Settling Seattle Seattle wasn’t always the hustle and bustle you see today, but the isthmus that the city is situated upon has always been popular. The site of the city we now call Seattle is the ancestral home and unceded lands of the Duwamish and Suquamish Tribes. It was their intimate knowledge that saved the early settlers from certain death that first winter, and the Tribes have stewarded the verdant lands and sparkling shoreline of the region since time immemorial. When the majority of the Denny Party landed at Alki Point, (Alki is a Chinook jargon word for “by-and-by”) in the middle of winter, 1851, they found a thriving community of Indigenous people that numbered in the thousands. But they also found one member of their party, David Denny, one of the Denny brothers who had traveled overland to the area to scout ahead, in rough shape. When the schooner, Exact, landed at Alki Point, the settlers who had taken a wagon west from New York along the Oregon Trail and then sailed up from Portland, Oregon, found David Denny feverish and wounded from an ax he was using to build a cabin that still stood roofless. It was recorded that the miserable sight prompted the women and children, after disembarking the vessel, to weep on the banks of the shoreline because the thought of an incomplete cabin was too much to bear. They never could have imagined how good we have it today, being able to buy a condo in Seattle (that we didn’t have to build ourselves) with just a few clicks of a button. The Denny Party pioneered through that first winter, and then in the spring moved their settlement across Elliot Bay for the eastern shore’s more protected harbor. The new village was called Duwamps, but the name was quickly changed to Seattle, an anglicized version of the name of the Duwamish Chief, Sealth. In 1853, the new “Town of Seattle” was platted and filed, and became official on May 23. By 1869, the rapidly-growing town had become a city and was incorporated as such, 20 years before Washington even became a state. Business and industry were booming, and one of the most important was Henry Yesler’s steam-powered sawmill, the only one in the region and the main supplier of lumber to the fledgling towns in the area, and even exporting timber all the way to San Francisco to support a city that was growing at lightning speed. The 1880s brought the railroad to town, and with that, a population explosion. It’s estimated that in the first half of 1889, Seattle was growing by 1,000 residents per month. This new method of rail transportation virtually unlocked much of the American West, and the Pacific Northwest especially, because the northern, remote wilderness was chock-full of dense, impassible underbrush which made the City of Seattle hard to reach. The Great Seattle Fire June 6, 1889, was a turning point in Seattle's history. A fire ravaged the business district, destroying 116 acres of buildings. It burned hot and fast, and with no professional fire department to speak of, it leveled the major part of town. Having the perfect medium enabled the fire to burn all day and night, and Seattle was truly a sorry sight. And as for the prolific and ironic fuel source? It was Henry Yesler’s timber. The city vowed to rebuild and began the work right away. This time, with a fire department in place and more fire-resistant materials, the city’s leaders demanded, via newly adopted building codes, that all new buildings within Seattle be made from brick, stone, or steel. The streets were straightened and widened, and though the embers had cooled, the enthusiasm for Seattle was never dampened.

There are so many things to do in and around Seattle, a list could keep you scrolling for ages. The moment you step outside the door of your condo in Seattle, you can be whisked away by all the city has to offer. Let's take a look at some local highlights:

Start your day, or end it, in true Seattle fashion, at one of Seattle’s overly-caffeinated coffee shops. It’s the elixir of the Seattle Gods and the mud-colored brew is drunk morning, noon, and night.

In fact, the very first Starbucks is still in operation, and you’ll find it at 1912 Pike Place near the waterfront. It’s hard to miss—you’ll know it from The Line—an ever-present fixture that stretches down the block and has worn an impression on the sidewalk.

You could fill your afternoon exploring the gorgeous Seattle Library, the Seattle Art Museum, (affectionately known as SAM), or even visit the Pacific Science Center which is definitely not just for kids.

If you adventure to the top of Smith Tower, you’d have a bird’s eye view of the city, or there’s always Seattle’s sentinel, the Space Needle, a 605-foot-tall futuristic spire created for the 1962 World’s Fair.

Seattle condos nearby this most-famous Seattle landmark are obviously quite desirable, with many having a view of the Space Needle, the Puget Sound, and Mount Rainier. (Local tip: look for Seattle condos in Kerry Park in Queen Anne if this is what you’re after).

The fine-dining restaurant at the top of the Space Needle rotates, and nearly 60 million visitors have toured the tower since it opened. At 500 feet up, you may be surprised at what you see through the revolving glass floor of the observation deck—a view of Seattle like no other.