Seattle
For at least 4,000 years before the first European settlers arrived, Native Americans inhabited the land now known as Seattle. The Duwamish people established at least 17 villages around Elliott Bay during this long period of habitation. In May 1792, George Vancouver became the first European to visit the area while leading a Royal Navy expedition from 1791 to 1795. His mission sought to chart the Pacific Northwest for Britain. A large party of American pioneers led by Luther Collins made a claim on land at the mouth of the Duwamish River in September 1851. Thirteen days later, members of the Denny Party passed three scouts of the Collins Party while traveling to their own claim. Members of the Denny Party claimed land on Alki Point on the 28th of September 1851. The rest of the group sailed on the schooner Exact from Portland, Oregon, stopping in Astoria and landing at Alki Point during a rainstorm on the 13th of November 1851. After a difficult winter, most of the Denny Party relocated across Elliott Bay and claimed land again at present-day Pioneer Square. They named this new settlement Duwamps. Charles Terry and John Low remained at the original location, reestablished their old claim, and called it New York before renaming it New York Alki in April 1853. David Swinson Doc Maynard was the primary advocate to name the settlement after Chief Seattle, chief of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes. The brief Puget Sound War culminated in the Battle of Seattle on the 26th of January 1856. The attack was repelled, and the settlement was never attacked again. The name Seattle appears on official Washington Territory papers dated the 23rd of May 1853, when the first plats for the village were filed. In 1855, nominal land settlements were established. On the 14th of January 1865, the Legislature of Territorial Washington incorporated the Town of Seattle with a board of trustees managing the city.
Seattle has experienced several economic booms followed by precipitous declines throughout its history. The first boom rode on the lumber industry during the early years of the city. During this period, the road now known as Yesler Way won the nickname Skid Road, supposedly after timber skidding down the hill to Henry Yesler's sawmill. Seattle had achieved sufficient economic success when the Great Seattle Fire of 1889 destroyed the central business district. A far grander city center rapidly emerged in its place. Finance company Washington Mutual was founded in the immediate wake of the fire. The Panic of 1893 hit Seattle hard. The second and most dramatic boom resulted from the Klondike Gold Rush, which ended the depression that began with the Panic of 1893. On the 14th of July 1897, the S.S. Portland docked with its famed ton of gold, and Seattle became the main transport and supply point for miners in Alaska and the Yukon. Few working men found lasting wealth, but Seattle's business of clothing miners and feeding them salmon panned out in the long run. A shipbuilding boom in the early part of the 20th century became massive during World War I, making Seattle somewhat of a company town. The subsequent retrenchment led to the Seattle General Strike of 1919, an early general strike in the country. War work again brought local prosperity during World War II, centered on the production of Boeing aircraft. The war dispersed the city's numerous Japanese-American businessmen due to the Japanese American internment. After World War II, however, the local economy dipped before rising again with Boeing's growing dominance in the commercial airliner market. An economic downturn occurred in the late 1960s and early 1970s when Boeing was heavily affected by oil crises, loss of government contracts, and costs associated with the Boeing 747. Two local real estate agents put up a billboard reading Will the last person leaving Seattle Turn out the lights.
Prosperity began to return in the 1980s beginning with Microsoft's 1979 move from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to nearby Bellevue, Washington. Seattle and its suburbs became home to technology companies including Amazon, F5 Networks, RealNetworks, Nintendo of America, and T-Mobile. This success brought an influx of new residents with a population increase within city limits of almost 50,000 between 1990 and 2000. The dot-com boom caused great frenzy among technology companies but ended in early 2001. In 2001, the city was impacted by the Mardi Gras Riots and then by the Nisqually earthquake the following day. Another boom began as the city emerged from the Great Recession, commencing when Amazon moved its headquarters from North Beacon Hill to South Lake Union. The move initiated a historic construction boom which resulted in completion of almost 10,000 apartments in Seattle in 2017. By 2025, Seattle's new apartments had become the smallest in the U.S., averaging small square footage across all unit types. From 2010 to 2015, Seattle gained an average of 14,511 residents per year, with growth strongly skewed toward the center of the city. Unemployment dropped from roughly 9 percent to 3.6 percent during this period. The city found itself bursting at the seams, with over 45,000 households spending more than half their income on housing and at least 2,800 people homeless. In 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Seattle experienced its first population decline in 50 years before five straight years of growth exceeding 2 percent annually. State estimates indicate Seattle surpassed 800,000 residents in 2025.
