Starring My Town........

                                 .... Seattle, Washington

 
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We have had numerous requests to make “Seattle” our “star”! Strangely they have come from people with hometowns in New York, Florida, Connecticut, South Dakota and even a Pittsburgh relative or two.

So for all of you who want to know about that city on Puget Sound…here it is!


Seattle by day...

...and by night!

Seattle is the largest city in the Pacific Northwest built on 7 hills between the Cascades and the Olympic mountains with Mt. Rainier on the southeast and Mt. Baker on the northeast.

It is also bounded by Puget Sound (Elliott Bay) and Lake Washington.      


Mt. Rainier

Mt. Baker

It rains often in Seattle but the snow stays mainly in the mountains that shelter it. The frequent rain and mostly temperate climate give the area a lush green look and it has earned the nickname “The Emerald City”. However, in El Nino years, the summer is often warmer and drier.      
Seattle in rain and shine

The city was named for Chief Seattle, leader of the Suquamish and Duwamish Indian tribes. His grave marker reads: “Seattle, Chief of the Suquamps and Allied Tribes. Died June 7, 1866. Firm Friend of the Whites and For Him the City of Seattle was named by Its Founders”. Converted to Catholicism, the Chief’s baptismal name was registered Noe (Noah) Siattle.

                       


Take only memories, leave only footprints" ..Chief Seattle

The Denny Party from Cherry Grove, Illinois are credited as the founders of Seattle, leaving their home on April 10th, 1851 and arriving at Alki Point on November 13th, 1851. The name “Alki” comes from the Chinook jargon meaning “someday”.   


The Lighthouse at Alki Point

A windy day at Alki Point

Plans for the city proper were laid out in 1855 by Charles Terry who later became Postmaster. But the fledgling city had to fight off an Indian attack (1856), anti-Chinese riots and a disastrous fire in 1889 before the Great Northern railroad came in 1893 to help Seattle grow.

                             
The Great Seattle Fire, June 6, 1889

The Gold Rush of 1897 made Seattle a boomtown as hopeful prospectors flooded the city on their way to the Yukon creating the nation’s first link to Alaska through Seattle and also the gateway to the Orient. In 1909 the city hosted the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition where the University of Washington campus is now.                  


Crowds at the Exposition 1909

University of Washington campus

Beauty on campus!

Ranked 10th in the nation for its medical research, the University of Washington’s Medical Center also operates the Harborview Medical Center on First Hill. There are four hospitals on First Hill giving it the nickname “Pill Hill”.


University of Washington Medical Center

Harborview Medical Center

There are 5 Fortune 500 companies in Seattle (Washington Mutual,  Safeco, Nordstrom, Amazon.com and Starbucks) and 5 others not far away (Microsoft and Nintendo in Redmond, Costco in Issaquah, T-Mobile USA in Bellevue and Weyerhaeuser in Federal Way). But coffee is king in Seattle where both Starbucks and Tully’s compete for the throne.                   


Starbuck's first store

Under Tully's clock

Seattle, like all early American cities, wanted entertainment after a hard week’s work. So  they built an opera house for live stage shows in 1859. Vaudeville came next in 1904 with the Palomar ( it finally closed in the early 1950s with Sammy Davis, Jr. as its last hit show). In 1926 the first “movie palace” was built…the 5th Avenue Theater designed by Gustav Liljestrom, a protégé of Cecil B. DeMille. It was modeled after some of China’s architectural wonders. The magnificent dome over the auditorium is suspended on cables from the 8th floor to protect it in case of an earthquake. The theater is now used primarily for stage productions.                   
Inside the 5th Avenue Theater

       Other old theaters still standing…..  


The Uptown in 2003..the name and film is the same...only the prices are different!

The Paramount (opened in 1922)

The Neptune (opened in 1921)

Hollywood also loves Seattle making it the location for over 453 feature films, shorts and television shows (including the more recent hit “Grey’s Anatomy”). The first films listed were a series of 6 shorts filmed by Thomas Edison’s company in 1897. The first feature film was Paramount’s “Odyssey of the North”  directed by Hobart Bosworth who also played the lead.

 A sampling of more recent films you might remember…        



Sleepless in Seattle

The Assassins 1995

The Fabulous Baker Boys 1989

Five Easy Pieces 1970

Lassie Come Home 1943

But there is more! Here are some other places you can’t afford to miss on our “tour”….

Seattle’s Underground City…the pre-fire old city still exists under Seattle’s streets! 
                 Woodland Park Zoo

Seattle’s Experience Music Project…
Seattle is known as the birthplace of grunge music ( Nirvana, Pearl Jam etc.) 
      
                   
Pikes Place Market 
 

 Seattle Seahawks Stadium (Quest Field) ..in 2006 the Seahawks won the AFC championship but lost Super Bowl XL to the Pittsburgh Steelers.


Seahawks Stadium