COMING SOON!
Where the City Meets the Sound: The Story of Seattle's Waterfront
By Jennifer Ott
From canoes on the beach at Dzidzilalich to steamships and piers, Seattle’s waterfront was the center of the city’s economy and culture for generations. Its tumultuous history reflects a broader story of immigration, labor battles, and technological change. The 2001 Nisqually Earthquake brought fresh urgency and opportunity to remake this contested space, sparking intense debates over historic preservation, the environment, and Indigenous connections long ignored.
Today, the revitalized Waterfront Park offers a new chapter in this ongoing story. The removal of the Alaskan Way Viaduct and the reconstruction of the seawall have redefined how the city interacts with its shoreline. With its blend of historic structures and reimagined public spaces, the waterfront will continue to shape Seattle’s identity. Street signs now mark Dzidzilalich, acknowledging the presence of Coast Salish peoples, while restored piers recall the area’s industrious past.
Jennifer Ott details the waterfront’s history, from its deep past to its complex present. Her book reveals how battles over control, identity, and space have forged one of the city’s most iconic places, with a layered history that mirrors Seattle itself—rich, diverse, and constantly evolving.
(HistoryLink and Documentary Media, 2025)
ISBN: 9781933245744
Pre-order online.
Rising Tides and Tailwinds: The Story of the Port of Seattle, Second Edition
By Casey McNerthney, Kit Oldham and Peter Blecha
A century ago, Seattle was held hostage by its own waterfront. Competing railroad companies built a chaotic sprawl of rail lines, docks, and warehouses along the shoreline of Elliott Bay, creating conditions so bad that visionary civic planner Virgil Bogue called the harbor side "a blot on the city and a menace to the lives of its people." After years of bickering and lawsuits, the 1911 Port District Act was passed, making the Port of Seattle the first public port formed under legislation. The new public seaport briefly became the second busiest in the country during World War I. In the 1940s the Port of Seattle agreed to provide civilian air services by building Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, which today serves millions of passengers per year. This new edition covers the innovative Northwest Seaport Alliance, created in 2015 with the Port of Tacoma to jointly operate commercial shipping out of two harbors; the rise of cruise ship travel and the accompanying economic boom; Sea-Tac’s responses to 9/11 and the Covid-19 pandemic; and the airport’s growth and new International Arrivals Facility. Revised and updated, this new edition brings the story of the Port of Seattle up to the present and marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of Seattle’s bustling international airport.
(HistoryLink and Port of Seattle, 2024)
ISBN: 9781933245713
Available at local bookstores and online.
A Will to Serve: Stories of Patience, Persistence, and Friends Made Along the Way
By Jim Ellis and Jennifer Ott
Foreword by Sally Jewell, Afterword by Gary Locke
Jim Ellis was one of the most influential and impactful civic leaders of Seattle's and Washington's recent history. Though he never sought elected office, his vision and drive were a key force behind many major projects defining our city, county, and region from the 1950s through today. From cleaning up Lake Washington, establishing King County Metro, and implementing the broad array of community-centered Forward Thrust improvement initiatives, to forward-thinking regional projects like the Mountains to Sound Greenway and the Washington State Convention Center, Ellis was astute at bringing together leaders across political divides to create consensus and effect change.
A Will to Serve is a story about the interconnectivity of Ellis's personal and civic lives. It's about individual people—family, friends, neighbors, colleagues—their shared challenges, and how they worked together for regional progress. The book provides insight into a tumultuous and dynamic period of our regional history and a window into the value of patience, persistence, and vision. Ellis kept notes on his life, projects, and experiences and built a deep portfolio of public speeches. He drew from these to shape his detailed and engaging autobiography. A Will to Serve, in Ellis's own words, is introduced and framed by former secretary of the interior and Jim Ellis mentee Sally Jewell. Several key accomplishments of his later life are presented by historian Jennifer Ott. It closes with an afterword by former Washington governor Gary Locke.
(HistoryLink and Documentary Media, 2024)
ISBN: 9781933245706
Available at local bookstores and online.
Olmsted in Seattle: Creating a Park System for a Modern City
By Jennifer Ott
In the midst of galloping growth at the turn of the twentieth century, Seattle’s city leaders seized on the confluence of a roaring economy with the City Beautiful movement to hire the Olmsted Brothers landscape architecture firm to design a park and parkway system. Their 1903 plan led to a supplemental plan, a playground plan, numerous park and boulevard designs, changes to park system management, and a ripple effect, as the Olmsted Brothers were hired to design public and private landscapes throughout the region. The park system shaped Seattle’s character and continues to play a key role in the city’s livability today.
