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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.

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This Week Then

2/23/2023

News Then, History Now

Photo Call

Seattle's Rainier Club was organized on February 23, 1888. One of its earliest members was photographer Edward S. Curtis, who paid for his membership by taking photographs of other club members. Some of these photos, as well as a few other Curtis rarities, are contained in the club's collections.

On the Wall

On February 26, 1915, at a joint session of the legislature, portraits of three pioneering supreme court justices were formally presented to the state. Painted by Seattle artist Ella Shepard Bush, the oil portraits depicted former Chief Justices Ralph O. Dunbar, Thomas J. Anders, and James B. Reavis.

Shows for All

On March 1, 1928, the curtain rose for the first time at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle. Eleven years ago this week, the historic venue also became home to the Seattle Theatre Group's Historic Theatres Library, which opened to the public on March 1, 2012.

Today in
Washington History

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Image of the Week

On February 28, 1969, the Seattle Black Panther Party protested a gun-control bill in Olympia.

Quote of the Week

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—Mark Twain

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Waitsburg -- Thumbnail History
Waitsburg's first plat is recorded on February 23, 1869.
Wait's Mill, in what will become the town of Waitsburg, begins operation in May 1865.
The Monte Cristo Mining Company files a plat to begin developing a community on February 24, 1893.
Monte Cristo -- Thumbnail History
Heavy flooding dubbed
A devastating flood isolates Monte Cristo (Snohomish County) and begins a new era on December 26, 1980.
Winlock -- Thumbnail History
Winlock incorporates on February 28, 1883.
Cle Elum -- Thumbnail History
Cle Elum is incorporated on February 24, 1902.
Langley -- Thumbnail History
Langley, Island County, is incorporated as a fourth-class town on February 26, 1913.
East Wenatchee -- Thumbnail History
Voters approve the incorporation of East Wenatchee on February 28, 1935.
SeaTac -- Thumbnail History
Federal Way -- Thumbnail History
City of SeaTac incorporates on February 28, 1990.
City of Federal Way incorporates on February 28, 1990.
Burien -- Thumbnail History
Burien officially incorporates on February 28, 1993.
Grant County is established on February 24, 1909.
Douglas County -- Thumbnail History
Ephrata -- Thumbnail History
City of Ephrata is incorporated on June 1, 1909.
Governor Marion E. Hay signs a bill creating Pend Oreille County on March 1, 1911.
Pend Oreille County -- Thumbnail History
Newport -- Thumbnail History
Train disaster at Wellington kills 96 on March 1, 1910.
Hill, James Jerome (1838-1916)
The Great Northern Railway Eight-Mile Tunnel is dedicated on January 12, 1929.
Ittner, Ruth (1918-2010)
The Iron Goat Trail opens on October 2, 1993.
Rainier Club (Seattle)
Gentlemen meet to organize Seattle's Rainier Club on February 23, 1888.
Curtis, Edward S. (1868-1952)
Washington State Bar Association unveils portraits by Ella Shepard Bush honoring pioneering state supreme court justices on February 26, 1915.
Bush, Ella Shepard (1863-1948)
The Seattle (Paramount) Theatre opens on March 1, 1928.
Paramount Theatre (Seattle)
Seattle Theatre Group
Metro diverts first treated wastewater from Lake Washington on February 23, 1963.
Metro: Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle
King County voters approve revised Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle (Metro) plan on September 9, 1958.
Metro Council, formed to clean up Lake Washington, holds inaugural meeting on October 1, 1958.
Pollution threatens Seattle water supply in 1889.
Health officials report outbreak of typhoid in Seattle on September 12, 1909.
Vatican appoints the Most Reverend Raymond G. Hunthausen as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Seattle on February 25, 1975.
Hunthausen, Archbishop Raymond Gerhardt (1921-2018)
Catholic Archbishop of Seattle Hunthausen issues a letter against homosexual discrimination on July 1, 1977.
Four local women buy Seattle Storm for $10 million on February 29, 2008.
Seattle Storm (WNBA)
Seattle Storm wins WNBA championship on October 12, 2004.
Seattle Storm wins its second WNBA championship on September 16, 2010.
Seattle Storm wins WNBA championship for third time on September 12, 2018.
Seattle Storm wins its fourth Women
Seattle Black Panther Party protests gun-control bill in Olympia on February 28, 1969.