Junius Rochester

Junius Rochester, whose family has shaped the city for many generations, is an award-winning Northwest historian and author of numerous books about Seattle and other places.

The Great Western Migration Story: Ezra Meeker and the Oregon Trail

Meeker, who himself traversed the Oregon Trail, was instrumental in the celebrations and monuments along the Trail. Today, his Puyallup home is a pioneer museum.

Where the Bodies Are Buried: Seattle’s Historic Cemeteries

The city's pioneer cemetery, after several moves, turned out to be Lake View, just north of Volunteer Park.

He Did it All: Civic Pioneer T.T. Minor, Entrepreneur and Early Seattle Mayor

Minor’s spirit of adventure was intense. 

The Original Douglas Fir

David Douglas introduced over 200 Pacific Northwest plants to Great Britain, including the Sitka spruce.  At Scone Castle, near his birthplace, a large Douglas fir stands in his honor.

How Seattle’s Central District became the Heart of the City

The central Seattle neighborhood, sometimes called the Central District or CD, is the heart of residential and rental Seattle.

Injustices: Seattle’s Brutal Past with Chinese Immigrants

The U.S. Congress appropriated $276,619.15 as full indemnity for losses incurred by the Chinese residents.  As a final indignity the settlement was paid to the Chinese government, not to the injured parties.

Religious Missionaries in the Northwest: Feuds, Failures, and Fevers

Catholics may have enjoyed more early success than Protestants in the Oregon-Washington country. 

Visionaries: Designers of Seattle’s Parks and Boulevards

Designers who "made no small plans" got Seattle's parks off to a running start, even if some plans were nixed and others partly completed.

Old News: Robert Hitchman, Armchair Historian

Hitchman's cherished overview was a 360-degree sighting of whatever emerged from the presses holding content about the Pacific Northwest.  And like a perched crow, he intended to see and describe whatever caught his sharp eye.

Seattle’s First Real Estate Mogul

The Grand Opera House on Cherry Street offered performances almost nightly. Henry and Mrs. B rarely missed a show, and he grew into an arts patron and a lifetime sponsor of musical groups and artists.

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