(HistoryLink and Documentary Media, 2019)
ISBN: 9781933245560
Available at local bookstores and online.
Seattle at 150: Stories of the City through 150 Objects from the Seattle Municipal Archives
Edited by Jennifer Ott
Seattle has packed a lot of history into the 150 years since its incorporation. Much of that history—the stories, the people, dialogue and debate, conflict and vision—is preserved in the Seattle Municipal Archives. The collection’s documents, maps, photographs, and ephemera bear witness to the texture, color, and voices of an ever-growing and changing city.
The 150 artifacts highlighted in this book illustrate a transformed geography, developed and redeveloped neighborhoods, and waves of city-defining immigration and emigration. They show us how the city’s psyche and its physical and social landscape—its aspirations—were shaped. The steady push and pull of community organizers and civic leaders, and the everyday needs of the people who call this place home, give Seattle its remarkable spirit, just as they have since its first cornerstones were pounded into place on the shores of Elliott Bay.
(HistoryLink and Documentary Media, 2019)
ISBN: 9781933245584
Available at local bookstores and online.
Transit: The Story of Public Transportation in the Puget Sound Region
By Jim Kershner
Ever since the first streetcars rumbled through the streets of Seattle in 1884, public transportation in the Puget Sound region has been a wild roller-coaster ride, replete with scandals, triumphs, and momentous turning points. A complete rail transit system crisscrossed the region during the trolley days, only to be dismantled by 1941. After seventy years of turmoil—and traffic congestion—a new system, Sound Transit, arose in its place. The story is not just about trolleys, trains, and buses—it is also about the making and breaking of mayors and the way that Seattle, Tacoma, and Everett developed from the 1880s to today.
(HistoryLink and Documentary Media, 2019)
ISBN: 9781933245553
Available at local bookstores and online.
The Northwest Power Pool: A High-Voltage Story of Cooperation in the Utility Industry
By Jim Kershner
In the Pacific Northwest, home to the vast drainage area of the Columbia River and its tributaries, a consortium of utilities formed during World War II. Realizing the countless benefits of pooling resources, they continued post-war and have since expanded to include parts of Canada and California. Told by Jim Kershner, The Northwest Power Pool is a story of interconnection, cooperation, and coordination among this region's generating utilities. The Northwest Power Pool became famous for delivering huge amounts of reliable electricity to regional industries, and still today, it is growing and exploring new energy sources.
(HistoryLink and Documentary Media, 2017)
ISBN: 978-1933245454
Distributed by The Northwest Power Pool
Chateau Ste. Michelle: The First 50 Years (1967-2017)
By Peter Blecha
This is the story of the Washington wine industry and the region’s founding winery, Chateau Ste. Michelle. Peter Blecha recounts the past 50 years: from Chateau Ste. Michelle’s early decision to plant vineyards of native Eurasian vitis vinifera vines (instead of sticking with locally traditional grapes), to the art and science behind viticulture and enology––grape growing and winemaking––to Chateau Ste. Michelle’s forward-looking leadership and community involvement. In what is a relatively new winemaking region, Chateau Ste. Michelle’s roots reach surprisingly deep.
(HistoryLink and Documentary Media, 2017)
ISBN: 978-1933245-47-8
Distributed by Chateau Ste. Michelle.
Waterway: The Story of Seattle's Locks and Ship Canal
By David Williams, Jennifer Ott, and the HistoryLink Staff
Why does a city surrounded by water need another waterway? Find out what drove Seattle's civic leaders to pursue the dream of a Lake Washington Ship Canal for more than sixty years and what role it has played in the region's development over the past century. Historians Jennifer Ott and David B. Williams, author of Too High and Too Steep: Reshaping Seattle's Topography, explore how industry, transportation, and the very character of the city and surrounding region developed in response to the economic and environmental changes brought by Seattle's canal and locks.
(HistoryLink and Documentary Media, 2017)
ISBN: 978-1933245430
Available in bookstores and online.
Woodland: The Story of the Animals and People of Woodland Park Zoo
By John Bierlein and the Staff of HistoryLink
Follow the history of Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo, beginning in the nineteenth century. As the city grew, its zoo engendered civic pride and the animals in its growing collection became local personalities. By the 1970s, the zoo emerged as a pioneer in zoo design. Woodland provides a narrative of changing ideas about the relationship between humans and animals, with over 200 images old and new that help to tell the story of this zoo.
