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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

6/8/2023

News Then, History Now

Here to Stay

On June 13, 1908, a group of Swedish Americans led by Dr. Nils A. Johanson incorporated Seattle's Swedish Hospital. Now known as Swedish Medical Center, it has since expanded to become one of the largest hospitals in the state.

Service Pay

On June 8, 1909, Washington became the first state in the nation to outlaw tipping. Widely supported at the time by Progressives and the labor movement, the prohibition was essentially unenforceable, largely ignored, and repealed in 1913.

Into the Fray

One hundred years ago this week, on June 12, 1923, Henry "Dode" Bercot of Monroe won the Pacific Coast lightweight boxing title after a six-round match with Ted Krache at the Seattle Arena. Known as the "Monroe Bearcat," Bercot was a logger by trade, but later became a state game warden on Whidbey Island, serving in that position for 30-plus years.

 

Final Run

On June 11, 1938, the Tacoma Railway & Power Company ran streetcars through Tacoma for the last time, and the last streetcar to make the trip was ceremonially burned on its return to the car barn. Two years earlier, a similar fate befell Spokane's last electric trolley.

Crown Won

On June 11, 1977, Seattle Slew won thoroughbred racing's Belmont Stakes and the coveted Triple Crown. One month later, the prize-winning colt made a non-competitive appearance at Longacres Racetrack to raise funds for medical research, both human and equine.

Two Undone

On June 11, 1978, octogenarian pilot Rolf Neslund guided the freighter Chavez into the Duwamish Waterway and plowed into the West Seattle drawbridge, jamming upright its eastern leaf. Residents of West Seattle had to wait seven years for a replacement high-level span, during which time Neslund met his own grisly end. And in 2020, the bridge had to be closed for repairs after rapidly expanding cracks were found in its support structure.

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Washington History

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Image of the Week

On June 10, 1975, the Roslyn city council appointed William Craven as Washington's first African American mayor.

Quote of the Week

“Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts.”

–Charles Dickens

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