Timeline of Seattle

The following is a of the history of the city of Seattle, Washington, USA.

Before the 19th century

• Native Americans explore and settle throughout the Puget Sound region which includes the Seattle area.

19th century

• 1851
• September 14: The Collins Party led by Luther Collins finds a settlement in present-day Georgetown. Scouts from the Denny Party arrive at Alki shortly after.
• November 13: The remainder of the Denny Party arrives at Alki Point to spend a rainy winter.
• 1852 – The Denny Party moves to present day Downtown Seattle in April.
• 1853 – Seattle becomes seat of King County, Washington Territory.
• 1854 – School opens.
• 1855 – Population: 300.
• 1856 – Hostile Native American tribesmen attack Seattle in a single-day battle.
• 1858 – The arrival of Manuel Lopes, the city's first Black resident.
• 1861 – Washington Territorial University is established. This becomes the University of Washington.
• 1863 – Washington Gazette newspaper begins publication.
• 1864 – May 16: The Mercer Girls arrive.
• 1867 – Weekly Intelligencer newspaper begins publication, later becoming the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
• 1868 – The Seattle Library Association is founded.
• 1869 – Henry A. Atkins becomes mayor.
• 1870
• Central School opens.
• Church of Our Lady of Good Help is founded.
• Population: 1,107.
• 1873 – Seattle & Walla Walla Railroad is organized.
• 1874 – Gas street lamps are installed.
• 1875
• San Francisco–Seattle steamship service begins.
• Ms. Maynard's Reading Room opens.
• 1878 – Seattle Daily Post begins publication.
• 1879 – Squire opera house is built.
• 1880
• City is chartered.
• Frye opera house is built.
• Population: 3,533.
• 1883 – Telephone and Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad begins operating.
• 1885 – Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway is organized.
• 1886 – February: Most Chinese are expelled by White mobs.
• 1888
• Rainier Club is established.
• Seattle Athletic Club is organized.
• 1889
• Seattle Federation of Women's Clubs is organized.
• June 6: Great Seattle Fire.
• Seattle Fire Department is established.
• Electric streetcar begins operating.
• City becomes part of the new U.S. State of Washington.
• 1890
• Telegraph newspaper begins publication.
• Country Club is established.
• Population: 42,837.
• 1891
• Seattle Public Library opens.
• The Seattle Times is founded as the Seattle Press-Times.
• The Seattle Standard is founded as Seattle's first Black newspaper.
• 1892 – Pioneer Building is constructed.
• 1893
• Great Northern Railway begins operating.
• Seattle Theatre opens.
• Curtis & Guptil photographers are in business.
• 1894
• The Argus newspaper begins publication.
• The Seattle Republican begins publication, becoming Seattle's first successful Black-owned newspaper.
• 1895 – Seattle General Hospital is established.
• September 4: The University of Washington moves to its current location in Montlake.
• 1898 – U.S. assay office opens.
• 1899
• The Seattle Star newspaper begins publication.
• Tlingit totem pole is installed in Pioneer Place.
• 1900
• Population: 80,671.
• Seattle General Hospital re-opens in a new building.

20th century

1900s–1940s

• 1901 – Renton Hill Community Improvement Club is organized.
• 1903
• July 30: Semi-centennial of founding of Seattle.
• City hires Olmsted Brothers to design public parks.
• 1905
• South Seattle becomes part of the city.
• Seattle Fine Arts Society is established.
• 1906
• The Mountaineers (club) is formed.
• Public Library building opens.
• King Street Station opens.
• 1907
• City expands, annexing Atlantic City, Ballard, Columbia, Dunlap, Rainier Beach, Ravenna, South-East Seattle, South Park, and West Seattle.
• St. James Cathedral is built.
• August 17: Pike Place Market opens.
• 1908 - The Great White Fleet visits Seattle and Puget Sound area.
• 1909
• June 1: Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition opens.
• Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad begins operating.
• 1910
• Georgetown becomes part of the city.
• Municipal League of Seattle is founded.
• Population: 237,194.
• 1911 – Port of Seattle is established.
• 1913
• National Association for the Advancement of Colored People branch is established.
• 20th Avenue NE Bridge opens.
• 1914 – Smith Tower is built.
• 1916
• Seattle Audubon Society is established.
• Coliseum Theater opens.
• July 15: William Boeing incorporates Pacific Aero Products Co. This becomes the Boeing Company.
• 1918 – Bessaroth Synagogue is dedicated.
• 1919 – February: Seattle General Strike.
• 1920 – Seattle Northwest Enterprise newspaper begins publication.
• 1922 – The first Miss Seattle is crowned.
• 1923
• Seattle Goodwill Industries is established.
• Mountaineers Players (theatre troupe) is active.
• 1924
• September 28: First aerial circumnavigation of the world lands at Sand Point.
• Seattle Camera Club is founded.
• 1925
• Sears, Roebuck store opens.
• Eagles Auditorium Building is constructed.
• Seattle Planning Commission is established.
• 1926
• U.S. Naval Air Station is established at Sand Point.
• Bertha Knight Landes is elected mayor, the first woman elected to head a major US city.
• 1928 – Civic Auditorium and Paramount Theatre opens.
• 1929 – Seattle Urban League is founded.
• 1930
• Pike Place Fish Market and Japanese American Citizen's League are established.
• Exchange Building is constructed.
• 1932 – Grace Hospital is established.
• 1933 – Seattle Art Museum opens.
• 1938 – Vedanta Society of Western Washington is founded.
• 1940
• Population: 368,302.
• April 28: Seattle trolleybus system opens.
• 1941 - April 12: Last streetcar line closes.
• 1946 – Seattle Foundation is established.
• 1947
• Memorial Stadium opens.
• September 1: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (popularly known as Sea-Tac) begins operation.
• 1949 – Free port opens.

