Category Archives: This Week Then

Weekly Newsletter of Washington State History.

April 26, 2012 – May 2, 2012

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On the Road

May 1 marks the beginning of National Historic Preservation Month, and this week HistoryLink.org highlights some of our favorite historic destinations throughout Washington — where the past still shines through. We start with our cybertour of Ellensburg, which wasincorporated in 1884. A gem of Kittitas County, downtown Ellensburg was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

Traveling over the mountains to Western Washington, we arrive next at Port Gamble. This company town got its start in 1853, and was once home to the oldest continuously operating sawmill in the United States. It was named a Rural Historic Town in 1999, and you can tour its historic structures here.

But don’t rest yet: We still have to make our way to Tacoma. This city can trace its beginnings to 1852, with notable boosts in 1864 and 1868, followed by the announcement in 1873 that the city would become theterminus for the Northern Pacific Railroad. Much of the city’s late nineteenth-century boom is carefully preserved today in two downtown historic districts that you can explore via this cybertour.

Finally, we arrive in Snohomish County. Take a stroll along Everett’s bayside waterfront and learn about the city’s industrial past. Afterwards, head over to downtown Snohomish, home to historic buildings that date back more than a century ago, following the city’s incorporation under state law in 1890.

Honors Bestowed

This week, HistoryLink and some of our historians received some noteworthy awards, and we are very proud to share our successes with you. Our first honor came from the Puget Sound Association of Phi Beta Kappa, which bestowed us with its annual Pathfinder Award, given to those who “encourage others to seek new worlds to discover, pathways to explore, and untouched destinations to reach. ” Our thanks go out to PSA-PBK for this fine recognition.

We were honored three times by the Association of King County Historical Organizations. HistoryLink co-founder Paul Dorpat received AKCHO’s very first Living Legacy award. Our Seattle World’s Fair curriculum was chosen for its Heritage Education Award. And Paula Becker and Alan Stein — authors of The Future Remembered: The 1962 Seattle World’s Fair and Its Legacy — were given the Virginia Marie Folkins Award for outstanding historical publications. Thank you, AKCHO. This truly means a lot to us.

Give Big

Of course, HistoryLink would not be as successful were it not for our legion of readers who have enjoyed our site and have given us their support for more than 14 years. If you’d like to help make HistoryLink grow stronger and better, we urge you to mark May 2 on your calendar, when the Seattle Foundation holds its one-day GiveBIG campaign in support of local nonprofits.

Please donate to HistoryLink on that day, via a dedicated page on its website, and the foundation will “stretch” those funds, based on the total amount given. More support from you means more matching funds from them. Last year we received more than $5,000 in its GiveBIG campaign, and we hope to top that this year. Any help you can give, no matter how small, helps us immensely. And best of all, you get lots of new content in return. It’s win-win all around.

Past Events, Present Tense

Moving In: Exactly 40 years after the Louisiana Purchase, a few hundred American settlers in Oregon declared a provisional government on May 2, 1843, spurring settlement in the Northwest. On May 1, 1850, Schuyler and Eliza Saunders made their home at the future site of Chehalis. Fifteen years later, Mary Low Sinclair arrived in Cadyville, which later became the town of Snohomish.

Moving Out: On April 29, 1861, the steamer Cortez arrived in Portland with news from back east of the attack on Fort Sumter and the start of the Civil War. Three days later, Colonel George Wright, the officer in charge of all troops within Washington Territory and the state of Oregon, received orders to send three companies of soldiers from Fort Vancouver to San Francisco. Their duty was to guard the Pacific coast against the threats of Western secessionists.

Parks and Trails: On April 30, 1903, John Charles Olmsted stepped off the train in Seattle and was greeted by dignitaries and the press. Stepson of famed landscape visionary Frederick Law Olmsted — creator of New York’s Central Park — John came west to design a new park system for Seattle along with the grounds for the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition.

On the Rails: On the morning of April 30, 1910, electric interurban trains began to shuttle between Everett and Seattle. Twelve hours later, two passengers died in a fatal accident farther south on the chronically mismanaged Rainier Valley line between Seattle and Renton.

Flier Downed: On April 29, 1928, Spokane pioneer aviator Major John T. Fancher was fatally injured when an aerial bomb used in a demonstration exploded in his hand. A few months earlier, Fancher had been instrumental in bringing the 1927 National Air Derby and Air Races to Felts Field.

Inspired Sound: On April 28, 1940, experimental music pioneer John Cage debuted his “prepared piano” at Seattle’s Repertory Playhouse. The instrument was augmented with screws, bolts, nuts, and leather strips that dampened the strings and produced a cacophony of sounds. Exactly 28 years later, thousands gathered in Duvall to witness an even stranger musical performance: to hear what a piano sounded like whendropped from a helicopter.

Built and Manned: On May 1, 1941, Seattle opened the Service Men’s Club for military personnel visiting the city. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor a few months later, more support was needed for wartime personnel. In Tacoma, the Salishan Housing Project opened for war workers on May 1, 1943.

Moving Land: Exactly 20 years to the day after a smaller temblor onApril 29, 1945, a major earthquake jarred the region in 1965, causing seven deaths and extensive damage. A goldfish in Kirkland also had a near brush with catastrophe.

