Things to do / Travel Guide
Historical Attractions in Seattle
Historical attractions abound in the various neighborhoods of Seattle. For instance, just north of downtown Seattle is the Queen Anne neighborhood. The Queen Anne neighborhood was established in 1851 as one of Seattle's original neighborhoods, and many of the buildings that stand there today date back to that era. The local architecture is known for its red brick emphasis.
Located just east of the downtown area is the trendy Capitol Hill neighborhood, which is characterized by large mansions originally conceived by real estate developer James A. Moore. In 1901 Moore named the area “Capitol Hill” in the hopes that Washington State would one day move the state capitol to this area. As such, the neighborhood was designed to look like a state capitol, thereby displaying the grandeur and wealth the state presumably wanted to exhibit. Nonetheless, the state capitol remains, until today, in Olympia.
Just west of Seattle, visitors to the peninsula of Elliot Bay can take a look at where the first settlers to the area founded the city.
Another historic area in Seattle is the Ballard Avenue Historic Landmark District. In the 1870s and 1880s, this neighborhood was built in the northwestern corner of Seattle along the aptly named Ballard Avenue. Ballard started as a Scandinavian seafaring community but still retains a Scandinavian feel. At the west end of Ballard Avenue are the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks which is where many ships and tugboats, container ships, and pleasure boats travel between the Puget Sound and Lake Union and Lake Washington.
Historical Attractions in Tacoma
While in Tacoma, check out Job Carr's Cabin at 2350 N. 30th Street in downtown Tacoma. Job Carr was the very first person to ever call modern-day Tacoma “home” as well as its very first mayor. Although a low-key monument, and a replica at that (the original cabin presumably fell apart at some point), Job Carr's Cabin stands out given its location in the middle of a busy port town and is now a historical sight many locals are proud of.
Located just north of downtown Tacoma is the historic Stadium District. The Stadium District is home to many buildings of architectural significance. Stadium High School, for instance, was originally conceived as a grandiose seven-story hotel built in the style of a French chateau in 1891. It was later transformed into a high school. There is also the Stadium Bowl, located right next to the high school. The Stadium Bowl was the first stadium on the American West Coast and was visited by three different American presidents (Theodore Roosevelt, Warren Harding, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt), as well as Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey. Tacoma's Stadium District is also home to more than 100 turn-of-the-last-century mansions and stately homes that can be found in the area around the stadium, including the Rust Mansion, which dates back to 1905.
Olympia
The State Capital Campus in Olympia includes most of the state government office buildings as well as the Legislative Building and the Temple of Justice. Other points of interest at the State Capital Campus are the Capitol Conservatory and the Story Pole, a 71-foot wooden pole carved by a Native American Snohomish Chief named William Shelton.
Fort Nisqually Historic Site
Back in 1903, the Hudson's Bay Company established Fort Nisqually in DuPont, just 17 miles south of Tacoma, as a trading post. Today this spot is known as the Fort Nisqually Historic Site. Home to a granary, a trade store, a blacksmith shop, and laborers' quarters, the Fort Nisqually Historic Site has been refurbished and is now opened to the public. Visitors to the site can experience firsthand what it was like to live in the American Frontier in the 1850s, when Fort Nisqually was at its zenith as a trading post.
Winthrop
The history of Winthrop is generally reflective of the Wild West. The first white settlers arrived in 1883 discovering gold in some of the hills. A short-lived “gold boom” followed for about a year. From then until the 1970s, Winthrop's economy revolved around agriculture, until the inauguration of the North Cascades Scenic Highway. Winthrop adopted a Wild West theme partly because it served as the inspiration for novelist Owen Wister to write the Western novel “The Virginian,” which later also became a television series. The primary historical attraction in the town is the Shafer Historical Museum, which chronicles the history of the town.
Historical Attractions in Port Townsend
Many visitors enjoy wandering along the quaint streets of Port Townsend, taking in views of the many restored Victorian homes and commercial buildings. The town is divided into two areas, the waterfront commercial district and the residential uptown area, which sits on top of a bluff that looks over the waterfront. The town was designed this way so that the aristocratically-proper Victorian ladies wouldn't have to associate and mingle with the riffraff and sailors that frequented the waterfront. There is an excellent museum chronicling local history in the old city hall building on Water Street.
Leavenworth
Back in the early 1960s, Leavenworth was a fledgling little mountain town until, all of the sudden, an Alpine-themed motel opened up. This little Alpine-themed motel inspired the whole town to undergo a complete makeover, transforming itself into a Bavarian village. Ever since, nearly every commercial building in town, from the gas stations to the banks and supermarkets, looks as if it had been built by magical gnomes and shipped across the Atlantic from Bavaria (some of the people in Leavenworth prefer to speak German, believe it or not!). Some tourists who flock to this area enjoy the famous Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum, which is home to over 4,000 nutcrackers that come in every color, shape and size.
Historical Attractions around Puget Sound
The historic maritime origins of many of the towns and islands in and around the Puget Sound can be seen in the preserved buildings and small museums of the area. Explore La Conner, with its waterfront galleries and Northwest contemporary art scene, and the historic sites on Whidbey Island and in and around Bellingham. Close to Tacoma visitors should check out the historic maritime town of Gig Harbor.
San Juan National Historical Park is the place to visit to see the exact spot where Lyman Cutlar shot a pig that was digging up some potatoes. If you're wondering who cares about such things, consider that this solitary act triggered a full-blown war between two sovereign nations. The 1859 Pig War - a 12-year dispute between the United States and England, involving 3 British warships and many troops - began right here! Luckily, no humans were killed and the European negotiated settlement favored the United States. Since that time, San Juan Island has done its part in the quest for world peace.
Historical Sites in Seattle, Tacoma, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Washington and The Cascades
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