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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 prosperity -- since the 1897 Alaska Gold Rush -- through the display of resources, products, and advantages of Washington and the region. More than three million people visited the fair from Washington cities and counties and from the rest of the country. Planning, funding, and producing the A-Y-P Exposition required the talents of many civic leaders. Many of these leaders served on the committees of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition Corporation. The Alaska-Yukon Exposition Corporation was formed May 8, 1906. On May 31, 1906, the word "Pacific" was added to the corporation's name. This file contains a list of the committees of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Corporation, as enumerated in the Secretary's Report of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (Seattle: Gateway Printing, 1911).
File 8630: Full Text >

Bauer, Eddie (1899-1986)

Eddie Bauer, inventor of the down parka, made his name synonymous with high-quality outdoor clothing and sporting goods. An avid outdoorsman, Bauer opened a small sporting goods store in downtown Seattle in 1920. His own brush with hypothermia while on a fishing trip a few years later led to his experiments with down-filled clothing. By the time he retired, in 1968, he had turned an initial investment of $25 for goose down into a multimillion-dollar business.
File 1671: Full Text >

Brougham, Royal (1894-1978)

A 68-year veteran of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, journalist Royal Brougham was once dubbed "Dean of American Sportswriters." Brougham's column, "The Morning After," was a fixture of P-I sports pages for more than half a century. Despite a casual demeanor (many of his columns were simply credited to "your old neighbor," frequent misspellings, and creative grammar, Brougham established himself as one of Seattle's most celebrated, opinionated, and influential journalists. He was also one of the city's most generous men. To honor his numerous efforts on behalf of others, the Seattle-King County Association of Realtors named Royal Brougham First Citizen of 1946.
File 7395: Full Text >

Edmonds -- Thumbnail History

The city of Edmonds rests along a shoreline and the hillside beyond about 15 miles north of Seattle. Native Americans of the Snohomish people occupied coastal and river areas surrounding the site, and Euro-American explorers encountered their canoes, but they apparently had no permanent village sites in the immediate locale. Its founding father was George Brackett (1842-1927) (arrived 1876) and in its early decades Edmonds thrived as a mill town. During the late twentieth century the city became increasingly urban, while retaining elements of its small town character.
File 8542: Full Text >

Fort Lewis Golf Course

In 1929 General Joseph Castner, using troop labor and Army engineers, laid out the first Fort Lewis golf course on prairie land west of the fort. In 1938-1940, a professionally designed Work Projects Administration (WPA) 18-hole course and clubhouse replaced the original. This course contributed to troop morale during World War II and many soldiers learned to play golf here. Some of them became life-long golfers. A number of top professionals have been involved. They include Professional Golf Association champion Bob Hamilton (1916-1990), who taught golf and played on the Fort Lewis team. Since World War II some soldiers perfected their skills here and went on to successful golf careers. The course continues to enhance soldier well-being and help create outstanding golfers.
File 8922: Full Text >

Gayton, Gary David (b. 1933)

Gary David Gayton, a prominent Seattle lawyer and businessman, is the fourth child of John J. (Jacob) Gayton (1899-1969) and Virginia Clark Gayton (1902-1993). He is the grandson of Seattle pioneers John T. and Magnolia Gayton. At Garfield High School, Gary Gayton was a star athlete (in track) and the school's first black student body president. He attended the University of Washington, excelling in academics (he majored in Political Science) and as an athlete. He became the first member of this leading Seattle family to graduate college. After a stint in the U.S. Army, he attended law school at Gonzanga University in Spokane. His distinguished legal career began with an appointment by Robert Kennedy as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. As a lawyer he prosecuted and won numerous notable cases involving the civil rights of African Americans, Native Americans, and women. He has also served on numerous civic boards and commissions. He presently works as an investment banker. Gary Gayton serves on the Executive Committee of the National Advisory Council for the Small Business Administration, and as Chairman of the nine-member Senior Advisory Board of the Ninth Federal Judicial Circuit. His honors include the University of Washington Distinguished Alumni Award in Political Science (2005), Garfield High School Hall of Fame (2007), the National Bar Association's Wiley A. Branton Award (2008), the NAACP's Social Justice Award (2008), and Gonzaga University's Distinguished Alumni Merit Award (2009).
File 3714: Full Text >

Index -- Thumbnail History

The Town of Index is a riverside hamlet in the shadow of 5,979-foot Mount Index in Snohomish County. It is hemmed in by the north fork of the Skykomish River along its southern boundary, and by a steep granite cliff, the Town Wall (1,000 elev.), at its northern edge. The area was home to the Skykomish People before European immigrants came to mine the surrounding mountains and log the heavily forested valley bottom. The granite wall that serves as a backdrop to the 10-block-long, two-block-wide residential and business area became a third contributor to the economy when a large quarry was established in 1904. Thus mining, logging, and quarrying became the diverse bulwarks of the town's prosperity early in the twentieth century. At its height in 1905, the town's population reached 500, with perhaps a thousand more in the surrounding area. A fourth industry, recreation-based tourism, was established early on, and, with the loss of mining, quarrying, and logging in the 1930s, recreation became the prime means of employment. It remains so to this day, with a much reduced population of 157 that has maintained a strong sense of community.
File 9143: Full Text >

Issaquah - Thumbnail History

Issaquah, located east of Lake Washington along Interstate-90, has experienced two periods of rapid growth during its lengthy history. The first came in the late nineteenth century when the local economy was fueled by the coal, lumber, hop growing, and dairy industries. During the mid-twentieth century the town became somewhat dormant, then once again saw vast development. In 2003, the city was listed as the fastest growing community in the state of Washington.
File 4220: Full Text >

