This is the main article of a series that covers the History of Seattle, Washington, a city in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States of America. ... Historiographical note There are basically two accounts of the early history of Seattle. ... Leader of the Northwest: 1900–1915 The gold rush (see History of Seattle before 1900) led to massive immigration, with major arrivals of Japanese, and Filipinos; immigrant Europeans and European-Americans from back east included the citys first significant influx of Jews. ...

WWII and the Boeing Era: 1945 - 1970

From World War II until 1970, Seattle underwent what amounted to a long, sustained economic boom, although not without occasional reverses. Boeing was hiring, the economy was booming, and while there had been no successful regional planning, the city had not yet grown quite large enough to feel the strain. Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Commanders {{{commander1}}} {{{commander2}}} Strength {{{strength1}}} {{{strength2}}} Casualties 17 million military deaths 7 million military deaths World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th century conflict that engulfed much of the globe and is accepted as the largest and deadliest... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA)(TYO: 7661 ) is the leading American aircraft and aerospace manufacturer, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with its largest production facilities in Everett, Washington, about 30 miles north of Seattle, Washington. ...

The Boeing airplane company grew out of the fortune of William "Bill" Boeing's boat company and his fascination with airplanes and flying. In 1917, before American entry into World War I, Boeing employed only 28 people, but when the war orders started coming in, Boeing grew to "an enterprising firm with the one customer airplane builders had in those days, the federal government. Employing about four thousand people, with sales just under ten million dollars a year, it was a good if unspectacular business for Seattle." [Roger Sale, Seattle: Past To Present, p.180] The company struggled through the period between the wars, and "began to build dressers, counters and furniture for a corset company and a confectioner's shop, as well as flat-bottomed boats called sea sleds." The Boeing Company, Boeing: History -- Beginnings - Growing Pains However, when World War II started, the government suddenly desired tens of thousands of planes a year, and Boeing was positioned to provide them. Working under fixed-fee contracts, Boeing churned out airplanes and became by far the largest employer in Seattle. William E. Boeing (October 1, 1881 - September 28, 1956) was the aviation pioneer who founded the Boeing Company. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. ... Clockwise from top: Trenches in frontline, a British Mark I Tank crossing a trench, the Royal Navy battleship HMS Irresistible sinking after striking a mine at the battle of the Dardanelles, a Vickers machine gun crew with gas masks and a Sopwith Camel biplane. ... Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Commanders {{{commander1}}} {{{commander2}}} Strength {{{strength1}}} {{{strength2}}} Casualties 17 million military deaths 7 million military deaths World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th century conflict that engulfed much of the globe and is accepted as the largest and deadliest...

However, Boeing spawned few local spin-off industries; only 5% of the subcontracted work was in the Puget Sound. Boeing was, by intention, a place where engineers designed the planes and line workers assembled parts that were imported from all over the world. Ostensibly, this would reduce the dependency of Seattle's economy on the fortunes of the airline business. The problem was that Seattle was still dependent on the airline business, without enjoying any of the spin-off industries that might have diversified the economy. When the war ended, "the military canceled its bomber orders; Boeing factories shut down and 70,000 people lost their jobs," The Boeing Company, Boeing: History -- Beginnings - Growing Pains and initially it appeared that Seattle had little to show for the wartime Boeing boom. While the war was on, almost all production went either towards Boeing factories or Boeing planes. After the war, the crash ensured that no one would have much money for new local development. A Boeing 747-400 belonging to Virgin Atlantic Airways, one of the UKs largest airlines. ...

