S is for Seattle
This is a city on my list of places to go to. From the Space Needle to Pike Place Fish Market to the giant Ferris Wheel, I’ve always been intrigued with this city. Up until February of this year, I’d never been there. I was just passing through on a layover from San Jose, so I’m not counting it as a visit.
The largest city in the Pacific Northwest, located in the state of Washington, it is situated on a narrow isthmus between Puget Sound and Lake Washington.
It was inhabited by Native Americans for at least 4000 years before first European settlers arrived. Captain George Vancouver of the British Navy was the first. He was there to create a map of this uncharted territory in the Pacific Northwest between 1791 and 1795. The current day Canada and Washington cities of Vancouver are named after him. Since he was the one who was discovering the area and creating the map, he could also name of the features after people he knew. According to the Wikipedia article about him, he named the following three places after the people listed below.
Mount Baker, named after 3rd Lieutenant Joseph Baker, the first on the expedition to spot it
Mount St. Helens, named after Alleyne Fitzherbert, 1st Baron St Helens
Puget Sound, after Discovery’s lieutenant Peter Puget,[7] who explored its southern reaches.
In the time of westward expansion, Arthur Denny had family out in San Francisco that were caught up in the gold rush. Getting the itch to move onto new things, the Denny Party, started their journey to settling Alki Point from Cherry Grove, IL on April 10, 1851. As they went westward, they fought Native Americans, found their relatives in California and Oregon, and finally rode a schooner to arrive on the point on November 13, 1851.
Logging was the first industry of newly discovered Seattle. Then there was a change over to more commercial ventures and shipbuilding to help get people and riches back and forth from Alaska during the Klondike gold rush.
After World War II, Boeing, Amazon.com, Microsoft and T-Mobile US made Seattle a technology center.
Seattle is known for the Pike Place Fish Market which is located downtown by the Pier. Founded in 1930 it is an open air fish market known for the fishmongers and flying fish.
The largest ferris wheel in the US is also found there. Called the Seattle Great Wheel it opened in June of 2012.
Sleepless in Seattle, a movie with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan took place in the city when Hanks and his son moved there after the death of his wife. The movie brought the city of Seattle into the limelight. Little known trivia fact, the movie was released on my birthday in 1993.
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