Washington

Liberate Washington state’s neglected history. Join the protracted struggle to free a Puget Sound orca from captivity. Meander the shifting streets of a vanishing Seattle and reawaken the echo of artillery drills at Fort Lawton. Step off the recreational trails of the Lake Chelan Valley onto the roughhewn paths of its pioneers. Celebrate the rejuvenating success of the Spokane Expo and the Cinderella story of Moses Lake agriculture with our Washington history books on the Evergreen State. [View all Washington books]

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Medina

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The MEDEX Northwest Physician Assistant Program

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Seattle Fire Department

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Washington National Guard

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Seattle's Mayflower Park Hotel

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Schafer State Park

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Tacoma's Lincoln District

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Grandview

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Snoqualmie Pass

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Orcas Island

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Anacortes

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Lopez Island

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Seattle's Floating Homes

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Anderson Island

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South Tacoma

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Tacoma's Parks

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Medina

9780738574394

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Medina has long been recognized as the home to wealthy and influential members of Seattle's elite. Industry captains such as Clapp, Blethan, Gates, and Bezos have built estates along Medina's waterfront. Meanwhile, a diverse group of families with a variety of backgrounds have settled the uplands, creating a close-knit community. Farmers, including many of Japanese heritage, first settled the area in the late 1800s. Upon the arrival of the car ferry service to Seattle in 1913, Medina gradually evolved into a commuter suburb for the working class and wealthy alike. In 1940, the first Lake Washington floating bridge ushered in a new era, and with incorporation in 1955 and the opening of the Evergreen Point Bridge in 1963, Medina completed its transformation to a largely residential area. Despite its marvelous growth, Medina has successfully maintained its charm. A new generation of families arrived in the 1990s, filling classrooms and parks, and renewing Medina's original identity: close to the big city, but a world apart.

The MEDEX Northwest Physician Assistant Program

9781467134804

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The MEDEX Northwest Physician Assistant Program was created at the University of Washington in 1968 as one of the nation's first physician assistant (PA) programs. A joint project of the Washington State Medical Association and the University of Washington School of Medicine, MEDEX was designed to meet the needs of overworked physicians in rural communities. As envisioned by MEDEX founder Dr. Richard A. Smith, Physician Assistants were created by physicians, for physicians. Initially, all MEDEX students were former military corpsmen returning from Vietnam. Based on their extensive clinical experience, they were well accepted by doctors and their patients. Dr. Richard Smith was a former Peace Corps physician and leader of the federal project to desegregate the US hospital system as a requirement for Medicare reimbursement. Dr. Smith's founding principles for MEDEX included a collaborative model for community and practitioner involvement—the framework for the MEDEX Program throughout its 45-year history.

Seattle Fire Department

9780738548678

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On June 6, 1889, 25 city blocks of the city of Seattle and every mill, wharf, and warehouse from Union to Jackson Streets were consumed in a firestorm that started when a glue pot tipped over. Both of the Seattle firehouses burned in the devastating inferno, and the result was the end of the volunteer fire department and the formation of the Seattle Fire Department. Seattle got its first fireboat in 1891, at a little fire station at the foot of Madison Street and Alaskan Way, and the department depended on horse-drawn equipment until 1924, when the last horse was retired. Boasting the oldest continuously operating medic unit in America, today's Seattle Fire Department is a proud organization with 34 fire stations and more than 1,000 uniformed personnel.

Washington National Guard

9781467129855

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The Washington National Guard boasts a rich and illustrious history. From Neah Bay to Asotin and from Spokane to Grays Harbor, citizen soldiers and airmen have served and sacrificed in both local communities and exotic places: Spokane and Luzon, Whidbey Island and Calexico, American Lake and Bordeaux, Mount St. Helens and Afghanistan. Their story is now brought vividly to life in these photographs and stories. It is offered not only for history buffs but also for the thousands of current and past National Guard members, families, friends, and neighbors touched by their service to state and nation.

Seattle's Mayflower Park Hotel

9781467131346

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The Mayflower Park Hotel started life as the Bergonian Hotel on July 16, 1927. One of Seattle's first uptown hotels, it was designed by architect B. Dudley Stuart and built by Stephen Berg at a cost of $750,000. In the midst of the Great Depression, the hotel was sold and renamed Hotel Mayflower. In 1948, Washington State legalized cocktail lounges, and the Hotel Mayflower became Seattle's first hotel to open one. In the ensuing decades, Seattle prospered, and it hosted the 1962 World's Fair with its symbolic Space Needle. By the 1970s, Seattle was in a deep recession, and the hotel had become sadly neglected. In 1974, Birney and Marie Dempcy formed a limited partnership to purchase the hotel and renamed it the Mayflower Park Hotel. Restoration started immediately, and after 40 years, the Dempcys remain dedicated to the tradition of making the Mayflower Park Hotel "Quite Simply, One of a Kind."

