The West Seattle Land & Improvement Company was incorporated July 11, 1888, and was reported to have been capitalized at $1,500,000.

[1] In 1890, the company's main office was in West Seattle, at the corner of Railroad and Grand streets.

The owners of Lady of the Lake reduced their fares to five cents, which prompted the ferry division to allow 40 rides for one dollar.

[4][5] The rate war ended on June 18, 1903, when Lady of the Lake was hauled out of the water in a shipyard in West Seattle.

In 1907 City of Seattle was still on the same route, but demand had increased so much that a new and larger vessel was commissioned to handle the ferry traffic.

[7] With the new ferry on the route, City of Seattle was then shifted to run to the Luna amusement park then located at Duwamish Head.

1907 was the peak year for ferry transport on the Seattle-West Seattle run, with 103,000 passengers carried in July alone.