This period of stagnation soon ended with the rise of the jet airplane and Boeing's reincarnation as the world's leading producer of commercial passenger planes. With the Boeing 707-120, Seattle became Boeing's company town; "in 1947 Boeing employed about one out of every five of King County's manufacturing workers, in 1957 about every other one." [Roger Sale, Seattle: Past To Present, p.188] As Boeing boomed, so did Seattle. From 1940 to 1950, the population increased 99,289 or 27% from 368,302 to 467,591. From 1950 to 1960, the population increased 89,496 or 20% to 557,087. All of those people had to live somewhere, and the Fifties saw a huge housing boom. Population density all over Seattle exploded as people filled the boundaries of settlement in the city and began to move north. Most of the development was in single-family houses, since land was plentiful. Jet aircraft with condensation trail Jet aircraft are aircraft with jet engines. ... BOAC 707 at London Heathrow Airport in 1964 The Boeing 707 is a four engined commercial passenger jet aircraft developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

At the same time, the freeways were being built to compensate for all this new growth. The community of Mercer Island, the "Eastside" (east of Lake Washington) communities of Bryn Mawr, Newport, Bellevue, Clyde Hill, Hunts Point, Medina, Juanita, and the northern suburbs of Kenmore, Lake Forest Park, and Lake Hills all came into being during the Boeing boom. Interstate 5 (I-5) cut the city in half on a north-south axis, while I-90 crossed east-west, connecting with Mercer Island via the floating Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge. SR-520 skirted the north end of Montlake just south of the Montlake Cut, and parallelled I-90 with its own floating bridge. I-5 neatly cut off Downtown Seattle from Capitol Hill, First Hill, and even from part of the historic downtown, including the tony Sorrento Hotel, which was left stranded on the "wrong" side of the freeway. I-90 was perhaps less disruptive (unless, of course, you were living in its path), since it is partly routed through a tunnel and skirts a more-or-less unbuildable edge of Beacon Hill, avoiding slicing the city into north and south halves. Freeway Park was eventually built over I-5 in 1976, restoring something of a link between Downtown and First Hill, but was not heavily enough used to provide much mitigation. The R.H. Thompson Expressway, planned to connect SR-520 with I-90 and SR-167, was never built, after the initial urban freeway construction sparked a Seattle echo of San Francisco's earlier Freeway Revolt. Mercer Island is a city located in King County, Washington, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 22,036. ... The Eastside is the collective term for the eastern suburbs of Seattle, Washington. ... Lake Washington is the second largest natural lake in Washington state, USA, behind Lake Chelan, and the largest lake in King County. ... Bryn Mawr-Skyway is a census-designated place located in King County, Washington. ... Newport is a city located in Pend Oreille County, Washington. ... Location Location of Bellevue within King County, Washington, and King County within Washington. ... Clyde Hill is a city located in the Eastside, an affluent region of King County, Washington and part of the Seattle metropolitan area. ... Hunts Point is a town located in King County, Washington. ... Medina is a city located in King County, Washington, on the eastern shore of Lake Washington opposite Seattle. ... Kenmore is a city located in King County, Washington. ... Lake Forest Park is a city located in King County, Washington. ... INTERSTATE JUNCTIONS JUNCTION EXIT # Mexican Federal Highway 1/ Mexican Border CA 0 I-15 CA 13 I-8 CA 20 I-10 CA 134-135 I-80 CA 522 I-84 OR 300 (North) OR 301 (South) I-90 WA 164 BC-99 / Canadian Border WA 276 Legend BROWSE STATE... INTERSTATE JUNCTIONS JUNCTION EXIT # I-5 WA 2 I-15 MT 219 - 227 I-25 WY 55 I-35 MN 159 I-65 IN 17 I-80 IN 21 - OH 142 I-75 OH 64 I-95 MA 14-15 Legend BROWSE STATE HWYS Prev Next I-82 WA-92... Mercer Island is a city located in King County, Washington. ... Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge (right), looking east toward Mercer Island The Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge is the second longest floating bridge in the world, at 6,620 feet (2,019 meters). ... Washington State Route 520 is a freeway in the state of Washington, U.S.A. It extends 14 miles from Seattle in the west to Redmond in the east. ... Montlake is a generally quiet neighborhood in central Seattle. ... Montlake Cut, looking west The Montlake Cut is the easternmost section of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, which passes through the city of Seattle, linking Lake Washington to Puget Sound. ... Image:Evergreen Point Bridge-1. ... Downtown Seattle, from top of Space Needle (looking south) Map of downtown Seattle Downtown is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington. ... Capitol Hill Capitol Hill is the most densely populated neighborhood in Seattle, Washington. ... First Hill is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, named for the hill on which it is located. ... // Description Beacon Hill Beacon Hill is a hill and district in southeast Seattle, Washington. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Washington State Route 167 connects Interstate 5 in Tacoma with Interstate 405 in Renton. ... San Franciscos famous fog and famous Golden Gate Bridge. ... Late 1940s San Francisco Planning Department Freeway Plan The Freeway Revolt is the name given to public opposition against building freeways through San Francisco, California in the 1950s. ...

