Seattle: From Rough and Tumble Logging Town to Massive Metropolis Seattle hasn’t always been called the Emerald City. As early as 1869, realtors from Portland, Oregon had dubbed the burgeoning city, the “Queen City of the Pacific Northwest.” Even way back then folks knew that a house in Seattle was a dream come true, and no matter what you want to call Seattle, its special sparkle is immutable. Since its early days, it was easy to see that Seattle was a diamond in the rough, and today it takes its rightful place in the crown of America’s best cities. So how did it get to where it is today? It was the shared knowledge of the First Peoples, the blood, sweat, and tears of the pioneers, (and ultimately, the Indigenous peoples too), and a relentless desire to not give up on the city, even when it burned to the ground. Seattleites are resilient and dedicated to their region—because they know a good thing when they see one. From Sealth to Seattle When the first white settlers began to trickle into the area we now call Seattle, they were met with a thriving Indigenous population of the Coast Salish peoples, specifically the Duwamish and Suquamish Tribes who had been stewarding the lands in this watery region since time immemorial. The Duwamish Chief, Sealth, was a friendly leader and is credited to have protected the early pioneers and helped them survive the first winter in a new climate. The Denny Party, a group that had crossed the United States by wagon train via the Oregon Trail, sailed up the Pacific coast making an eventual landing in Elliot Bay. They were among some of the first founding families to create the “Town of Seattle,” which was platted and filed in 1853, and named after the friendly Chief. (“Seattle” is an anglicized version of Chief Sealth’s name.) The party arrived in the dead of winter, 1851, to make a new life upon land that was rich and fertile, albeit unfamiliar. A member of their party, David Denny, had traveled overland in advance to build a cabin for his family’s arrival. When the party landed their schooner, Exact, at Alki Point, they found Denny worse for the wear. He was huddled in a roofless cabin, cut from the ax he was using to fell trees, and was feverish and soaked to the bone. The journals from the time tell of the women and children of the party weeping openly on the banks of the shoreline, distraught at the thought of spending the winter without shelter. By that spring, the party relocated to the eastern part of the bay, moving the settlement to a location with a more sound harbor. Seattle was growing from a logging town that started with just a handful of families to one that by 1889, had turned into a city that was attracting 1,000 new residents per month. The Great Seattle Fire The second half of 1889, however, was marred in tragedy when on June 6, 116 acres, 25 city blocks, of the city’s business district burned down to the ground. Seattle was a timber town founded on the exploitation of this prolific resource, and ironically, it was that same resource that nearly destroyed it. With no professional fire department and no building codes to prevent such a tragedy, the fire burned all through the day and night. Accounts from the event tell of the city’s leaders working to rebuild the city the very next day. 600 businessmen met in the streets to make a plan on how the city could move forward. There were no records of anyone being hurt in the fire, and most of the buildings destroyed were of commercial use, sparing almost all of the residential houses in Seattle. In the span of one year, 465 new buildings were built and most businesses were back in operation despite the city’s phenomenal losses of what have been estimated to be around 20 million dollars. The fire could have easily snuffed Seattle out overnight, but the city used it as an opportunity to create a better, even more grand city. Seattlites widened and straightened the streets, and in many cases built right atop the wreckage. They elevated the town, in some places by 22 feet, leveling out some of the hilly terrain. (Today’s residents will find this supposed flattening hard to believe—but it’s true.) Seattle's leaders also used the fire as the catalyst for creating a professional fire department. The department during the fire was made up of volunteers, and many of them quit afterward citing the horrible treatment they received from townsfolk during the blaze. The city also adopted building codes that dictated that new Seattle buildings were to be made of stone, brick, and steel in an effort to prevent such a tragedy from ever gaining a foothold again. Seattle’s residents were remarkable during this time, and continue to be so. Buying a house in Seattle today, or during any time in its history, is to stake your own claim in this city’s resilient, industrious, and enterprising inertia.

Seattle Sights
With so many places to go, people to see, and an absolute abundance of things to do, possibly the worst thing about owning a home in Seattle is deciding how to spend your free time. Perusing the stalls at Pike Place Market is always time well spent, as is getting out on the water via personal watercraft or even a Washington State Ferry.

Seattleites are known to be outdoorsy folk and love to get outside. In a beautiful city full of endless evergreens and mountain vistas, when ‘the Mountain is out,” (it’s a sunny day and Mount Rainier is on full display), then so are Seattle residents.

Dining out in Seattle is also a pastime residents indulge in quite faithfully. From cult classics like Dick’s Drive-Inn and Canlis to newer favorites that spring forth from food trucks and dimly-lit waterfront tables, Seattle is probably best-known for its plethora of Asian cuisine. With a robust Asian population, residents are spoiled with opportunities for authentic Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, and more—without ever having to stray very far from their house in Seattle.

A perfect day in Seattle can be spent in so many different ways, but if for you it starts with a cup of coffee, and ends with a Pacific Northwest craft brew, then head to the very first Starbucks at Pike Place, and end your night in Ballard, Georgetown, Belltown, or Pioneer Square at one of their nightclub hotspots.