In 1851 five pioneer families from Illinois settled at Alki Point in Seattle WA, but soon moved to the more sheltered eastern side Elliott Bay, where downtown is today. The city was incorporated in 1869. Twenty years later, in 1889, the city was devastated in the Great Seattle Fire, in which the entire business district burned to the ground in one day.
Today Seattle is a major port city for trans-Pacific and European trade with the Port of Seattle being the fifth largest container port in the United States and the 25th largest in the world and boasting a large population of artists, supported in part by an innovative public arts funding program.
Grab a Starbucks coffee and take a look at Seattle’s rich cultural scene from museums to art galleries to the performing arts all year round!