With all this postwar growth came growing pollution of the lakes and rivers that provided the much of beauty that had been Seattle's appeal to its recent immigrants. Also, the sprawl constantly demanded more roads, since the ones already built had terrible traffic. (Naturally, new roads simply led to new development and were soon as snarled as those they were intended to relieve.) A group of Seattle natives, anxious to preserve the city in which they grew up, came together to institute the Metropolitan Problems Committee, or METRO, intended to manage and plan the metropolitan area. The driving force behind this movement was Jim Ellis, who headed the committee and repeatedly brought the planning issue before the voters and city governments. The logic was that a regional transit system would require a regional political body; the same held for regional sewage and pollution control or regional growth planning. The original, comprehensive METRO regional plan was defeated in a vote by suburbanites who seemed to view the problem not as one of pollution, transit, sprawl, or lack of planning: in what some Seattleites referred to as the "Pave the Lake" strategy, they just wanted more bridges across Lake Washington. Environmental Pollution is the release of harmful environmental contaminants, or the substances so released. ...

METRO came back, scaled down to a sewage treatment and transport organization, and prevailed with an overwhelming majority in Seattle and a decent showing in the suburbs. METRO, despite repeated attempts by Jim Ellis, never did manage to get authority for planning, and to this day there is no single body responsible for planning the Seattle metropolitan area and its transportation systems. (METRO was eventually merged into the King County government.) Seattle and King County have, at times, seemed better at coming up with money for stadiums and other large public works than for broader projects. King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. ...

During this period, Seattle's downtown was in decline (as were many other downtowns across the nation, for much the same reason): people shopped in the suburbs, not in the city. The market for goods in the city's center was drying up. Seattle's solution was to host the Century 21 Exposition, the 1962 World's Fair. The area directly north of downtown was slumping very badly, and the city owned a lot of property there. The fair, given a futuristic science theme, was designed to leave behind a civic center, now known as Seattle Center, containing arts buildings, a food court, museums, and the like and serving also as a fairground. The United States Science Pavilion (now the Pacific Science Center) was one of the central attractions. Boeing performed one of its few altruistic public actions: they "created and installed in the United States Science Pavilion a space age Spacearium, a permanent addition to the center and one of the most attractive features of the fair." [Nard Jones, Seattle, p.325] The Space Needle, built for the Century 21 Exposition. ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Worlds Fair is the generic name for various large expositions held since the mid 19th century. ... Center House, Seattle Center Seattle Center is a fairground, park and arts and entertainment center in Seattle, Washington, on the site used in 1962 by the Century 21 Exposition. ... The Pacific Science Center is a science museum in Seattle, Washington. ...