Between 1918 and 1951, nearly 24 jazz nightclubs existed along Jackson Street, running from the current Chinatown International District to the Central District. The jazz scene developed early careers for Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Bumps Blackwell, Ernestine Anderson, and others. Early popular musical acts from the Seattle Puget Sound area include collegiate folk group The Brothers Four, vocal group The Fleetwoods, 1960s garage rockers The Wailers and The Sonics, and instrumental surf group The Ventures. Seattle is considered home of grunge music, having produced artists such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Mudhoney, all reaching international audiences in the early 1990s. Rock musicians Jimi Hendrix, Duff McKagan, and Nikki Sixx spent their formative years in Seattle. The Seattle-based Sub Pop record company continues to be one of world's best-known independent alternative music labels. Live-music venues include The Crocodile, Vito's, and Columbia City Theater. The city annually sends a team of spoken word slammers to the National Poetry Slam. Performance poets include Buddy Wakefield, two-time Individual World Poetry Slam Champ; Anis Mojgani, two-time National Poetry Slam Champ; and Danny Sherrard, 2007 National Poetry Slam Champ and 2008 Individual World Poetry Slam Champ. The century-old Seattle Symphony Orchestra has won many awards and performs primarily at Benaroya Hall. The Seattle Opera and Pacific Northwest Ballet perform at McCaw Hall, which opened in 2003 on site of former Seattle Opera House at Seattle Center.
Seattle is located between saltwater Puget Sound to west and Lake Washington to east. Chief harbor Elliott Bay is part of Puget Sound, making city an oceanic port. To west beyond Puget Sound are Kitsap Peninsula and Olympic Mountains on Olympic Peninsula. To east beyond Lake Washington and Eastside suburbs are Lake Sammamish and Cascade Range. Lake Washington waters flow to Puget Sound through Lake Washington Ship Canal consisting of two man-made canals, Lake Union, and Hiram M. Chittenden Locks at Salmon Bay ending in Shilshole Bay on Puget Sound. City is hilly with seven hills typically including Capitol Hill, First Hill, West Seattle, Beacon Hill, Queen Anne, Magnolia, and former Denny Hill. Topography of city center changed by construction of seawall and artificial Harbor Island completed 1909 at mouth of industrial Duwamish Waterway. Highest point within city limits is at Myrtle Reservoir Park in High Point neighborhood of West Seattle. Due to location in Pacific Ring of Fire, Seattle is in major earthquake zone. On the 28th of February 2001, magnitude 6.8 Nisqually earthquake did significant architectural damage especially in Pioneer Square area built on reclaimed land. Other strong earthquakes occurred the 26th of January 1700 estimated at 9 magnitude, the 14th of December 1872 7.3 or 7.4, the 13th of April 1949 7.1, and the 29th of April 1965 6.5. The 1965 quake caused three deaths in Seattle directly and one more by heart failure. According to U.S. Census Bureau, city has total area of which is land and water making up 41 percent of total area.
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Common questions
When was Seattle officially incorporated as a town?
The Legislature of Territorial Washington incorporated the Town of Seattle on the 14th of January 1865. This incorporation established a board of trustees to manage the city.
What event caused the Great Seattle Fire in 1889?
The Great Seattle Fire destroyed the central business district of Seattle in 1889. The fire led to the rapid emergence of a far grander city center and the founding of finance company Washington Mutual.
Which gold rush made Seattle the main transport point for miners?
The Klondike Gold Rush ended the depression that began with the Panic of 1893 and made Seattle the main transport and supply point for miners in Alaska and the Yukon. The S.S. Portland docked with its famed ton of gold on the 14th of July 1897.
Who named the settlement after Chief Seattle?
David Swinson Doc Maynard was the primary advocate to name the settlement after Chief Seattle, chief of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes. The name Seattle appears on official Washington Territory papers dated the 23rd of May 1853.
When did the Nisqually earthquake occur and what damage did it cause?
A magnitude 6.8 Nisqually earthquake occurred on the 28th of February 2001 and caused significant architectural damage especially in Pioneer Square area built on reclaimed land. Other strong earthquakes occurred the 26th of January 1700 estimated at 9 magnitude, the 14th of December 1872 7.3 or 7.4, the 13th of April 1949 7.1, and the 29th of April 1965 6.5.