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.

“Much Appreciated but Not a Financial Success”: A Long-Lost Opera About The Whitmans

Staged by the famous Seattle showman John Cort, the opera about Narcissa and Marcus Whitman ran for 12 Seattle performances at the Moore Theatre in 1912.

Mark Tobey’s Time with Seattle

The goateed, wiry artist became an amateur pianist and composer, wrote prose and poetry, and enjoyed an insatiable appetite for film, science, concerts, travel, and the theater. 

The Great Northwest Reindeer Project

The Norwegian reindeer, with Sami herders, were meant to provide meat for Alaskan Natives. The cultural exchange became a rich one.

1920s: Seattle’s King of the Speakeasies

While Americans listened to a new invention called the radio, and watched another called moving pictures, Doc Hamilton and many others opened subterranean, out-of-the way, private night clubs called “speakeasies.” 

A Vibrant Pacific Northwest Labor History (and Backlash)

The Centralia Massacre in 1919 and the Seattle General Strike the same year were examples of radical Wobbly activity in America and the timberland Northwest.

Why Did Catholic Missionaries Succeed in the Northwest?

Arriving as early as 1838, these tolerant, hardy "Blackrobes" had an important visual aid.

Tales of Reuse: Steeples and Skyscrapers

Big cities need the contrast and diversity of buildings with varying scale and design.  Religious temples can offer such diversity and architectural appeal.

Ritual Rides and Transformative Philanthropy: Agnes and Alfred Anderson

With an estate of more than $12 million after her husband’s death, Agnes Healy Anderson was a focal point of philanthropy, both traditional and off-beat. 

How Icelanders Ended up in Point Roberts

Salmon canneries opened at Point Roberts in 1890s, and a paddlewheel steamer from Seattle made regular stops. The tiny area also became the end of the trail for Icelandic immigrants.

Port Angeles, City of Dreams

The dream of establishing a second National City (after D.C.) vanished along with a purloined custom house.

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