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Portal on the Border

One hundred years ago this week, on September 6, 1921, around 15,000 people gathered at the Peace Arch in Blaine for its dedication ceremony. There was no Peace Arch Park yet, and although the ground was swampy and uneven, the attendees enjoyed bagpipers, speeches, band concerts, and a fireworks show in the evening. The Blaine Journal boldly proclaimed it as "one of the great events of the century."

A few years earlier, when the Pacific Highway was being planned, businessman and philanthropist Sam Hill, who had a keen interest in good roads, offered to build the Peace Arch at the crossing to celebrate international peace. Less than a year after the arch was completed, it was rededicated by France’s Marshal Joseph Joffre in 1922, and again in 1926 by Queen Marie of Romania.

Over the years, the crossing has been a site for friendly competition, live music, and diplomacy, but has also seen its share of smugglers, escaping fugitives, protestors, and military deserters. Nevertheless, Hill's goal to honor the peaceful relations between the United States and Canada remains paramount. Beginning in 1937, annual Peace Arch celebrations have brought thousands of Canadians and Americans together to join hands in friendship.

Port on the Sound

One hundred and ten years ago this week, on September 5, 1911, King County voters approved the creation of the Port of Seattle Commission. The election -- driven by decades of mounting frustration with the railroad and shipping monopolies that dominated the city's central waterfront -- was a high-water mark for the municipal ownership movement and a personal triumph for the visionary engineer R. H. Thomson.

One week after the port's creation, commissioners met for the first time and began the arduous process of planning and developing port facilities along the central waterfront. These included the huge piers that now comprise Terminal 91 at Smith Cove, still integral components of Seattle's waterfront, as well as the original Bell Street Pier and the Port's first docks on the Duwamish Waterway. Planning also began for the creation of Fishermen's Terminal, which opened on Salmon Bay in 1914.

The Port's commercial success grew rapidly, aided by a boom in Pacific trade during World War I. Trade plummeted during the Great Depression of the 1930s, but the onset of World War II -- and greatly expanded authority over air transport -- led to the Port's construction of what would become Sea-Tac Airport, located midway between Seattle and Tacoma. Over the years, the Port has continued to grow and expand, but maintains the same basic mission of promoting trade and commerce while generating jobs and economic activity.