Seattle's waterfront has served as a central hub for people, transportation, and commerce since time immemorial. A low natural shoreline provided the Duwamish-Suquamish people with excellent canoe access to permanent villages and seasonal fishing camps. High bluffs served as a sacred place for tribal members' final journey to the spirit world. When the first settlers arrived in the 1850s, Seattle's shoreline began to change drastically. Emerald

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This engaging pictorial history traces the evolution of South Puget Sound from the provider of rich resources for the First Nations to Olympia's role as an important international seaport. The estuary was named Puget's Sound after Lt. Peter Puget, of British captain George Vancouver's 1792 exploration of the region. The capital city of Olympia was a frequent stop for Mosquito Fleet steamers a century ago and has evolved into a major port for the worldwide...

As the hiking population in our region grows and less of the private forestland is accessible to the general public, the need for new hiking destinations increases. Fire lookout locations provide good hike routes in a range of lengths and difficulties. Most hike guidebooks include a few routes to lookout sites, but most lookout locations have not been addressed in any guidebook. Lost Fire Lookout Hikes & Histories: Olympic Peninsula & Willapa Hills...

From the shores of Gig Harbor to the slopes of Mount Rainier, the towns surrounding Puget Sound all have incredible stories to share. How did Old Fort Nisqually, now perched on a lofty bluff above Tacoma, move twenty-two miles from its original 1843 site in DuPont? Did Eatonville's copper-infused paint inspire the phrase "painting the town red"? Read about the famed Pie Goddess of Enumclaw and about a cookbook compiled by Emma Smith DeVoe of Parkland...

Clarkston, Washington, and Lewiston, Idaho, are twin cities that meet at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers in southeast Washington. Gold was discovered upstream in the Clearwater drainage in 1860. A few settlers crossed the Snake River to an area called Jawbone Flats. It was flat and covered with sagebrush. Thirty years later, investors from back East arrived with big plans. C. Van Arsdol designed the first irrigation system, and Charles...

The streetcars that plied Oregon's small-town streets were every bit as diverse as those in Portland and their history even more fascinating. Learn of the devastating 1922 fire that scorched Astoria's plank road railways and put a halt to its once-thriving streetcar network. Muse over the tale of a beloved white horse named Old Charlie that proved more efficient at powering Albany's streetcars than the alternative steam locomotive. Laugh at the spectacle...

To those with an interest in railroad history in the United States, mention of the words "narrow gauge" may bring to mind the extensive three-foot-gauge railroads of Colorado and Utah or perhaps the famous two-foot-gauge lines in Maine. However, few would think first of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. Nonetheless, between 1877 and 1893, an extensive narrow-gauge railroad developed in Oregon- one that had aspirations of crossing the Cascade Mountains...

Hillsboro, Oregon, always seemed destined to be an important railroad town. When the first trains arrived in Hillsboro in 1871 under the banner of the Oregon & California Railroad, the town began to develop into a key railroad junction point. Hillsboro was strategically located just 20 miles from the booming Portland metropolis, a regional center of manufacturing and trade, and by 1911, Hillsboro was where several rail lines branched off. One line...

Asotin, Anatone, Cloverland, Clarkston, and Silcott are all towns within Asotin County, an area rich in local history. Names like Lewis and Clark, Chief Joseph, Capt. Benjamin Bonneville, Capt. Edward Steptoe, Chief Looking Class, Chief Timothy, and Henry Spaulding all had early ties to the area. Asotin was carved out of Garfield County on October 27, 1883. There are fascinating stories of early pioneers, such as Weissenfels, Floch, Wilson, Stone,...

Given the beauty of the landscape and its ideal location just south of Seattle, it's easy to understand why Gottlieb Burian set down his 19th-century roots in the land that eventually became the city of Burien. Incorporated in 1993, this gem of a small city sits perched on the edge of Puget Sound, just 15 minutes from SeaTac Airport. With a wealth of arts and cultural groups, an ethnically diverse community of shops and restaurants, a robust medical...