1950s–1990s

• 1950
• Seattle Chinese Golf Club is formed.
• Population: 467,591.
• 1957 – Sister city relationship is established with Kobe, Japan.
• 1959 – City joins Puget Sound Governmental Conference.
• 1960 – Population: 557,087.
• 1961
• Space Needle is built.
• American Institute of Architects Seattle chapter becomes active.
• 1962
• Alweg Monorail begins operating.
• April 21 – Seattle World's Fair opens.
• Congress of Racial Equality chapter is established.
• Blaine Memorial United Methodist Church is built.
• 1963
• Seattle Opera and Seattle Repertory Theatre is founded.
• Martin Cinerama opens.
• 1964 - August 21: The Beatles performs at the Seattle Center Coliseum; they would perform again just over two years later.
• 1965
• April 29: The 6.7 Puget Sound earthquake affects western Washington with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), causing seven deaths and $12.5–28 million in financial losses in the Puget Sound region.
• ACT Theatre is founded.
• 1967
• November: Radical Women is founded.Seattle Radical Women, one of first women's liberation groups in the United States, forms in November 1967.
• Allied Arts of Seattle is founded.
• Sister city relationship is established with Bergen, Norway.
• 1969
• Seafirst Building is constructed. This is Seattle's tallest building for the next 16 years.
• 1970 – Seattle Marathon, and negative income tax program begins.
• 1971
• Mayor's Arts Festival begins (later known as Bumbershoot).
• Starbucks opens its first store near the Pike Place Market.
• Seattle voters approve the "Let's Keep the Market" initiative, preserving the Pike Place Market
• 1972
• Pacific Northwest Dance Association is established.
• Intiman Theatre Festival begins.
• 1973 – Sister city relationship is established with Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
• 1974 – Seattle Seahawks franchise is established, beginning play in 1976.
• 1976 – Daybreak Star Cultural Center opens.
• 1977
• Seattle Mariners baseball team is formed.
• Sister city relationship is established with Beersheba, Israel.
• 1978 – Central Co-op is established.
• 1979
• P-Patch Advisory Council is established.
• Music Magazine The Rocket begins publishing.
• June 1: Seattle SuperSonics basketball team wins NBA Finals.
• Sister city relationship is established with Mazatlán, Mexico.
• 1980
• Subterranean Pop fanzine begins publication.
• Sister city relationship is established with Nantes, France.
• The last Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad train leaves Seattle before abandonment.
• 1981 – Sister city relationship is established with Christchurch, New Zealand; and Mombasa, Kenya.
• 1982 – Market Park is landscaped.
• 1983 – Sister city relationship is established with Chongqing, China.
• 1984
• 911 Media Arts Center and Weird Science Salon is founded.
• Sister city relationship is established with Limbe, Cameroon.
• 1985
• Seattle Municipal Archives are established.
• The 76-story Columbia Seafirst Center is built and becomes the city's tallest building. In response, the Citizen Alternative Plan (CAP) advocates for height limits in Downtown.
• 1986 – Sister city relationships is established with Galway, Ireland; and Reykjavík, Iceland.
• 1988
• Washington State Convention Center and Telephone Museum both open.
• Nirvana issues its first release, a 7" with Love Buzz and Big Cheese on Seattle's SubPop Records.
• 1989
• Jim McDermott becomes U.S. representative for Washington's 7th congressional district.
• Sister city relationship is established with Daejeon, South Korea.
• 1990
• September 15: Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel opens.
• October: Pearl Jam plays its first concert ever in Seattle's Off Ramp Café.
• Norm Rice becomes mayor.
• Population: 516,259.
• 1991
• Sustainable Seattle nonprofit is established.
• Washington Hemp Expo begins.
• Seattle Art Museum is rebuilt.
• Sister city relationships is established with Cebu, Philippines; and Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
• 1992 – Sister city relationship is established with Pécs, Hungary; and Surabaya, Indonesia.
• 1993
• Seattle Knights jousting acting troupe is founded.
• Fictional movie Sleepless in Seattle is released.
• Sister city relationships is established with Gdynia, Poland; and Perugia, Italy.
• 1994
• Amazon.com is established.
• Seattle Asian Art Museum opens.
• City Public Access Network goes online.
• 1996 – Sister city relationship is established with Haiphong, Vietnam.
• 1997
• Seattle Internet Exchange and Seattle Channel are established.
• Jet City Maven newspaper begins publication.
• 1998 – Paul Schell becomes mayor.
• 1999
• November 30: Anti-globalization protests during World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference.
• Town Hall Seattle opens.
• Sister city relationship is established with Sihanoukville, Cambodia.
• 2000
• Experience Music Project opens.
• Music Magazine The Rocket ceases publishing.

