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Seattle[sEat´ul] Pronunciation Key, city (1990 pop. 516,259), seat of King co., W Wash., built on seven hills, between Elliott Bay of Puget Sound and Lake Washington; inc. 1869. Seattle, the largest city in the Pacific Northwest, is the region's commercial, financial, transportation, and industrial hub and a major port of entry, important in both East Asian and Alaskan trade. A center of aircraft manufacturing and shipbuilding since World War II, the city is a major center for the Boeing Company, which employs a significant number of residents, as does the Microsoft Corp. in nearby Redmond. There are also major electronics, banking, insurance, biomedical, food-processing, and lumber industries. Chemicals, machinery, textiles, clothing, metal, paper, and forest goods are among the products manufactured in the city, which has an international airport.
Settled in 1851–52, Seattle remained a small lumber town until the coming of the Great Northern Railway in 1893. Despite strikes, anti-Chinese riots, and a fire in 1889, growth was rapid. The city became a boomtown with the 1897 Alaska gold rush and developed into the nation's chief link with Alaska. It grew further with the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (1909), the opening of the Panama Canal (1914), and the completion (1917) of a canal and locks making the city both a saltwater and a freshwater port. Aiding its industrial growth was the presence of coal in the area and the development of hydroelectric power. Long a center of radical labor movements, Seattle was the scene of a major general strike (1919) led by the Industrial Workers of the World. During the 1960s, Seattle's port expanded enormously; it now has numerous major terminals, a 600-boat commercial fishing terminal, and a huge marina for private boats. The city was in 1999 the scene of both peaceful and violent protests against the World Trade Organization, which held a conference there. In 2001 an earthquake did major damage to the city, mainly in the historic Pioneer Square area.
Situated between the majestic Cascade and Olympic mountain ranges, with Mt. Rainier to the southeast and Mt. Baker to the northeast, Seattle is accessible to many national and state parks and recreation areas. The city is a cultural center with numerous museums and art galleries, including a Gehry-designed rock museum; a variety of theater and musical organizations; and an arboretum, a zoo, and a modern public library. Its symphony orchestra plays in Benaroya Hall (1998). The city's professional sports teams include the Mariners (American League baseball), SuperSonics (National Basketball League), and Seahawks (National Football League). It is the seat of the Univ. of Washington, Seattle Univ., and Seattle Pacific Univ. Seattle was the site of the 1962 world's fair. That fair's symbol : a 600-ft (183-m) Space Needle : is a skyline landmark. Also remaining from the fair are the Pacific Science Center and a cultural and recreational park; the first U.S. publicly operated monorail connects the park with the downtown.
See R. Sale, Seattle, Past to Present (1976); M. C. Morgan, Skid Road: An Informal Portrait of Seattle (rev. ed. 1982).
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