In conjunction with the fair, a demonstration monorail line was constructed, running from the center of downtown to the fair, a distance of 0.9 miles; it was constructed at no cost to the city and was paid for out of ticket sales, and then turned over to the city for $600,000. (See Seattle Center Monorail). It is currently the only monorail in the United States to turn a profit. It is now almost exclusively a tourist attraction, as the distance covered is too small to be of much practical use unless you are living in a hotel downtown and visiting the Seattle Center. The World's Fair also granted Seattle the landmark Space Needle, also a continuing tourist attraction. Seattle also acquired an Opera House, a Coliseum, and a refurbished Arena (all of which have since been replaced or significantly remodeled), and a great location for future carnivals and fairs. Today, Seattle Center is host to the Bite of Seattle, Bumbershoot, a music and art festival that draws crowds in the hundreds of thousands every Labor Day Weekend, and the Northwest Folklife Festival on Memorial Day Weekend, a comparably large folk music and folk culture festival, which somehow manages to stay in the black despite being free to all comers. The Pacific Science Center continues to draw crowds, along with a small amusement park that operates all summer. The World's Fair arguably reenergized the downtown of Seattle, and was generally a smashing success, even finishing with a profit. H-Bahn Dortmund Tama-Monorail (Japan) A monorail is a transit system, resembling a metro or railroad with a track nominally consisting of a single rail (actually a beam), as opposed to the traditional track with two parallel rails. ... The monorail tracks with the Space Needle visible in the distance The Seattle Center Monorail is an elevated monorail line in Seattle, Washington, that runs one mile along Fifth Avenue from Westlake Center in Downtown to Seattle Center in Lower Queen Anne. ... The Space Needle is the Pacific Northwests most recognizable landmark and is the symbol of Seattle, Washington. ... The Bite of Seattle is an annual food festival that takes place over three days in July at Seattle, Washington, USAs Seattle Center. ... Bumbershoot is a colloquial word for umbrella, probably coined in the 19th century as a portmanteau of umbrella and parachute. ... Labour Day (or Labor Day) is an annual holiday that resulted from efforts of the labour union movement, to celebrate the economic and social achievements of workers. ... The Northwest Folklife Festival is an annual festival of ethnic, folk, and traditional art, crafts, and music that takes place over the Memorial Day weekend at Seattle, Washingtons Seattle Center. ... Relatives and others traditionally place flags near veterans headstones on Memorial Day Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday that takes place on May 30th and is observed on the last Monday of May. ...

After the war, the University of Washington also took a step forward, finally fulfilling the promise of its name. Charles Odegaard, as president of the University, used his office to press for the creation of community colleges and other four-year colleges in Washington, so that the University of Washington could concentrate on research. By the time Odegaard retired, the UW was second only to MIT in the size of its federal grants, and the number of students attending had swelled. Because the University of Washington campus is open, its impact on the University District as well as the rest of the city was quite significant; "In remaining a largely commuter school, the university has diminished its ability to withdraw as a community in itself and has maintained thereby its ability to the larger and more amorphous community." [Roger Sale, Seattle: Past To Present, p.211] The University of Washington, founded in 1861, is a major public research university in the Seattle metropolitan area. ... The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, is a university located in the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. MIT is one of the worlds leading research institutions in science and technology, as well as in numerous other fields, including management, economics, linguistics, political science, and philosophy. ... University District The University District is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, so named because the main campus of the University of Washington is located there. ...

The Counterculture in Seattle

Starting in the late 1950s, Seattle was one of the centers of the emergence of the American counter-culture and culture of protest. Before grunge there were beats, fringies (a local Seattle term), hippies, and batcavers. During the 1960s the term underground acquired a new meaning in that it referred to members of the so-called counterculture, i. ... Grunge music (sometimes also referred to as the Seattle Sound) is a genre of alternative rock inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock. ... The term beat generation was introduced by Jack Kerouac in approximately 1948 to describe his social circle to the novelist John Clellon Holmes (who published an early novel about the beat generation, titled Go, in 1952, along with a manifesto of sorts in the New York Times Magazine: This is... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Gothic woman, trad style, with spikes and piercings This article is about the contemporary goth/gothic subculture. ...

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The political emergence of non-white minorities

Despite Seattle having one of the highest percentages of Caucasians in a major city in the United States, it has had an African-American mayor (Norm Rice), at least four African-American city council members, and at least half a dozen Asian-American city council members. It has also been the political base for figures such as African-American King County Executive Ron Sims and former King County Executive Gary Locke, who went on to be the first Chinese-American governor of a US state. An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or black), is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... Norman B. Rice born May 4, 1943 in Denver, Colorado was the 49th mayor of Seattle, Washington. ... An Asian American can be generally defined as a person of Asian ancestry or origin who was born in or is an immigrant to the United States. ... Governor Gary Locke Gary F. Locke (born January 21, 1950 in Seattle, Washington) was the Democratic governor of Washington (1997-2005), and the first Chinese American governor in the United States. ... A Chinese American is an American who is of ethnic Chinese descent. ... A governor is also a device that regulates the speed of a machine. ...

