History

Coming Together

A Discovery Park Peace Offering

The creation of a public park on a former military site in Seattle's Magnolia neighborhood ended decades of discord.

03/07/2022 By Benjamin Cassidy and Angela Cabotaje

Tally the Votes

The Historic Election Results of 1972

A third north-south highway, the Seattle Aquarium at Golden Gardens, and electric-powered streetcars were all on the ballot 50 years ago.

03/07/2022 Illustrations by Jordan Kay By Angela Cabotaje

Now Playing

Why KEXP Is Still Seattle's Indie Radio Station

Looking back at 50 years on the airwaves, 90.3FM can afford to stay weird.

03/07/2022 By Sophie Grossman Illustrations by Jordan Kay

Occupy Beacon Hill

The Origins of El Centro de la Raza

A peaceful takeover of a vacant schoolhouse in Beacon Hill once rocked the city—and inspired future racial justice fights like CHOP decades later.

03/07/2022 By Angela Cabotaje

Groovy, Baby

1972: The Audacious Year That Changed Seattle

Occupied protests, consequential votes, the birth of KEXP—a legacy created 50 years ago still lingers today.

03/07/2022 By Angela Cabotaje, Benjamin Cassidy, and Sophie Grossman Illustrations by Jordan Kay

The Truth is Out There

D.B. Cooper Con Convenes to Solve the 50-Year-Old Mystery

Marla Cooper, author of The Mystery of D.B. Cooper, will be at this two-day symposium in Vancouver on one of Washington's most famous unsolved crimes.

11/12/2021 By Allison Williams

In Memoriam

Seattle's Most Storied Headstones

From Bruce and Brandon Lee to John Nordstrom and Jimi Hendrix, some illustrious names have been put to rest in Seattle's cemeteries.

11/01/2021 Photography by Chona Kasinger By Sophie Grossman

OPEN SEASON

How the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale Made Retail History

The annual event's local roots are kind of a big deal.

06/28/2021 By Zoe Sayler

Hunger Artists

Seattle Has a Weird Legacy of Fasting

Can renouncing food really improve your health? For a century, mystics, biohackers, and even one murderous Seattle doctor have sought—and sold—their own conc...

06/14/2021 By Stefan Milne Illustrations by Pete Ryan

Storied City

Seattle's Blue Moon Tavern and the Fight for Historical Buildings

The University District dive, featured in a new PBS show, turns 87 this year. Can it persist as a piece of living history?

01/15/2021 By Stefan Milne

Feature

A Brief History of Seattle, in Three Disasters

After the Great Seattle Fire and the Boeing Bust, the city showed a knack for reinvention. Can that same spirit pull us out of our current crisis?

07/13/2020 By James Ross Gardner

The Buck Stops Here

Did Harry Really Give ’Em Hell in Bremerton?

Longtimers in Kitsap County swear the president’s rallying cry originated here. Scholars say otherwise.

12/23/2019 By Allecia Vermillion

POTUS to the People

First Relatives Who Lived Local

Presidential kin who called Seattle home.

12/23/2019 By Allecia Vermillion

The Other Warren G

Seattle Cancels Warren G. Harding

Our relationship with the scandal-plagued president? It’s complicated.

12/23/2019 By Allecia Vermillion

"Holy Cats!"

All the Presidents' Stopovers (in Seattle)

What happens when POTUS comes calling.

12/23/2019 By Allecia Vermillion

Peripatetic POTUS

Great(ish) Moments in Seattle Presidential Visits

Over the last 140 years, visits from our nation’s leader have prompted bee stings, wartime intrigue, and even the occasional jog around Green Lake.

12/23/2019 By Allecia Vermillion Illustrations by Tom Dougherty

Peripatetic POTUS

Great(ish) Moments in Seattle Presidential Visits

Forget protests and motorcade traffic jams. Over the last 140 years, visits from our nation’s leader have prompted bee stings, wartime intrigue, and even the...

12/23/2019 By Allecia Vermillion Illustrations by Tom Dougherty