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.
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This Week Then
6/19/2025
Celebrate Pride
During the last week of June 1974, local lesbians and gays celebrated Seattle's first Gay Pride Week, which included the opening of the Gay Community Center, a picnic in Occidental Park, and a "Gay-In" at Seattle Center. The celebration has grown over the years – it was sanctioned by the city in 1977 – and now includes a large Pride Parade in downtown Seattle and a citywide PrideFest featuring music, art, film, and more.
Sexual minorities played important roles in Seattle history virtually since the town's founding. Early pioneers either expressed little concern for – or turned a blind eye towards – same-sex relationships, but after the Washington Sodomy Law was enacted in 1893, the gay community went underground. Nevertheless, by the 1930s establishments like the Casino Pool Room catered to gay men, and after World War II the Garden of Allah became a popular gay cabaret. In 1950, local lesbians began meeting discreetly at The Hub, and in 1973 Shelly's Leg opened in Pioneer Square.
At times harassed by the police, gay, lesbian, and trans people did not emerge from the closet in large numbers until after New York City's infamous Stonewall riots in 1969. That same year, Dorian House opened in Seattle to provide gay counseling, and soon Gay Liberation activists increased their advocacy for more tolerance and less discrimination against the LGBT community. In 1977, Catholic Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen publicly defended the rights of gays and lesbians, and in 1987 Cal Anderson became Washington's first openly gay legislator. Beginning in the 1980s, Washingtonians responded to the HIV/AIDS crisis by banding together to help those in need.
In the 1970s Seattle expanded its anti-discrimination law to include sexual orientation, but this became the target of a repeal campaign in 1978, which voters decisively rejected. Civil rights were extended to gays and lesbians statewide in 2006, and broadened again in 2009. And in 2012 Washington became one of the first three states to enact same-sex marriage at the ballot box.
Be sure to check out our podcast, Square One, which delves deeper into the stories included in our self-guided walking tour of Pioneer Square's LGBTQ+ history. A video version of the podcast is also available on HistoryLink's Vimeo channel.
Go for a Ride
One hundred years ago this week, on June 25, 1925, regular car-ferry service began across the lower Columbia River between Cathlamet and Puget Island, both in Wahkiakum County, and Westport, Oregon. At first, a single eight-car diesel ferry went from Cathlamet to Puget Island and then around the island to Westport. After a road was completed across Puget Island, a second ferry entered service that ran between Westport and the south side of the island.
Ferry service between Cathlamet and Puget Island ended in 1939 after a bridge connected them, but a ferry operated by Wahkiakum County still runs between Puget Island and Westport. It is the last ferry service on the lower Columbia, and the 23-car Oscar B provides a minimum of 18 round trips per day.
On June 19, 1890, African Americans from Tacoma and Seattle, many of them former slaves, gathered in Kent to celebrate the area's first Juneteenth, which marked the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, news of which did not reach Texas slaves until June 19, 1865.
Autos Demonstrated
On the day the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition opened in Seattle, six cars left New York in a transcontinental auto race. Twenty-three days later, on June 23, 1909, the first car to cross the finish line in Seattle was Henry Ford's Model T, which had just entered production a few months earlier. The car was disqualified, but not before Ford got all the publicity he needed to make it the most popular selling car of its era. Fifty years later, the Ford Motor Co. held a re-enactment of the race. This time they played it smart, and only Ford cars were entered.
Fifty years ago this week, on June 20, 1975, Tolmie State Park was dedicated on the Nisqually Reach shoreline northeast of Olympia, and was the site of a pioneering beach-restoration project designed by engineer and environmental activist Wolf Bauer. This week also marks the anniversary of Cama Beach State Park, which opened on Camano Island on June 21, 2008. And on June 20, 2016, the Mukilteo City Council adopted the Japanese Gulch Master Plan to create a public park in the heart of the city.
Honors Delayed
Twenty-five years ago this week, on June 21, 2000, posthumous Medals of Honor were given to William Kenzo Nakamura and James Okubo for heroism during World War II. Nakamura died in battle, and Okubo died in 1967, but both men had been denied Medals of Honor during the war because of their Asian ancestry.
The modern phenomenon of UFOs was born on June 24, 1947, when pilot Kenneth Arnold spotted nine mysterious objects flying along the crest of the Cascade Range.
Quote of the Week
"How can people change their minds about us if they don’t know who we are?"