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The Boeing Bust: 1970 - 1985

Due to changing external demand and the cancellation of the SST program, "the Boeing workforce was cut from 80,400 to 37,200 between early 1970 and October 1971". The Boeing Company, Boeing: History -- New Markets After 1973, Seattle was in good company for its recession, since the rest of the country was also experiencing the |energy crisis. However, Seattle was hit harder than most cities due to its over-reliance on Boeing as an employer, and had the worst post-Depression unemployment for any major US city, nearly 12%. As with most periods of downturn, there was not much private investment or construction. However, despite the crushing unemployment and the infamous billboards saying "Would the last person who leaves Seattle please turn out the lights," the outflux of people was "never more than 15% of those laid off," [Roger Sale, Seattle: Past To Present, p.233] and was promptly countered by new arrivals taking advantage of the now-underpriced housing stock. A supersonic transport (SST) is a civil aircraft designed to transport passengers at speeds greater than the speed of sound. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... (Redirected from 1973 energy crisis) United States, drivers of vehicles with odd numbered license plates were allowed to purchase gasoline only on odd-numbered days of the month, while drivers with even-numbers were limited to even-numbered days. ... The Great Depression was a massive global economic recession (or depression) that ran from 1929 to approximately 1939. ...

Quite likely, Seattle evaded the fate of Detroit through being a port city with a large number of highly educated, skilled workers. Seattle industry did slightly better than the national average during the rest of the 1970s; nonetheless the boom decades of the 1950s and 1960s had been brought to a decisive end. Motto: Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus (We Hope For Better Things; It Shall Rise From the Ashes - this motto was adopted after the disastrous 1805 fire that devastated the city) Nickname: The Motor City and Motown Location in Wayne County, Michigan Founded Incorporated July 24, 1701 1815  County Wayne County Mayor...

The Pike Place Market, arguably Seattle's most significant tourist attraction, gained its modern form in the aftermath of the Boeing crash. The market had been founded in 1907 with a great deal of early success, but, like most public markets in America, had suffered a decline as corporations took over food distribution. The deportation of the Japanese from Seattle during World War II hit the market particularly hard, since 80% of its "wet stall" vendors had been ethnically Japanese. The city council wanted to make a "Pike Place Plaza" by demolishing the mostly derelict market and replacing it with "a new hotel, a 32-story apartment building, four 28-story office buildings, a hockey arena, and a 4,000-car parking garage." Pike Place Market PDA. Pike Place Market - Learn about the Market - History A "Keep the Market" initiative, led by architect Victor Steinbreuck, was passed in 1971, pushing for adaptive reuse. A promotional committee was created, historical district status attained, and vendors were convinced to move in and sell wares. The project was wildly successful, and today the Pike Place Market pulls nine million visitors each year. Pike Place Market, looking west on Pike Street from First Avenue Inside the market The Pike Place Market, which opened for business on August 17, 1907, is a public market overlooking the Elliott Bay waterfront in downtown Seattle, Washington, USA. Occupying over 9 acres (36,000 m²) bounded by First... 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Jerome Relocation Camp The Japanese American internment refers to the exclusion and subsequent removal of approximately 112,000 to 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans, officially described as persons of Japanese ancestry, 62% of whom were United States citizens, from the west coast of the United States during World War...