21st century

• 2001
• February 27: Seattle Mardi Gras Riots
• February 28: Nisqually earthquake
• September: Boeing relocates its corporate headquarters to Chicago, Illinois.
• 2002 - July 28: The first sporting event at Seahawks Stadium, a Seattle Sounders soccer match, is held
• 2004
• Seattle Central Library building opens.
• Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project is founded.
• Rat City Rollergirls (rollerderby league) is founded.
• 2006
• Seattle Metropolitan begins publication.
• Kavana Cooperative is founded.
• 2007 - December 12: South Lake Union Streetcar line opens.
• 2008
• Tilted Thunder Rail Birds (rollerderby league) is formed.
• Seattle SuperSonics move to Oklahoma City
• 2009
• July 18: Central Link light rail begins service between Westlake and Tukwila.
• December 19: Central Link is extended to SeaTac Airport.
• InvestigateWest news is headquartered in Seattle.
• Upping Technology for Underserved Neighbors and Jigsaw Renaissance is founded.
• CondoInternet is established.
• 2010
• Northwest Chocolate Festival begins.
• Michael McGinn becomes mayor.
• Population: 608,660; metro 3,439,809.
• 2011
• Seattle Shorts Film Fest begins.
• Citizen University is headquartered in city.
• 2012
• Ban against plastic shopping bags goes into effect.
• Chihuly Garden and Glass and Living Computer Museum opens.
• 2013
• Construction of the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel by the tunnel-boring machine Bertha begins.
• Population: 652,405.
• 2014
• January: Ed Murray becomes mayor.
• February: Seattle Seahawks win Super Bowl football contest.
• May: City minimum wage hike is announced.
• 2015
• May: A large kayak protest against Arctic oil drilling is held on Elliott Bay in response to a Shell oil platform arriving at the Port of Seattle.
• September: School teachers strike
• 2016
• January 23: First Hill Streetcar line opens.
• March 19: University Link Tunnel extends light rail to Capitol Hill and Husky Stadium.
• 2020
• Beginning in March: During the week, in response to the COVID pandemic across Washington, 3 counties in the Seattle metropolitan area issued directives for residents to shelter-in-place until at least the 7th of April.
• Beginning in May: George Floyd protests in Seattle begin.
• Population: 737,015; metro: 3,433,000
• 2023 - February 21: Seattle becomes the first city in the United States to ban discrimination based on caste.
• 2025 - Official reopening of Waterfront Park and Pier 58 after years of renovation following the removal of the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

See also

• History of Seattle
• Neighborhoods in Seattle
• List of mayors of Seattle
• of Seattle's sister cities: Bergen, Kobe, Mombasa, Nantes, Perugia, Reykjavík, Tashkent
• Timeline of Spokane, Washington
• Timeline of the Tri-Cities, Washington
• Timeline of Washington (state) history

References

Bibliography

Published in the 19th century

Published in the 20th century

• v.2
• Cornelius Hanford, Seattle and Enzirons, 1852–1924 (Seattle, 1924)
• Roger Sale, Seattle: Past to Present (Seattle, 1976)
• Richard C. Berner, Seattle in the 20th Century (Seattle: Charles Press, 1991)
• Bob Lane, Better Than Promised, An Informal History of the Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle (Seattle: King County Department of Metropolitan Services, 1995)

Published in the 21st century

External links

• Materials related to Seattle, various dates (via Library of Congress, Prints & Photos Division)
• Items related to Seattle, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America)
• Items related to Seattle, various dates (via Europeana)
• Various Seattle-related archived websites:
• , ca.1914–1949

Images