Schafer State Park

9780738596426

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Schafer State Park, a US National Historic Site, not only represents a unique example of 1930s craftsmanship from the Works Progress Administration and other emergency programs but is also a window into the settlement of the Satsop River Valley. In the last quarter of the 19th century, this included the vast logging and lumber operations undertaken at the park and in the surrounding forest, as well as the bounty available from the river stretching far back into the history of Native Americans in the Northwest. It also memorializes an early example of philanthropy by private citizens and corporations in Washington State, an effort that has continued over the years and has been crucial to the expansion of the state park system. The authors are pleased to provide this book as the Washington State Parks System celebrates its 100th anniversary.

Tacoma's Lincoln District

9781467128674

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In 1889, a 40-acre parcel south of downtown Tacoma was set aside as South Park. In 1901, park commissioners officially changed the name to Lincoln Park to honor the former president. Lincoln remained the area's namesake, and portions of the park were carved out to create Lincoln High School in 1913 and Lincoln Bowl in the 1940s. The 20th century witnessed much change as the area became more diverse; businesses came and went; and, instead of the streetcar tracks that once crisscrossed the district, Interstate 5 now draws an obvious boundary to the north. The heart of the Lincoln District, however, remains the same—a neighborhood of modest single-family homes and thriving businesses, with the high school at its center. This book shares stories of the district's creation, development, and, most importantly, people—residents; business owners; Lincoln High School students and teachers; and significant visitors, ranging from politicians and athletes to entertainers as varied as Paul Robeson and Elvis Presley.

Grandview

9781467131926

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Located midway between Yakima to the northwest and the Tri-Cities of Pasco, Kennewick, and Richland to the east, Grandview is central to the Northwest's large urban centers of Seattle, Portland, and Spokane. The townsite was chosen in 1905 as the final stop on the Sunnyside branch of the local rail line. Early farmers were met with blowing sand and jackrabbits, but with the addition of irrigation, lush fruit orchards and champion corn soon replaced native sagebrush. In 1910, one year after incorporation, 320 people called Grandview home. In the 1920s, dairies, poultry farms, and a winery marked a further transformation to the landscape. By 1940, the acreage given over to grape vineyards had greatly increased, asparagus was becoming a major crop, and more than 400 acres of hops were harvested. To this day, Grandview remains a small town where farming and related industries are major employers.

Snoqualmie Pass

9780738548098

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Situated in the Cascades about 50 miles east of Seattle, Snoqualmie Pass is intersected by the most heavily used route connecting eastern and western Washington. In the 1800s, use of the old Native American trail by explorers, cattlemen, and miners created a need for a wagon road. A railway and highway followed, and Snoqualmie Pass quickly developed into an all-season recreational paradise with over a half million visitors annually. Known for easy access to snow sports and the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area, nighttime ski operations, and the world-famous terrain of Alpental, Snoqualmie Pass is also a community of neighborhoods with both full-time and part-time residents who share a unique mountain lifestyle.

Orcas Island

9780738530987

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Orcas Island, the largest of the 172 islands in San Juan County, lies in the Salish Sea north of Puget Sound. Known as the Gem of the San Juans for her shimmering emerald hills bounded by 125 miles of rocky, tree-lined shore, Orcas was home to countless generations of Native Americans before the arrival of its first white settlers, formerly Hudson's Bay men who had hunted on the island, in the late 1850s. An international boundary dispute, popularly known as the Pig War, prevented early pioneers from settling land claims until the dispute was resolved by the German kaiser in 1872. Settlement grew slowly until improved steamship routes and increased commerce brought more tourists to the island. In 1906, Robert Moran built a fabulous estate, Rosario, now a world-class resort. Thousands of visitors have been coming to Orcas Island over the years to explore her forested hills, camp in Moran State Park or stay at one of the many historic resorts, and fish in the pristine waters surrounding this island paradise.

