Junius Rochester

Junius Rochester, whose family has shaped the city for many generations, is an award-winning Northwest historian and author of numerous books about Seattle and other places.

The Day a Plane Landed on the Roof of the Bon Marche

It was 1929. Seeing that it was impossible to return to Boeing Field, Robert Wark scanned the territory below.  The smoothest, nearest flat area was the roof the Bon Marche, Seattle’s premier downtown department store (later Macy’s).

When Getting to the Start of Northwest Trails was a Trek Itself

In an earlier day, the trip to the trailhead was itself an adventure.  Voyageurs, missionaries, mountain men, and intrepid explorers hacked and bushwacked their way through dense forests to “reach the other side.”

Washington State’s Edward R. Murrow

Murrow’s memories of summer lumber-jacking in the woods around Puget Sound and the Olympic Peninsula became a life-long, idealistic standard by which he judged himself and others.

Banking on Walla Walla

By 1946 when the bank was sold to SeaFirst Bank, the days of personal, patient Ankeny family banking came to an end.

1843: The Betting on Port Townsend

Port Townsend hoped that the Northern Pacific Railroad Company would choose it as their western terminus, snaking up the west side of Puget Sound to be closer to the Pacific Ocean.  When Tacoma won the railroad prize, residents of Port Townsend turned to the prospect of grain shipments from the Columbia River as the key to Key City.

Team Spirit: When UW’s Top Dawgs Enjoyed the Outing Club

At the first official meeting of the Outing Club in July, 1906, several signatories would have long and important roles in the growth of the University of Washington. They included F.M. Padelford, Judge J.T. Ronald, Henry Landes, and William Savery. Later, Pulitzer Prize winner and influential literary critic

Judge Thomas Burke: The “Roly-Poly Lawyer” was a Super-Patriot

The mundane practice of law was never enough to satisfy the bursting Irish energy of Burke, attorney to the wealthy and friend of the working poor.

Northwest Sings: The Musicians who Defined Us

Music arrived early with the Native songs, trapper songs, and the hymns brought by missionaries. Many more national stars came from the Northwest.

Richard Hugo: The View from West Marginal Way

West Marginal Way threads it way to and from Hugo’s home town of White Center.  Later poems feature the streams and mountains of Montana.

Without Rival: The Columbia Gorge

In 1805-1806, Lewis and Clark, Thomas Jefferson’s intrepid travelers, first charted the Gorge’s path and wonders.  Later, trappers, voyageurs, and missionaries followed and mapped and described new details of this unique highway.

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