Trading Places

A Seattle Author Uncovers a Secret History of World War II

Evelyn Iritani’s Safe Passage shares an untold story of civilian lives and global diplomacy.

03/05/2026 By Eric Olson

Prime Grocery

Property Watch: A Historical Central District Shop, Reimagined

This former neighborhood grocery store gives new meaning to the words ‘housing market.’

12/31/2025 By Zoe Sayler

Know Your Place

The Livingston Baker Building Has Tales to Tell

The home of the Virginia Inn and Le Pichet has a few skeletons in its closets and ghosts in its walls.

12/23/2025 By Meg van Huygen

Hardhat Days

My Life in the Shipyards

I didn’t expect to be a union ship scaler. But after graduating college in the 1970s, that’s exactly where I found myself.

11/10/2025 By Mike Nolan

Pit Crew

Building a Better Luau

How one organization is flipping the dynamics of an exploited tradition.

11/04/2025 By Naomi Tomky

100 Years of Fortitude

The Very American History That Shaped Town & Country Markets

The family behind Town & Country Markets overcame the Great Depression, Japanese Incarceration with help from their Bainbridge Island community.

09/22/2025 By Naomi Tomky

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