哥伦比亚市是西雅图东南部著名的历史古城，由 J. K. Edmiston 在原址上进行了大刀阔斧地开发。他修建了一条从西雅图市区始发，直通雷尼尔谷的电气化铁路。如今，这条线路的终点是 Rainier Avenue。哥伦比亚市于 1893 年作为独立的市镇被合并，并于 1907 年划归西雅图管辖。在二战爆发前，Hitt Fireworks Company 和 Heater Glove Company 等制造商一直是当地的经济支柱，而战争爆发后，这里成为了国防产业工人的聚集地，Hitt Fireworks 也转向了生产军工产品。哥伦比亚市历经了战后数年间的经济萧条，这种境况在 20 世纪 70 年代遭遇到了最低谷，犯罪成为社会的主要问题，许多商店空空如也。在随后的数十年间，公私部门齐心协力，使该地区的经济重新恢复生机。1978 年，经过当地工商界人士的努力，哥伦比亚市被列为历史古迹，亦得以保留该街区独有的历史气息。曾经空荡荡的店面如今已成为餐馆、办公楼、画廊及其他商业场 所。
西雅图街区：哥伦比亚市 (Columbia City)--简史
- By Cassandra Tate
- Posted 6/02/2001
- HistoryLink.org Essay 3327
Sources:
Robey G. Banta, “Columbia City History Has Much of Human Interest,” Duwamish Valley News, April 7, 1916; Edmond S. Meany, Origin of Washington Geographic Names (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1923), 53; Paul Dorpat, “Rainier Valley’s Electric Railway,” The Seattle Times, July 10, 1983; “Notice to Board of County Commissioners, King County,” filed Nov. 18, 1892, and “Election to Incorporate the Town of Columbia,” filed Jan. 12, 1893, both in City of Columbia Records, 1893-1913, City of Seattle, Municipal Archives; Rainier Valley Heritage News, Winter 2001; incorporation papers for Columbia Manufacturing Company, Hitt Fire-Works Company, and Heater Glove Company, King County Incorporation Papers, Puget Sound Regional Archives, Bellevue, Washington; "Centennial History: Columbia City, Rainier Valley, 1853-1991," dated 1992, comp. by Carey Summers for Pioneers of Columbia City, Rainier Valley Historical Society, Seattle, Washington; Mary Ann Balch, “Hitt Fireworks provided early-century drama,” South District Journal, June 26, 1996; “Columbia City Historic District,” National Register of Historic Places Inventory, Nomination Form, 1978; Cassandra Tate Interviews with Buzz Anderson, April 18, 2001, Eugenia Woo, April 19, 2001, and Gloria Hitt Cauble, May 30, 2001, Columbia City, Washington.
Note: This essay was revised slightly on October 26, 2011.
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