Snow and Sand: On May 1, 1963, Jim Whittaker — an REI sales manager — became the first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Exactly 38 years later, in much drier climes, Snohomish County residents Bill and Helen Thayer began a 1,600-mile walkacross the Gobi Desert on May 1, 2001.

Quote of the Week

When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for our use alone. Let it be such work as our descendants will look upon with praise and thanksgiving in their hearts.

–John Ruskin

Image of the Week

Beginning in May 1915, Moncton slowly disappeared from view.

April 19, 2012 – April 25, 2012

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Summer of ’62

Fifty years ago this week, on April 21, 1962, the gates opened at the Seattle World’s Fair, and thousands of people poured in to catch a glimpse of the future. Billed as “America’s Space Age World’s Fair,” the Century 21 Exposition had plenty to see and do. A ride up to the top of the Space Needle was a must, as was a trip on the monorail. Exhibits, both foreign and domestic, captured the imagination.Performances and artwork stirred the soul. And newly introducedBelgian waffles sated the most ravenous appetites.

The fair traced its origins to the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, which Seattle City Councilman Al Rochester remembered fondly from his youth. Recalling the successes of the A-Y-P, Rochester advocated for a second world’s fair to commemorate the first, but the 1957 launch of Sputnik shifted the theme to science and technology as a way of showcasing Seattle’s strides towards Century 21. The space-age fair received broad support from local, state, and federal officials.

One goal of the fair was to have a civic center in place once the event was over. The site chosen for the fairgrounds was close to downtown, and had structures that could be modified for reuse. Older — and in some cases , derelict — buildings had to be torn down, but more people were concerned over the loss of homes less than a mile away that were being demolished for the construction of Interstate 5.

Planning progressed, and Seattleites watched as the Space Needle grew and the monorail pylons were put in place. The night before the fair opened, a twist party was held downtown. After that it was fun, fun, fun, all summer long and into the fall. And once the fair had ended, a civic center was indeed in place, and remains a lasting legacy well into the twenty-first century.

Over the next six months, visit HistoryLink.org each week as we showcase some of the many people and events that made the 1962 World’s Fair such a success. And for a more detailed look at the fair, be sure to pick up a copy of The Future Remembered: The 1962 Seattle World’s Fair and Its Legacy, written by Paula Becker, Alan J. Stein, and the HistoryLink Staff. You can purchase our book from the Seattle Center Foundation, Amazon.com, your local Bartell Drugs, and a variety of bookstores.

Shopping Mall Debut

On April 21, 1950, crowds of consumers attended the opening ofNorthgate Mall for a new type of shopping experience. The mall was designed by John Graham Jr., who later became chief architect for the Space Needle. Northgate’s first president was Jim Douglas, who went on to serve as the Century 21 vice president of construction.

Northgate is considered to be one of the first regional shopping centers defined as a “mall,” although there were a number of predecessors. One was Bellevue Square, which opened four years earlier.

News Then, History Now

Long Walk: On April 20, 1825, Scottish naturalist David Douglasarrived at Fort Vancouver, one month after it opened on the north bank of the Columbia River in present-day Clark County. Later in the year, he made the first recorded ascent of the Cascade Mountains, and in 1826 he extended his exploration eastward and visited retired fur traderJaco Finlay, founder of Spokane House.

Long Talk: On April 24, 1877, General Oliver O. Howard met in aday-long council with Smohalla, an influential Wanapum spiritual leader. Howard told Smohalla that he and his followers must move onto the Yakama reservation. However, distracted by the Nez Perce War, which broke out a few weeks later, Howard took no steps to enforce the order and Smohalla ignored it.

Long Wait: On April 22, 1889, Duncan Hunter filed a homestead claim to 80 acres of dense forest in south Snohomish County, becoming the first non-Indian resident of what would become Lynnwood. Other homesteaders soon followed, but the city didn’t incorporate for another 70 years.

Ill Fate: One hundred years ago this week, two catastrophes occurred one day apart on opposite sides of the state. On April 24, the main administration building of the State Normal School — later Eastern Washington University — burned down in Cheney. The next day, the steamship Alameda inadvertently rammed Seattle’s Colman Dock and toppled its clock tower into Elliott Bay.

Jeers and Cheers: The first Earth Day celebration was held on April 22, 1970, to raise awareness of environmental issues. On that day, Washington Senator Henry M. Jackson — a leader on environmental legislation — spoke at UW and WSU, but was jeered due to his hawkish stance on the Vietnam War. Some students pelted him with marshmallows, but Jackson caught a few and threw them back, eliciting cheers.

Hemispheres: The Tacoma Dome opened its doors for business on April 21, 1983, and has held countless concerts, sports events, and conventions ever since. It is one of the largest wooden domed structures in the world, and upon the demise of Seattle’s Kingdome it became the largest dome in the state.

Quote of the Week

See you at the fair in Seattle
In the summer of ’62,
We’ll preview the Space Age, the World of Tomorrow,
I’ll be sharing, dear, with you.

– “Summer of ’62,” novelty song performed by Ronnie Draper and the Four-Do-Matics

Image of the Week

Opening day festivities for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair were marred when one of the flyover planes crashed in a Mountlake Terrace neighborhood.