Emerald City. Jet City. Rain City. City of Flowers. City of Goodwill.

Seattle.

One of the places on my bucket list. Two other girls and I are headed out West this week to explore the city and then road trip back through some of the most spectacular National Parks. My family was always into learning about the places we were visiting before getting there; it made the experiences more meaningful in many ways. So, this week, I’ve spent some time researching the history of Seattle as I was unfamiliar with most of the city’s history.

When I hear Seattle, I think rain, liberal, bicycles, Pike’s Market, Starbucks, and the Space Needle. But thanks to some Wikipedia reading, I now know more; that is, if you can trust Wikipedia J

Here’s Seattle’s history in a nutshell. Northwest port city. Has experienced 5 major cycles of boom and bust. It has been sent into tremendous decline, but usually is able to recover and successfully rebuild infrastructure.

Lumber industry (1700s)

Seattle in its early decades relied on the timber industry, shipping logs (and later, milled timber) to San Francisco. A climax forest of trees up to 1,000–2,000 years old and towering as high as nearly 400 ft (100 m) covered much of what is now Seattle. Today, none of that size remain anywhere in the world.

The logging town developed rapidly over decades into a small city. Despite being officially founded by the Methodists of the Denny Party, Seattle quickly developed a reputation as a wide-open town, a haven for prostitution, liquor, and gambling. Some attribute this, at least in part, to Maynard who realized that something was needed to bring the loggers and sailors, who formed the majority of the surrounding population, to town.

Seattle was incorporated as a town January 14, 1865. That charter was voided January 18, 1867, in response to questionable activities of the town's elected leaders. Seattle was re-incorporated December 2, 1869.

Klondike Gold Rush (1896)

Seattle was established as the supply center and jumping-off point for transportation to and from Alaska and gold fields of the Yukon. The rush ended the depression overnight for Seattle. The miners mined the gold. Seattle mined the miners.

 

 

Shipbuilding boom (WWI)

Growth during this 1910s was almost all in lumber and maritime industries. With the Atlantic a scene of belligerency, World War I increased Pacific maritime trade and caused a boom in shipbuilding, there was very little growth in new industries. When the war ended, economic output crashed as the government stopped buying boats, and there were no new industries to pick up the slack. Seattle stopped being the place of explosive growth and opportunity it had been for two consecutive decades.

 

Boeing (WWII): 1945-1970

When World War II started, the government suddenly desired tens of thousands of planes a year, and Boeing was positioned to provide them. Boeing churned out aircraft and became by far the largest employer in Seattle.

When the war ended, "the military canceled its bomber orders; Boeing factories shut down and 70,000 people lost their jobs," and initially it appeared that Seattle had little to show for the wartime Boeing boom. However, this period of stagnation soon ended with the rise of the jet aircraft and Boeing's reincarnation as the world's leading producer of commercial passenger planes.

During this period, Seattle attempted to counter the decline of its downtown and the area immediately to the north by hosting the Century 21 Exposition, the 1962 World's Fair. The fair, given a futuristic science theme, was designed to leave behind a civic center, now known as Seattle Center, including arts buildings, the Pacific Science Center and the Space Needle, and serving also as a fairground.

 

Due to the simultaneous decline in Vietnam War military spending, the slowing of the space program as Project Apollo neared completion, the recession of 1969-1970,and Boeing's $2 billion in debt as it built the 747 airliner, [Boeing] and the Seattle area greatly suffered. Commercial Airplane Group, by far the largest unit of Boeing, went from 83,700 employees in 1968 to 20,750 in 1971. Each unemployed Boeing employee cost at least one other job, and unemployment rose to 14%, the highest in the United States. Housing vacancy rates rose to 16% from 1% in 1967. U-Haul dealerships ran out of trailers because so many people moved out. A billboard appeared near the airport:

Will the last person

leaving SEATTLE- Turn out the lights

The Pike Place Market, arguably Seattle's most important tourist attraction, gained its modern form in the aftermath of the Boeing crash. The internment of the Japanese from Seattle during World War II had hit the market particularly hard, since 80% of its "wet stall" vendors had been ethnically Japanese. A "Keep the Market" initiative was passed in 1971, pushing for adaptive reuse. Today the Pike Place Market pulls nine million visitors each year.

High tech: (1970+)

Seattle has also been experiencing quite good growth in the biotechnology [particularly Microsoft] and coffee sectors, with international coffeeshop chain Starbucks originating from Seattle, and Seattle-based Nordstrom now a national brand.

And that’s the story with Seattle. We are looking forward to experiencing some of the tourist sites and staying in a hostel.  After Seattle, we will move on to more “natural endeavors.” So excited for this trip!!!

I'll leave you with a fun tidbit:

 

Seattle is named after Chief Seattle (1786-1866) of the Susquamish tribe and Duwamish. A prominent figure among his people, he pursued a path of accommodation to white settlers, forming a personal relationship with "Doc" Maynard.

The name Seattle is an anglicization of the modern Duwamish conventional spelling Si'ahl. He is also known as Sealth, Seathle, Seathl, or See-ahth.