Anacortes

9780738571294

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Located on the north shore of Fidalgo Island in Washington State's Puget Sound, Anacortes was founded by railroad surveyor Amos Bowman and named in honor of his wife, Anna Curtis; they promoted Anacortes as the "New York of the West." Thousands of years prior to the 1890s boom and bust, Fidalgo Island was--and still is--home to the Samish and the Swinomish tribes. White settlers arriving in the 1850s established farms and eventually wood mills, salmon canneries, and a vital downtown waterfront, transforming Anacortes into the "salmon-canning capital of the world" by the early 20th century. Japanese and Chinese cannery workers and Croatian and Scandinavian fishermen were among the many immigrants who brought their unique ways to the island. As a port town, Anacortes retained an open and adventuresome spirit, attracting new arrivals and visitors with the stunning natural beauty of the Northwest frontier. Commercial fishermen still ply local waters alongside a thriving maritime industry, whale-watching ecotourism, and a tradition of creative festivity.

Lopez Island

9780738580302

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The story of Lopez Island is a story of community. Skilled, brave, generous people like Sampson Chadwick, Mother Brown, Captain Barlow, and Amelia Davis carved a spirited, nurturing community out of seaside wilderness. Homesteaders cleared forests, built farms, grew food, and raised large families, surviving then thriving together. The hamlets of Port Stanley, Richardson, and Lopez emerged, creating hubs with stores, post offices, and schools as well as thriving fishing, canning, and shipping industries. The community fostered education, music, writing, dances, chivarees, baseball, quilting, a birthday club, and grand Fourth of July celebrations. Living self-reliant lives while helping friends, neighbors, and newcomers, Lopezians created a unique community character that abides today.

Seattle's Floating Homes

9780738595429

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Seattle's floating homes community began as a population of unregulated and inexpensive industrial houses in the late 1800s, yet it has evolved to become some of the most sought-after real estate in Seattle today. Little has been shared about this intimate and unique community that is characterized by eclectic architecture, diverse individuals, and a strong sense of community. It is hard to imagine Seattle without its floating homes, but there was a period of time when the community was considered undesirable and was almost driven from the city shores. This book explores the community history of floating homes in Seattle, tales from life on the dock, and the ongoing challenges of being a fringe neighborhood in the urban context of the city.

Anderson Island

9780738548548

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Named for Alexander Caulfield Anderson, the chief trader for the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Nisqually, Anderson Island has an early history of brick making, logging, farming, and fishing. Johnson's Landing, on the north end of the island, was the site where mosquito fleet steamships could refuel and purchase lumber for delivery as far south as San Francisco. The first permanent settlers on the island arrived from Denmark in the early 1870s, with others of Scandinavian descent coming shortly thereafter. The southernmost island in Washington State's Puget Sound, accessible only by boat or ferry from Steilacoom, Anderson Island boasts two freshwater lakes, two marinas, and a golf course. Bucolic Anderson Island received national press coverage in 2005 when the flower fairy anonymously left floral bouquets on doorsteps, a practice that continues to this day.

South Tacoma

9780738548074

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Nestled snuggly against Lakewood on the southern side of Tacoma, South Tacoma is a vibrant neighborhood comprised of old and new. What was once a prairie where elk and deer roamed was first called Excelsior, later renamed Edison, and finally became known as South Tacoma in 1895. Beginning in the mid-1800s, the area was comprised of cemeteries used to bury Tacoma's deceased, but in 1890, Northern Pacific Railway made the monumental decision to move its railroad shops from downtown Tacoma to this prime prairie land south of the city. The community has evolved since these beginnings into a contemporary, vital addition to the city of Tacoma. Boasting third-, fourth-, and fifth-generation families and many family-owned businesses, South Tacoma is a "small city within a big city," and its citizens are committed to maintaining its unique character for posterity.

Tacoma's Parks

9780738548968

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When civic benefactor Clinton P. Ferry donated a graceful, elliptically shaped plot of land in 1883 for the first park in Tacoma, he hoped his adopted hometown would do him proud and become a veritable city of parks. The young community did not disappoint. Landmarks such as Wright Park, Lincoln Park, and Point Defiance Park graced the landscape by 1900, a testament to Tacoma's appreciation for beauty, conservation, and recreation, which continues to this day. In 1907, residents voted to establish the Metropolitan Park District of Tacoma, Washington's first independent parks municipality, to act as steward of these civic treasures. A century later, Metro Parks Tacoma embraces some 57 parks covering 2,700 acres, as well as swimming pools, sports complexes, community centers, and recreational programs for all ages.