Before the construction of the Ship Canal, Salmon Bay was entirely salt water and subject to the tides.
[2] Along the north side of the bay was a village (also called šilšul) of the Shilshole, which by the late 19th century, had two longhouses (each 60'x120') and a larger potlatch house.
[3] The last remaining resident of the village was Salmon Bay Charlie[4] until he was evicted and removed to the Port Madison Reservation.
[citation needed] Beginning in 1916, the level of the bay was raised by 20 feet (6.1 m) as the Ballard Locks formed a dam.
[5] West of the locks, it is spanned by the Salmon Bay Bridge that carries the BNSF Railway railroad tracks between Ballard and Magnolia.