? How were those uses affected by transportation?
What were the recreational uses of the lake, through the present day? How did transportation change those uses?
How have perceptions of Lake Union changed through time? Why?