(HistoryLink and Documentary Media, 2017)
ISBN: 978-1933245416
Available at bookstores and at the Woodland Park Zoo.
Air Washington: Creating Careers in Aerospace
By Jim Kershner and the HistoryLink Staff
The Air Washington consortium, made up of eleven colleges in Washington state, expanded their aerospace programs, bought new equipment, and hired more instructors. Further, they hired "navigators" to help students choose the right classes, mentor them during the program, and find career positions upon graduation. The schools, students, and businesses all benefitted from high graduation rates from certification programs.
(HistoryLink and Documentary Media, 2016)
ISBN: 097883027X
Distributed by the Air Washington consortium.
The Bartell Story: 125 Years of Service
By Phil Dougherty and the HistoryLink Staff
in its 125 years, Bartell's has grown from a small, one-store operation on Seattle's Jackson Street into a thriving company with dozens of locations in the Puget Sound region. Read how three generations of the Bartell family have committed themselves to insuring their stores make a difference to the communities where they operate through more than a century of challenge and change and boom and bust.
(HistoryLink, 2014)
ISBN: 978-0978830298
Available from Bartell Drugs.
The Future Remembered: The 1962 Seattle World’s Fair and Its Legacy
By Paula Becker, Alan J. Stein & The HistoryLink Staff
Space Needle, science, skyrides, showgirls. The 1962 Seattle World’s Fair optimistically looked ahead to imagine what the future might hold. The Century 21 Exposition drew 10 million visitors, captured America on the cusp of a cultural revolution, and left behind the Seattle Center, the artistic and cultural hub of the city today. Details of America’s Space Age World’s Fair and its lasting legacy are captured in this book.
(History Ink and Seattle Center Foundation, 2011)
ISBN: 978-0615469409
For sale on Amazon.
Rising Tides and Tailwinds: The Story of The Port of Seattle 1911-2011
By Kit Oldham, Peter Blecha & The HistoryLink Staff
Over the past century, the Port of Seattle has transformed the Seattle waterfront from a rickety, dirty, and dangerous collection of privately owned piers and warehouses to state-of-the-art container terminals, cruise ship facilities, an international conference center, and other harbor facilities. Read about how the Port became one of the major drivers of the regional economy.
(History Ink and the Port of Seattle and University of Washington Press, 2011)
ISBN: 978-0-295-99131-3
For sale through the University of Washington Press, Amazon, and in bookstores.
Public Ports in Washington: The First Century 1911-2011
By Kit Oldham & The HistoryLink Staff
The Washington state legislature passed the Port District Act in 1911 allowing for the first time the novel and radical idea of the creation of public ports answerable to local voters. The history of Washington’s 75 publically owned ports is captured in these pages.
(History Ink and Washington Public Ports Association, 2011)
ISBN: 0-9788302-4-5
Not for sale.
Pork Neckbones, Sauerkraut & Rutabagas: Memories of My Green Lake Girlhood
By Dorothea Nordstrand
This book of memoirs is the culmination of 25 years of story writing, begun when Dorothea was 70. In this collection of stories, Dorothea has compiled humorous, heartwarming details of past times in Pend Oreille County and Seattle.
(History Ink and History House, 2011)
ISBN: 0-9788302-2-9
Not for sale.
Hope on the Hill: The First Century of Seattle Children's Hospital
By Walt Crowley, David W. Wilma, and the HistoryLink Staff
A century ago a group of women started a hospital for all children regardless of ability to pay. Seattle Children’s Hospital has roots deep in the community and has been in the forefront of pediatric medicine ever since.
(History Ink and Children's Hospital with UW Press, 2010)
ISBN: 978-0-295-98956-3
Available in bookstores.
Power for the People: A History of Seattle City Light
By David W. Wilma, Walt Crowley, and the HistoryLink Staff
Seattle City Light is the publicly owned utility that helped build a world-class city. Charismatic leaders, intense power struggles, heroic workers -- all are part of the story.
(History Ink with University of Washington Press, 2010)
ISBN: 978-0-295-98576-3
128 pp., 158 illus., 10 x 11 in. $29.95
Not for sale.
Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition: Washington’s First World’s Fair
By Alan J. Stein, Paula Becker, and the HistoryLink.org Staff
The 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition drew three million visitors and put Seattle and Washington on the world stage. It left the legacy of woman suffrage and the beautiful Olmsted UW campus.