A similar story occurred with Pioneer Square. An old neighborhood, largely built after the Great Seattle Fire, it had fallen into derelict status after the war. However, with a reenergized downtown, businesses started to look for buildings that could be acquired cheaply. When offices moved into renovated buildings, suddenly there was a market for facilities to service them, leading to a "flood of other restaurants, galleries, boutiques." [Roger Sale, Seattle: Past To Present, p.239] Seattle was definitely recovering from the blow dealt by the Boeing recession, refilling areas that had threatened to become slums. Pioneer Square Pioneer Square is the neighborhood where Seattle, Washington was founded in 1853. ... Start of the Great Seattle Fire, looking south on 1st Ave. ... A boy from an East Cipinang trash dump slum in Jakarta, Indonesia shows his find. ...

Silicon Forest: 1985-?

Bill Gates and Paul Allen, founders of Microsoft Corporation, attended the Lakeside School, a private middle and high school in Haller Lake, at the northern Seattle city limits. This turned out to have rather dramatic consequences for the entire Seattle area. Microsoft's first product, Microsoft BASIC, came out in 1976. The company was incorporated in New Mexico the same year. By 1978 sales exceeded one million dollars a year. In 1979, Microsoft moved its offices back to Bellevue from Albuquerque, New Mexico -- they had gone to New Mexico to be near a client who no longer dominated their business, Gates and Allen wanted to go back where they were from, and it was easier to entice quality programmers to the Seattle area than the deserts of New Mexico. By 1985, sales were over $140 million, by 1990, $1.18 billion, and by 1995, Microsoft was the world's most profitable corporation, Allen and Gates were billionaires, and literally thousands of their past and present employees were millionaires. Microsoft had grown from a two-man operation to a company with 11,000 employees in 1992 and 48,030 (about half of them in the Seattle area) in 2001. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Paul Allen Paul Gardner Allen (born January 21, 1953) is an entrepreneur who established himself by co-founding Microsoft Corporation with Bill Gates. ... Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKEx: 4338) is the worlds largest software company, with 2005 global annual sales of 40 billion US dollars and nearly 60,000 employees in 85 countries and regions. ... Lakeside crest Lakeside School is a private school (grades 5 through 12) located in the Haller Lake neighborhood at the north city limits of Seattle, Washington, USA. It was founded in 1914 by Frank Moran as the Moran School on Bainbridge Island. ... Haller Lake is a small lake and neighborhood in north central Seattle, Washington, named for Theodore N. Haller, who platted the neighborhood in 1905. ... Microsoft BASIC is the foundation product of the Microsoft company. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... State nickname: Land of Enchantment Official languages English and Spanish Capital Santa Fe Largest city Albuquerque Governor Bill Richardson (D) Senators Pete Domenici (R) Jeff Bingaman (D) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 5th 315,194 km² 0. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... Downtown Albuquerque Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. ... This article is about the year. ... This article is about the year. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

Microsoft spawned a host of other companies in the Seattle area: millionaire employees often left to found their own companies, and Allen, after his own departure from Microsoft, became a major investor in new companies. Seattle-area companies that owe their origins at least indirectly to Microsoft include RealNetworks, Attachmate Corp., Infospace, and a host of others. Quite unlike Boeing, Microsoft has served as a catalyst for the creation of a whole realm of industry. Microsoft has also taken a much more active hand than Boeing in public works in the area, donating software to many schools (including the University of Washington). RealNetworks (NASDAQ: RNWK) is a Seattle-based provider of Internet media delivery software and services. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with AttachmateWRQ. (Discuss) Attachmate logo Attachmate Corporation was a major supplier of enterprise management and information access software. ...

During this era, Seattle has also been experienced quite good growth in the biotechnology and coffee sectors, and Seattle-based Nordstrom became a national brand. Biotechnology is technology based on biology, especially when used in agriculture, food science, and medicine. ... Coffee is a drink, usually hot, prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant. ... Nordstroms headquarters and flagship store in Seattle. ...

