Eighty-five years separate the historical view across the Lake Union entrance to Portage Bay from its contemporary repeat. Both were photographed from Eastlake Avenue or below it. The short-lived timber trestle in the historical view carried Cedar River water to the North End through its 36-inch wood-stave pipe. In 1916 the pipeline was rerouted through a tunnel that parallels the trestle on the Portage Bay side.

It ran from Eastlake Avenue on its Capitol Hill side to Seventh Avenue Northeast and the Latona neighborhood. Seventh Avenue is evident far right, and the rooflines of the original and second Latona schools break the horizon on the far left. The larger of these was recently restored as part of the Latona Campus for the new John Stanford International School.

Captions for the few surviving photographs of the pipeline trestle — including this one — regularly confuse it with another Latona Bridge, the older one built in the early 1890s for David Denny's electric trolley to Latona, Brooklyn (the University District) and Ravenna Park. The trolley bridge, which is just barely out of the historical photograph to its left side, survived until 1919, when the University Bridge replaced it. Part of the latter bridge appears on the far right of the "now" scene, which was purposely recorded with a wider-angle lens to include both it and the Interstate 5 Lake Washington Ship Canal Bridge. That freeway bridge runs directly in line with the old Latona trolley bridge, although high above it.

The pipeline trestle was dismantled soon after the tunnel that ran beside it was completed on Oct. 6, 1916. The photograph dates from that year, when the canal opened, although "polishing" of the new waterway continued until its dedication on July 4, 1917. The timber forms at the bottom of the scene are temporary features used in building the tunnel.

Paul Dorpat specializes in historical photography and has published several books on early Seattle.