(History Ink with University of Washington Press, 2009).
ISBN: 978-0-295-98926-6
188 pp., 285 illus., 90 in color, 10.5 x 11 in. $29.95
Limited number available, please contact us for more information.
Group Health Timeline: A Chronological Overview of 60 Years of Group Health History, 1947-2007
By Walt Crowley and the HistoryLink Staff
Group Health grew out of the cooperative movement in 1947. Challenging fee-for-service medicine and innovating scientific procedures on several fronts, it has been a leader in health care ever since.
(History Ink and Group Health Cooperative, 2007)
ISBN: 0-9788302-1-0
Not for sale.
Seattle & King County Timeline: A Chronological Overview of 150 Years of Seattle and King County History, 1851-2001
By Walt Crowley and the HistoryLink.org Staff
A comprehensive overview of King County History. Lavishly illustrated, with a running timeline throughout, this is the book that set the bar for all the History Ink timeline books to follow.
(History Ink with UW Press, 2001)
ISBN 0-295-98165-2
95 pp., 6.5” x 8.5” $12.95
Not for sale.
Safe Passage: The Birth of Washington State Ferries
By Alan J. Stein
Tells the story of our treasured ferry system, beginning with the privately owned Black Ball Line, through its purchase by Washington state in 1951 up to the present. Lavishly illustrated with rare photographs.
(History Ink and Washington State Ferries, 2001)
ISBN 0-966474511
Not for sale.
Moving Washington Timeline: The First Century of the Washington State Department of Transportation, 1905-2005
By Walt Crowley, Kit Oldham, and the HistoryLink Staff
Twentieth century people moved on canoes, horses, railroads, and finally cars on roads. The Washington State Department of Transportation has been through it all, moving Washington into the future.
(History Ink and Washington State Department of Transportation with UW Press, 2005)
ISBN: 0-295985615
128 pp., 300 color illus., 8.5 x 6.5 in. $12.95
Not for sale.
Bellevue Timeline: The Story of Washington's Leading-Edge City from Homesteads to High Rises, 1863-2003
By Alan J. Stein and the History Link Staff.
From strawberry fields to server farms, from seasonal Salish homes to suburban homes and highrises, the story of Bellevue is here.
(History Ink and the City of Bellevue with UW Press, 2004)
ISBN: 0-295-98385-X
Not for sale.
Forever Blue Moon
By Walt Crowley.
Since 1934, the Blue Moon Tavern in Seattle’s University District has been a cultural magnet, serving beer to luminaries from the world over. The stories are here, including how a group of impassioned citizens saved it from demolition in 1990.
(History Ink and Three Fools Inc., 2004)
64pp., 6 x 9 in. $18.75
Not for sale.
Class Wars: The Story of the Washington Education Association 1965-2001
By Steve Kink and John Cahill
The Washington Education Association transformed from a staid professional association to a powerful advocate for school children during the later half of the twentieth century. Two members tell the inside story of this radical shift in Washington’s education system
(History Ink with Washington Education Association and UW Press, 2004)
ISBN 0-295-98463-5
Not for sale
The Fairmont: The First Century of a San Francisco Landmark
By Walt Crowley, Robert Courland and the HistoryLink Staff.
(History Ink and Fairmont Hotels, 2006)
ISBN: 0-9788302-0-2
Not for sale.
The Olympic: The Story of Seattle’s Landmark Hotel
By Alan J. Stein and the HistoryLink Staff.
(History Ink and Fairmont Hotels with UW Press, 2005)
ISBN 0-295-98517-8
Not for sale.
The Story of Union Station in Seattle
By Walt Crowley and Heather Macintosh.
(History Ink and Sound Transit, 1999)
Not for sale.
The War Years: A Chronicle of Washington State in World War II
By James R. Warren.
(History Ink with UW Press, 2000)
ISBN 0-295-98076-1
Not for sale.
The Last Electric Trolley: Madrona and Denny Blaine, Seattle, Washington Neighborhoods
By Junius Rochester.
(Tommie Press with King County Landmarks & Heritage Commission and History Ink, 2002)
ISBN: 0-9648950-2-1
Not for sale.
Maurice Rosenblatt and the fall of Joseph McCarthy
By Shelby Scates.
(History Ink with UW Press, 2006)
ISBN: 0-295-98594-1
Not for sale.