Famous for its rain and bordered by Elliott Bay and ringed by lakes to the north and east, water may be Seattle’s most distinguishing and celebrated characteristic. After all, Seattle’s biggest civic celebration is Seafair—a ten-week-long summer festival includes parades, athletics, and, most importantly, boat racing—and a 2014 BuzzFeed quiz inquiring “How Hard-Core Seattle Are You?” suggested that “You describe the location [of] your neighborhood by how far away it is from a body of water” was a quintessential Seattle custom. Washington has the largest ferry system in the country and each year, Seattle residents spend millions of dollars for homes with water views.[1]

The Duwamish and other Puget Sound Salish peoples drew their wealth and livelihood from the sea for many thousands of years. White settlers, too, relied on the water. Until the end of the nineteenth century, Seattle’s primary business was its port, exporting natural resources such as timber, and importing manufactured goods. Fishing and fisheries were important components of Seattle’s economy for decades. Fishing rights, in fact, were and continue to be a major point of friction between the City of Seattle and local Native people since the nineteenth century.[2]

Credits and Sources:

Description by Madison Heslop on behalf of the American Society for Environmental History.

Klingle, Matthew. Emerald City: An Environmental History of Seattle. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007.

Peterson, Anne Helen. “How Hard-Core Seattle Are You?” BuzzFeed. June 25, 2014. https://www.buzzfeed.com/annehelenpetersen/formal-fleecewear?utm_term=.eb3pG6ol1d#.lwqkEORX41.

Seafair. “Overview.” seafair. n.d. http://www.seafair.com/p/about-us/290.