King County Landmarks: Issaquah Sportsmen’s Clubhouse (1937), Issaquah

Address: 23600 SE Evans Street, Issaquah. Since its construction in 1937, the Issaquah Sportsmen’s Clubhouse has housed the club. The Issaquah Sportsmen’s Club was founded in 1920 as a recreation, social, and habitat conservation association. The City of Issaquah built the clubhouse with the support of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The use of inexpensive locally-available lumber is reflected in the vertical half-log construction and in the use of peeled logs to support the eaves and porch roof, and to trim window and door openings. A prominent gable roofed porch dominates the facade, and solid wooden shutters protect the windows when the building is not occupied.
File 2366: Full Text >

Madison, Helene (1914-1970)

In 1932, Seattle held the biggest ticker tape parade in its history for 19-year-old swimmer Helene Madison (1914-1970). "Queen Helene," as the press dubbed her, had won three gold medals for the United States at the Los Angeles Olympic Games.
File 293: Full Text >

Milwaukee Ski Bowl

In the winter of 1937-1938, in cooperation with The Seattle Times, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway established the "Milwaukee Ski Bowl" at Snoqualmie Pass. The railroad cashed in on the region's budding interest in outdoor sports, and the initial lack of adequate highways, to support winter day trips to the Cascades. Its catch phrase, "Let the Engineer do the Driving," highlighted the package's ease and convenience. The Milwaukee Ski Bowl lasted until 1949, when a fire burned down the lodge.
File 1685: Full Text >

Olsen, Jack (1925-2002), Writer

Jack Olsen was a respected journalist and prolific writer who pioneered the genre of "true crime." Olsen also wrote fiction and books about sports and social issues, but it was his true-crime writing that earned him national acclaim and readership. The Washington Post gave him the title of "dean of true-crime authors." Olsen preferred to be characterized as a hard-nosed reporter seeking the truth and getting it right.
File 7570: Full Text >

Parker's Ballroom

Seattle's venerable old Parker's Ballroom (which opened in 1930 on the "New Seattle-Everett Highway," now known as Aurora Avenue N) holds a unique place in Northwest music history. Like a few other local dancehalls, it spanned all of the sequential musical era's from the wild jazz days of the Prohibition Era right on up through the forties swing scene, from the rise of rock 'n' roll in the fifties, to the psychedelic sixties, and onwards to the heavy metal, disco, and punk rock scenes of the seventies. Unlike most other historic dancehalls though, Parker's still stands.
File 3827: Full Text >

Seafair -- Beginnings

Seafair, the gala annual Seattle-King County water festival, began in August 1950 and continues to this day. The festival erupts all over King County and has included hydroplane speed competitions, lifeboat races, steamboat races, tug boat tugs-of-war, waterskiing competitions, swimming meets, musical performances, high diving, underwater dancing, parades, parties, and joyous nightly boogying all over town. Additional events have been a Mardi Gras in the Central Area, an elaborate dragon parade in the International District, the historic Aqua Follies at Green Lake (which ran every summer from 1950 to the late 1960s), Scottish Highland Games, a ritual boat burning, and coronations of water kings and water queens, among numerous other elaborate entertainments.
File 1470: Full Text >

Seattle Neighborhoods: Green Lake -- Thumbnail History

Seattle's Green Lake was named in the late summer of 1855 by federal surveyors who may well have encountered the lake during a seasonal algae bloom that turned it green. The Green Lake neighborhood is situated in the northern part of Seattle. It is bounded on the west by Phinney Ridge, on the north by N 85 Street, on the east by the I-5 corridor, and on the south by N 50th Street. Many of its 16,000 residents (in 2000) occupy 1920s era houses originally owned by working class residents. The lake is an important Olmsted-designed Seattle park, and the neighborhood has focussed much energy to preserve it.
File 2227: Full Text >

Seattle Pilots Baseball Team

In April 1969, Seattle baseball fans got their first Major League baseball team. The Seattle Pilots had moved to town. On April 11, the Pilots shut out the Chicago White Sox, 7-0, in their temporary home at Sicks' Stadium, along Rainier Avenue. Plans were in the works for a modern domed stadium that would give the Pilots and Seattle a Major League presence. But within a year, the Pilots had moved to Milwaukee. It was their legacy that the Kingdome was built (eventually) and became the first home of the Seattle Mariners.
File 1021: Full Text >

Sicks' Stadium (Seattle)

Sicks' Stadium, built in 1938, was a Seattle landmark for more than four decades. Located in Rainier Valley at the intersection of Rainier Avenue and McClelland Street, the baseball stadium was home to both the Seattle Rainiers and the Seattle Pilots. The ballpark served Minor League fans and acted as a shaky bridge as Seattle crossed over from the Minor Leagues into the Majors.
File 1501: Full Text >

Sonics, The: Tacoma's '60s Garage-Rock Teen Titans

The improbable "career" arc of Tacoma's Sonics is that of a teen combo who pounded their way to the top ranks of Northwest rock bands by 1965 -- and then crumbled in the psychedelic musical aftermath of 1967's Summer of Love. Like countless other American garage-bands of the era, the Sonics might have faded into total obscurity. They had, however, managed to forge a particularly brutal style that went on to earn them legendary status as pioneers of the entire subsequent punk rock movement.
File 8844: Full Text >

Tuba Man: Seattle's Famous Street Musician, Ed McMichael (1955-2008)

With a brassy "street name" like that of some improbable superhero, Ed "Tuba Man" McMichael, made a remarkable impact on his fellow townsfolk during a two-decade-long career as a Seattle musician who supported himself by earning tips from passersby who often made requests and tossed coins into the big horn.
File 8848: Full Text >