Side Sewer Cards Reveal Residential Building Patterns in Wallingford
By Sarah Martin & Linda Sewell
Posted: April 2026
The City of Seattle’s side sewer records provide a wealth of information about how the Wallingford neighborhood developed in the early 20th century. A side sewer includes all the piping located outside the footprint of a building. The City kept records of when these systems were initially installed, beginning in the early 1900s just as the first residential building boom took off in Wallingford.
A database on the City’s website makes these records easily searchable by address and provides scanned images of the original records and maps. Here’s an example of the front and back of the sewer record card for the 3900 block of Densmore Avenue N.
Researcher and Wallingford resident, Linda Sewell, has combed through hundreds of sewer records covering Wallingford to find some interesting development patterns. As the example above illustrates, she noticed the same names appearing over and over in the “Owner” column of the cards. Names like Stephen Berg, P. E. Wentworth, Henry Brice, Henry Nelson, Lunde & Stoe, Gardner Gwinn, and even the Craftsman Bungalow Company (see below for short biographies). Some quick research revealed these names to be merchant builders who built homes in Wallingford from the 1910s to the 1930s. As was the case with Stephen Berg in the 3900 block of Densmore, these builders often purchased several lots on a block or in close proximity, designed and built multiple homes simultaneously, and then advertised the homes for sale directly to the public.
To visualize the impact of Wallingford’s most prolific merchant builders, Linda mapped the addresses of the properties in the sewer records that were associated with the most active builders. Berg, Wentworth, and Lunde & Stoe, noted in blue, green, and orange on the map, respectively, developed dozens of residences in Wallingford.
(Click the icon at the top right to enlarge the map. Then, use the menu at the left to select and deselect the various builders to best see their impact. Click on the individual points to see additional information.)
While the sewer records are a great source for leads on the names of original owners, property developers, and builders, it is always smart to compare them with information found in building permits and property deeds. Linda encountered misspelled names and conflicting information that sometimes required additional research. Importantly, her work demonstrates that the sewer records, when studied collectively, reveal just how prolific a handful of merchant builders were in shaping the Wallingford landscape.
Builder/Developer Biographies
Forthcoming…