Paul Allen, whose fortune was made through Microsoft though he has long since ceased to be an active participant in the company, has been a major force in Seattle politics, for better or worse. He attempted a voter initiative to build the Seattle Commons, a huge park in South Lake Union and the Cascade District, and even offered to put up his own money to endow a security force for the park, but it failed to pass. (Allen is now the leader of the movement to redevelop this same area as a biotech center.) He did get a football stadium for the Seattle Seahawks through a successful statewide ballot initiative, and founded the Experience Music Project (originally intended as a Jimi Hendrix museum) on the grounds of Seattle Center. In England and Wales, a common is a piece of land over which other people -- often neighbouring landowners -- could exercise one of a number of traditional rights, such as allowing their cattle to graze upon it. ... South Lake Union South Lake Union is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, so named because it is at the south tip of Lake Union. ... Year Founded 1976 Conference NFC Division West Home Field Qwest Field City Seattle, Washington Team Colors Seahawks Blue, Seahawks Navy, Seahawks Bright Green Head Coach Mike Holmgren League Titles League Championships (0) Conference Championships (0) Division Championships (4) AFC West: 1988, 1999 NFC West: 2004, 2005 The Seattle Seahawks American... Sign advertising the opening of EMP A view of EMPs southeast corner The Experience Music Project (EMP) is a museum of music history founded by Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, located on the campus of Seattle, Washingtons Seattle Center. ... Cover art for Electric Ladyland James Marshall Jimi Hendrix (27 November 1942, Seattle, Washington – 18 September 1970, London, England) was an African-American musician, songwriter and guitarist, widely hailed by fans and music critics. ...

One other piece of urban design in this era is the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, completed in 1988 and expanded in 2003, which bridges the freeway and adjoins Freeway Park, connecting First Hill to downtown. Arguably, the convention center has helped fuel further downtown growth and has (at least to some extent) reconnected both sides of the freeway. Parallelling the Microsoft and Internet boom, Downtown Seattle underwent a revival; at the height of the boom, downtown office space was described as "Number four or five on the national hit parade [of real estate prices], and climbing." Michael Allmon, "Seattle Real Estate is Climbing the Charts", Seattle Daily Journal of Commmerce, 1998 After an increase in vacancy to double-digit levels in the Internet Bust, occupancy began to return. The return of the downtown retail district appears to be a more lasting phenomenon, although at the expense of having a retail district dominated by national chain stores, many of them gathered in mall complexes. 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

N30

The first great street confronation between the anti-globalization movement and the World Trade Organization took place in Seattle on November 30, 1999. While many of those in the streets, and most of those in the suites, were from out of town or even out of country, much of the groundwork of Seattle hosting both the event and the protests against it can be attributed to local forces. Anti-WEF grafiti in Lausanne. ... WTO Logo The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an international, multilateral organization which sets the rules for the global trading system and resolves disputes between its member states, all of whom are signatories to its about 30 agreements. ... November 30 is the 334th day (335th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 31 days remaining, as the final day of November. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

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Seattle today

The Seattle of today is physically and demographically not so different from the Seattle of the 1960s. It is still filled with single family households, still mostly white with as many Asians as blacks, still liberal, still with about half a million people, still almost entirely without a centralized method of planning. The suburbs have grown, but they are also in essentially the same state as before, if a little more independent. Seattle's economy is more vibrant now, and richer, and there is certainly in increase in cultural activity, but the largest employer is still Boeing. The Commons was defeated, just as Jim Ellis was in the Sixties. There's still terrible traffic on the freeways. The city is still physically beautiful.

Today's downturn is a milder version of that faced at the end of the 1960s. There is finally a sign of getting some sort of mass transit system. Sound Transit has money for a light-rail system; separately, three separate referenda backed a monorail proposal opposed by most of the politicians. However, both of these systems are facing major funding problems.

References

Much of the content of this page is from "Seattle: Booms and Busts", by Emmett Shear, who has granted blanket permission for material from that paper to be reused in Wikipedia.

• Nard Jones, Seattle, Doubleday and Co., New York City, 1972
• Roger Sale, Seattle: Past To Present, University of Washington Press, Seattle and London, 1976.

External links

http://www.historylink.org provides an unparallelled collection of articles on Seattle and Washington State history.