The New Old Country

Boise’s Basque Celebration Actually Goes Year-Round

Jaialdi is back, but you don’t have to wait five years for a good time.

07/01/2025 By Allison Williams

Feature

A Midsummer Nightmare

How the Washington Midsummer Renaissance Faire turned into a nightmare for its volunteer performers.

06/03/2025 By Nathalie Graham Photography by Jovelle Tamayo

Campus Life

Microsoft’s Move to Redmond Reshaped the Eastside Forever

You can feel the repercussions all the way in Renton.

05/20/2025 By Eric Nusbaum

Microsoft 50

How Microsoft Engineered Tech’s Anti-Fashion Workforce

Bill Gates and the rise of the no-style style icon.

05/07/2025 By Zoe Sayler

Lingua Franca

Seattle’s Historic Chinook Jargon Is Having a Moment

The Pacific Northwest’s very own trade language never went away.

04/21/2025 By Bess Lovejoy

History in Motion

Ghosts of Transit Past Haunt Seattle Streets

Streetcar scars and trolley track relics hide a history of how people got around.

03/13/2025 By Naomi Tomky

Essay

Can Hugo House Write Its Next Chapter?

The story of Seattle’s literary nonprofit is the story of the city itself.

02/24/2025 By Emily White

Know Your Place

Renton Is Home to a Secret Architectural Marvel

This midcentury library is literally a bridge over the Cedar River.

11/20/2024 By Meg van Huygen

History

The Story of Lake Washington's Floating Bridges

How one engineer’s bizarre idea made the Eastside.

11/05/2024 By Bess Lovejoy

Over There

Eastside Towns, Then and Now

The suburbs—all grown up.

10/25/2024 By Seattle Met Staff

Essay

This Burke Museum Artifact Brought Me to Tears

The blood-stained Filipino battle flag has that effect on people.

10/22/2024 By Juan Jocom

Recounted

How Washington’s 2004 Election Made History

The story behind the epically close, record-breaking race for governor.

09/10/2024 By Eric Nusbaum

Top Dogs

The Wildest Moments in the History of Washington’s Governors

Some strange things have happened in Olympia.

09/09/2024 By Allison Williams

Hunger Signs

5 Restaurant Signs That Tell Seattle’s Story

Beloved bygone dive bars and diners live on in Vanishing Seattle’s new book.

07/29/2024 By Naomi Tomky

Asked/Answered

Why Is Seattle’s Best Public Pool So Hard to Find?

Colman Pool is full of salt water—and hidden-away history.

06/17/2024 By Allecia Vermillion

Feature

The Treasure Hunters

Can a mission that began with two adventurous teenagers in the 1980s end with the discovery of a sunken gold rush fortune off the Washington coast?

04/30/2024 By Benjamin Cassidy Photography by Grant Hindsley

Burger Sleuthing

Was This Olympia Restaurant the Inspiration for In-N-Out Burger?

It turns out California's famed burger chain has some Washington in its secret sauce.

02/29/2024 By Allecia Vermillion

Join Us

How Ski Clubs Made Skiing a Sport

The social organizations that built Seattle’s snow sport culture have a new form today.

11/29/2023 By Allison Williams

Faking Left

Shaun Scott Chronicles Seattle’s Civic Shortcomings through Sports

Heartbreak City details progressive failures, and resilience, by focusing on the city’s relationship to its teams and athletes.

10/23/2023 By Benjamin Cassidy

RECORD KEEPING

The Most Memorable Snowstorms in Seattle History

Yes, it snows here.

03/01/2023 By Zoe Sayler