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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

10/17/2024

Monroe Street Bridge, Spokane

News Then, History Now

In the Spotlight

This week in history, Washington has welcomed a few special visitors. On October 19, 1871, Susan B. Anthony became the first woman to address the Washington Territorial Legislature. While here, she helped organize the Washington Woman Suffrage Association. On October 17, 1915, Harry Houdini arrived in Seattle for a week-long run at the Orpheum Theatre. On October 19, 1924, Babe Ruth hit three homers in an exhibition game at Dugdale Park. And on October 22, 1975, King Olav V of Norway visited Poulsbo to celebrate the sesquicentennial of Norwegian immigration to America.

Idyllic Site

On October 23, 1915, Larrabee State Park was established in Whatcom County as Washington's first state park. The land was donated by the Larrabee family, who were very influential in the development of Bellingham.

Ghost in the Night

On October 17, 1920, Vancouver Mayor G. R. Percival disappeared after a stroll through the city and across the Interstate Bridge over the Columbia River. Numerous searches were made, but no sign of him was found until a month later, when his body was found hanging from a tree on Hayden Island – an apparent suicide. Since then, on autumn nights, some have claimed to see the apparition on the old bridge of an old man, who then vanishes into thin air. 

Feats of Aviation

One hundred years ago this week, in October 18, 1924, the USS Shenandoah became the first rigid, lighter-than-air craft to make a transcontinental flight when it arrived at Camp Lewis. Five years later, on October 17, 1929, a giant Tupolev ANT-4 twin-engine airplane landed at Sand Point after having flown from Moscow in the Soviet Union.

Senator's Vexation

Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy made his first political visit to Washington on October 22, 1952, in order to campaign for Republican presidential nominee, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and incumbent Republican Senator Harry P. Cain. McCarthy's trip didn't turn out quite as he had planned: He got heckled by members of the Washington State Press Club and KING-TV canceled his televised speech.

Official Designation

On October 21, 1977, the Patos Island Lighthouse, located on the northernmost of the San Juan Islands, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. On October 18, 1978, Enloe Dam in Okanogan County was also added to the list. And on October 17, 1986, the Columbia River Gorge was designated a National Scenic Area.

Today in
Washington History

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Image of the Week

Tacoma Hotel

Built in 1884, the luxurious Tacoma Hotel went up in flames on October 17, 1935.

Quote of the Week

"It so happens that the work which is likely to be our most durable monument, and to convey some knowledge of us to the most remote posterity, is a work of bare utility; not a shrine, not a fortress, not a palace, but a bridge."

--Montgomery Schuyler

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