From Washington To You
Historic photograph of the Lake Washington Ship Canal locks, looking along the concrete chambers and gates.
Photograph from the National Archives (298861), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Public domain.

From Washington to you

Hiram M. Chittenden Locks

Hiram M. Chittenden Locks · King County · opened 1916–1917

Two concrete chambers in Ballard lift ships between Puget Sound and Seattle's lakes — and pass salmon the other way.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finished the Lake Washington Ship Canal and Hiram M. Chittenden Locks in 1917. The canal joins Lake Washington, Lake Union, and Salmon Bay to the tidal water of Puget Sound. Seattle calls them the Ballard Locks, after the neighborhood on the north bank.

The complex has two locks: a small chamber 30 by 150 feet and a large chamber 80 by 825 feet. A 235-foot spillway with six gates holds the freshwater lakes above salt water. A fish ladder is built into the locks so anadromous fish, especially salmon, can keep migrating.

The first ship passed on August 3, 1916. The locks were formally opened on July 4, 1917. They are named for Maj. Hiram Martin Chittenden, Seattle District Engineer from April 1906 to September 1908. The sources below are the Corps of Engineers' public record of the project.

  • History
  • Science / Strange Washington

Sources (2)

Last reviewed: September 20, 2026

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Hiram M. Chittenden Locks · From Washington To You