The Montlake Cut is the easternmost section of the

Lake Washington Ship Canal The Lake Washington Ship Canal, which runs through the city of Seattle, connects the fresh water body of Lake Washington with the salt water inland sea of Puget Sound. The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks accommodate the approximately difference in w ...

, which passes through the

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

of Seattle, linking

Lake Washington Lake Washington is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle. It is the largest lake in King County and the second largest natural lake in the state of Washington, after Lake Chelan. It borders the cities of Seattle on the west, ...

to Puget Sound. It was completed in 1916 and is approximately long and wide. The center channel is wide and deep. The path along the cut was designated a

National Recreation Trail The National Trails System is a series of trails in the United States designated "to promote the preservation of, public access to, travel within, and enjoyment and appreciation of the open-air, outdoor areas and historic resources of the Nati ...

as Montlake Cut National Waterside in 1971. The Cut provides a connection between Union Bay, part of Lake Washington, to the east and Portage Bay, an arm of

Lake Union Lake Union is a freshwater lake located entirely within the city limits of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is a major part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, which carries fresh water from the much larger Lake Washington on the east to ...

, to the west. It is spanned by the Montlake Bridge, a

bascule Bascule may refer to: * Bascule bridge, a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances the span in providing clearance for boat traffic * Bascule (horse), the arc a horse's body takes as it goes over a jump * Bascule light, a sma ...

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...

carrying Montlake Boulevard ( State Route 513). Most of the land on the north shore of the Cut is occupied by the University of Washington, its medical school to the west and its stadium parking lot to the east; residences and a recreational trail occupy the south bank, which is part of the Montlake neighborhood. It is the site of the annual

Windermere Cup The Windermere Cup is a series of annual rowing races hosted by the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, United States. The event is open to international teams and takes place on the first Saturday in May, in the Lake Washington Sh ...

crew regatta and the Seattle Yacht Club's Opening Day Boat Parade, both of which take place on the first Saturday in May. The cut lowered the water level of Lake Washington by 8.8 feet, drained the wetlands around the lake, and lowered the lake below the outflow at the Black River (at the south end of the lake in Renton). The Montlake Cut's original name was Erickson Cut. Contractor C.J. Erickson commenced the big project in turning on his big

steam shovel A steam shovel is a large steam-powered excavating machine designed for lifting and moving material such as rock and soil. It is the earliest type of power shovel or excavator. Steam shovels played a major role in public works in the 19th and e ...

in celebration of the October 27, 1909, post A-Y-P Exposition era, in the final push to complete the Lake Washington Canal project. At the ceremony were Judge Roger S. Greene, Judge Thomas Burke, J.S. Brace and John H. McGraw who turned the first shovel of dirt that day. The Duwamish called the area "Carry a Canoe" ( Lushootseed: sxWátSadweehL). Indigenous people had been portaging between the lakes for centuries, either carrying canoes or shoving them along an intermittent creek that appeared when Lake Washington overflowed. "The Cut" is home to the University of Washington Rowing Teams, serving as the final 500 meters of the 2000 meter race course.

References

External links

Montlake Cut (Seattle)
at HistoryLink {{Lake Washington Ship Canal Buildings and structures in Seattle Water transport in Seattle Montlake, Seattle