The free online encyclopedia of Washington state history

8519 HistoryLink.org articles now available.

Diablo Dam incline railway climbing Sourdough Mountain, 1930. Courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives, 2306.
Children waving to ferry, 1950. Courtesy Museum of History and Industry.
Loggers in the Northwest woods. Courtesy Washington State Digital Archives.

This Week Then

7/17/2025

Outfitting stores in downtown Seattle for Klondike Gold Rush

News Then, History Now

Named by Her Beau

One hundred and fifty years ago this week, on July 20, 1875, John Shoudy filed an 80-acre plat in the Kittitas Valley for the town of Ellensburgh (later Ellensburg), which was named for his wife, Mary Ellen. The city's downtown was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

Fiery Glow

On July 18, 1900, a fire destroyed half of the business district of downtown Pomeroy; on July 17, 1929, Seattle 's Union Pacific Dock went up in flames; and on July 18, 1959, the abandoned Wheeler-Osgood Company mill in Tacoma burned to the ground. But the biggest Washington fire in history this week was the Carlton Complex wildfire, which spread out over 18,000 acres and by July 17, 2014, had destroyed 111 homes in and around the town of Pateros.

Neighbors Say No

On July 21, 1911, members of the Fern Bluff Grange in Sultan approved a resolution opposing development of a proposed Western Tuskegee community for Black settlers. Supporters of the plan envisioned an 800-acre settlement north of town where Black agriculturalists and entrepreneurs could create a self-supporting community, but opponents claimed that locating a Black community next to a white community would lead to strife. 

Today in
Washington History

New On HistoryLink

Image of the Week

The home of philanthropist and activist Kay Bullitt

The home of philanthropist and activist Kay Bullitt became a Seattle landmark on July 19, 2023.

Quote of the Week

"During the gold rush it's a good time to be in the pick and shovel business"

—Mark Twain

Major Funding Provided By

Education Partners

William Seward starts two-day visit to Puget Sound on July 21, 1869.
U.S. Senate ratifies purchase of Alaska from Russia on April 9, 1867.
Gold prospectors travel north by the hundreds through Puget Sound to Alaska and the Yukon beginning in April 1895.
Klondike Gold Rush
Klondike Gold Rush begins on July 17, 1897.
Seattle merchant Cooper & Levy advertises
Panic of 1893 and Its Aftermath
Seattle 1907: A Milestone Year
Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition opens in Seattle on June 1, 1909.
Seattle holds Golden Potlatch festival beginning on July 17, 1911.
Seattle's Potlatch Bug (1912)
Alys McKey Bryant sets an altitude record for women pilots at Seattle's Golden Potlatch on July 17, 1913.
Fistfight kicks off Seattle Potlatch riots on July 17, 1913.
Potlatch rioters sack IWW and Socialist Party offices in Seattle on July 18, 1913.
Cotterill, George Fletcher (1865-1958)
Seattle Mayor Cotterill declares state of emergency in midst of Potlatch riots on July 19, 1913.
Silas Christofferson shows off aeroplane, bombs Seattle, on July 18, 1914.
U.S. Congress declares war on Germany and enters World War I on April 6, 1917.
World War I in Washington
Seattle celebrates silver anniversary of Klondike Gold Rush on July 17, 1922.
Seafair: the Founding: Jim Douglas's Account
First Seafair festival is held in King County for 10 days beginning on August 11, 1950.
First automobile arrives in Seattle on July 23, 1900.
Automobile Club of Seattle, predecessor of AAA Washington, forms on September 23, 1904.
Hill, Samuel (1857-1931)
Washington Good Roads Association
Governor Albert E. Mead signs House Sub. Bill No. 25, creating the office of Highway Commissioner on March 13, 1905.
Transcontinental auto race ends in Seattle on June 23, 1909.
Governor Marion Hay signs Permanent Highway Act on March 8, 1911.
Sunset Highway through Snoqualmie Pass is dedicated on July 1, 1915.
President Woodrow Wilson signs the Federal Aid Road Act on July 11, 1916.
Transportation Chronology: Moving Washington for a Century -- 100 Years in the History of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)
An 80-acre plat constituting the town of Ellensburgh is recorded in the names of John A. and Mary Ellen Shoudy on July 20, 1875.
Kittitas County -- Thumbnail History
Ellensburg -- Thumbnail History
Ellensburg is incorporated on January 1, 1884.
Downtown Ellensburg is added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 1, 1977.
Fire destroys nearly half the business district of downtown Pomeroy on July 18, 1900.
Fire severely damages Union Pacific Dock on Seattle waterfront on July 17, 1929.
Abandoned Wheeler-Osgood Company mill in Tacoma burns on July 18, 1959.
Carlton Complex Fire
The Carlton Complex wildfire destroys 111 homes in and around the town of Pateros on the Columbia River on July 17, 2014.
Sultan is incorporated on June 28, 1905.
Sultan-area farmers vote to oppose a proposed Western Tuskegee community for Black settlers on July 21, 1911. 
Fox (Music Hall) Theatre (Seattle)
Fox (Music Hall) Theatre opens in Seattle on April 19, 1929.
Metro marks Renton Treatment Plant groundbreaking with parade through the
Metro dedicates a secondary sewage treatment plant in Renton on July 22, 1965.
Metro (Seattle) dedicates West Point Treatment Plant on July 20, 1966.
Seattle Neighborhoods: Magnolia -- Thumbnail History
Metro: Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle
Metro Council, formed to clean up Lake Washington, holds inaugural meeting on October 1, 1958.
Seattle's light-rail era begins as Sound Transit's Central Link line carries its first passengers on July 18, 2009.
Sound Transit's Link light rail connecting downtown Seattle with Sea-Tac International Airport reaches SeaTac/Airport Station on December 19, 2009.
Sound Transit begins Link light-rail service to Capitol Hill and the University of Washington from downtown Seattle on March 19, 2016.
Bullitt, Katharine
Home of philanthropist and activist Katharine Bullitt becomes a Seattle landmark on July 19, 2023.