Near the center of the city, on the site of the 1962 World’s Fair, stands the Space Needle. From the top of this tower, visitors can admire the magnificent setting of Seattle, the largest city in Washington state and the U.S. Northwest.
To the west, across the island-dotted waters of Puget Sound, rise the Olympic Mountains. They protect the city from extreme heat and cold. Far to the southeast looms snow-covered Mt. Rainier, rising more than 14,000 feet from sea level. To the east is the stately Cascade Range. Scattered everywhere are the forests that give the city its start as a lumbering center in the 1890s.
Named after Seattle, a friendly Indian chief, the city grew slowly until the 1940s. Then the Boeing Company made it a center of airplane manufacturing. In the 1980s, many new electronics companies attracted thousands of workers.
Once a small isolated town, Seattle is becoming a major international city. Because it is a Pacific port, Seattle is a center for trade with Asia. Its residents include a large percentage of Asian-Americans.
Many of Seattle’s oldest families are descendants of “Mercer girls.” They were marriageable women brought from the east by Asa Mercer to wed lonely pioneer men.