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47 Features

Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (1909): Committees

The 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition was held in Seattle on the University of Washington campus from June 1 to October 16. This was Washington's first world's fair and it celebrated 12 years of pr...

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Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (1909): Pay Streak Amusements

The 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition was held in Seattle on the University of Washington campus from June 1 to October 16. This was Washington's first world's fair and it celebrated 12 years of pr...

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Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (1909): Special Days

The 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition was held in Seattle on the University of Washington campus from June 1 to October 16. This was Washington's first world's fair and it celebrated 12 years of pr...

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Blethen, Alden J. (1845-1915)

Alden J. Blethen purchased The Seattle Daily Times, a newspaper with a minuscule circulation, in 1896. Moving from Minneapolis to Seattle, Blethen then built the paper's circulation by introducing lar...

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Clise, James (1855-1939)

James W. Clise arrived in Seattle the day after the great fire of 1889 had burned down the business district. He promptly founded a real estate company, launching a career that made him one of the mos...

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Congressional Delegations from Washington

This is a complete historical list of the Washington territorial and state delegations to the United States Congress, currrent through 2021. Washington Territory was created on March 2, 1853, and the ...

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Dorothy Graybael Scott Remembers Fire, Wind, Snow, and Floods at Cedar Falls, 1922-1940

This excerpted account of man-made and natural disasters at Cedar Falls (east King County) was originally recorded on June 15, 1993, as a part of the Cedar River Watershed Oral History Project. Doroth...

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Duwamish Waterway map superimposed on a map of the formerly winding Duwamish River

This is a map that shows the straight and deep Duwamish Waterway superimposed on the formerly meandering Duwamish River. The Duwamish River flowed through south Seattle into Elliott Bay. The straighte...

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Gayton, Carver Clark (b. 1938)

Carver Clark Gayton is a leader in education reform and workforce training. He graduated from Garfield High School and the University of Washington where he starred in football and track and was a stu...

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Group Health Cooperative, Part 1: Planting the Seeds, 1911-1945

The health care visionaries who founded Group Health Cooperative in Seattle in 1945 were activists in the farmers' grange movement, the union movement, and the consumer cooperative movement. Their ins...

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Group Health Cooperative, Part 2: Open for Business, 1946-1950

The health care visionaries who founded Group Health Cooperative in Seattle in 1945 were activists in the farmers' grange movement, the union movement, and the consumer cooperative movement. Their ins...

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Group Health Cooperative, Part 3: Growing Up and Out, 1952-1965

The health care visionaries who founded Group Health Cooperative in Seattle in 1945 were activists in the farmers' grange movement, the union movement, and the consumer cooperative movement. Their ins...

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Group Health Cooperative, Part 4: From Medicare to HMO, 1966-1980

The health care visionaries who founded Group Health Cooperative in Seattle in 1945 were activists in the farmers' grange movement, the union movement, and the consumer cooperative movement. Their ins...

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Group Health Cooperative, Part 5: Reform and Renewal, 1981-1990

The health care visionaries who founded Group Health Cooperative in Seattle in 1945 were activists in the farmers' grange movement, the union movement, and the consumer cooperative movement. Their ins...

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177 Timeline Entries

Continental Congress of the 13 British colonies (future United States of America) passes the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.

On July 4, 1776, Britain's 13 American colonies, governed by England through the Continental Congress, pass the Declaration of Independence. This founding document of the United States of America, dra...

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Spain and Great Britain sign the Nootka Convention on October 28, 1790.

On October 28, 1790, Spain and Great Britain sign the Nootka Convention, which ends Spanish claims to a monopoly of settlement and trade in the Pacific Northwest. Nootka Sound, an inlet of the sea on ...

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Vancouver District, encompassing what is now Clark County in southwest Washington, is created on August 20, 1845.

On August 20, 1845, two days after being passed by Oregon's Provisional Legislature, the act creating Vancouver District, a huge area north of the Columbia River including what will later become Washi...

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David "Doc" Maynard arrives at Alki Point on March 31, 1852.

On March 31, 1852, David "Doc" Maynard arrives at Alki Point. He has come from Olympia in a canoe paddled by Chief Seattle and other Duwamish Indians.

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Manuel Lopes (1812-?), Seattle's first Black citizen, arrives in 1852.

Manuel Lopes (1812-?), Seattle's first Black citizen, arrives in 1852. Lopes is a barber and his barbershop is the village's first Black-owned business. He plays the snare drum, and is known for his g...

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Nisqually Chief Leschi is hanged on February 19, 1858.

On February 19, 1858, Nisqually Chief Leschi (1808-1858) is hanged on a gallows in Steilacoom for the "murder" of the American soldier Colonel A. Benton Moses. Chief Leschi's attorneys argued firstly ...

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The Seattle Public Library opens in April 1869.

In April 1869, Seattle's Library Association opens a loan library, the future Seattle Public Library. Sarah Yesler (1822-1887) serves as the first librarian.

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Legislature incorporates the Town of Seattle for the second time on December 2, 1869.

On December 2, 1869, the Washington Territorial Legislature reincorporates the Town of Seattle. Seattle was incorporated once before, in 1865, but the Territorial Legislature disincorporated the town ...

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Susan B. Anthony addresses territorial legislature on October 19, 1871, then helps found Washington Woman Suffrage Association.

On October 19, 1871, Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906), national women's rights leader and vice president of the National Woman Suffrage Association, becomes the first woman to address the Washington Terri...

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Spokane Beginnings: First post office in Spokane opens on July 5, 1872.

On July 5, 1872, the first post office in Spokane opens. The post office of the place called Spokane (or Spokan) Falls is housed in one of the shacks clustered near the falls of the Spokane River. Spo...

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Seattle stores remain open 16 hours a day by 1874.

In the early 1870s, Seattle retail businesses are open from 5 or 6 a.m. until 9 or 10 p.m., 365 days a year, including Christmas and Thanksgiving.

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Coal supersedes lumber as King County's main industry in 1875.

By 1875, coal supersedes lumber as King County's main industry. Black Diamond, Renton, and Issaquah are beoming significant coalmining regions. In 1877, the Seattle & Walla Walla Railroad wil...

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Scandinavian Immigration and Aid Society formed in Seattle in 1876.

In 1876, the Scandinavian Immigration and Aid Society forms in Seattle. The purpose of the society is to encourage migration to Seattle from Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Demmark, and Iceland).

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Washington Territory citizens vote for statehood on November 5, 1878.

On November 5, 1878, the voters of the Territory of Washington approve a resolution asking the U.S. Congress for admission to statehood. Congress declines. Eleven more years pass before statehood is a...

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