Timeline of Seattle

• Native Americans explore and settle throughout the Puget Sound region which includes the Seattle area.

• 1851
  • September 14: The Collins Party led by Luther Collins finds a settlement in present-day Georgetown. Scouts from the Denny Party arrive at Alki shortly after.
  • November 13: The remainder of the Denny Party arrives at Alki Point to spend a rainy winter.
• 1852, The Denny Party moves to present day Downtown Seattle in April.
• 1853, Seattle becomes seat of King County, Washington Territory.
• 1854, School opens.
• 1855, Population: 300.
• 1856, Native American armed resistance to U.S. Imperialism, Settler colonialism, mining, and broken treaties attack Seattle in a single-day battle as part of the broader 1855 - 1858 Yakima War.
• 1858, The arrival of Manuel Lopes, the city's first Black resident.
• 1861, Washington Territorial University is established. This becomes the University of Washington.
• 1863, Washington Gazette newspaper begins publication.
• 1864, May 16: The Mercer Girls arrive.
• 1867, Weekly Intelligencer newspaper begins publication, later becoming the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
• 1868, The Seattle Library Association is founded.
• 1869, Henry A. Atkins becomes mayor.
• 1870
  • Central School opens.
  • Church of Our Lady of Good Help is founded.
  • Population: 1,107.
• 1873, Seattle & Walla Walla Railroad is organized.
• 1874, Gas street lamps are installed.
• 1875
  • San Francisco-Seattle steamship service begins.
  • Ms. Maynard's Reading Room opens.
• 1878, Seattle Daily Post begins publication.
• 1879, Squire opera house is built.
• 1880
  • City is chartered.
  • Frye opera house is built.
  • Population: 3,533.
• 1883, Telephone and Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad begins operating.
• 1885, Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway is organized.
• 1886, February: Most Chinese are expelled by White mobs.
• 1888
  • Rainier Club is established.
  • Seattle Athletic Club is organized.
• 1889
  • Seattle Federation of Women's Clubs is organized.
  • June 6: Great Seattle Fire.
  • Seattle Fire Department is established.
  • Electric streetcar begins operating.
  • City becomes part of the new U.S. State of Washington.
• 1890
  • Telegraph newspaper begins publication.
  • Country Club is established.
  • Population: 42,837.
• 1891
  • Seattle Public Library opens.
  • The Seattle Times is founded as the Seattle Press-Times.
  • The Seattle Standard is founded as Seattle's first Black newspaper.
• 1892, Pioneer Building is constructed.
• 1893
  • Great Northern Railway begins operating.
  • Seattle Theatre opens.
  • Curtis & Guptil photographers are in business.
• 1894
  • The Argus newspaper begins publication.
  • The Seattle Republican begins publication, becoming Seattle's first successful Black-owned newspaper.
• 1895, Seattle General Hospital is established.
  • September 4: The University of Washington moves to its current location in Montlake.
• 1898, U.S. assay office opens.
• 1899
  • The Seattle Star newspaper begins publication.
  • Tlingit totem pole is installed in Pioneer Place.
• 1900
  • Population: 80,671.
  • Seattle General Hospital re-opens in a new building.

1900s-1940s

• 1901, Renton Hill Community Improvement Club is organized.
• 1903
  • July 30: Semi-centennial of founding of Seattle.
  • City hires Olmsted Brothers to design public parks.
• 1905
  • South Seattle becomes part of the city.
  • Seattle Fine Arts Society is established.
• 1906
  • The Mountaineers (club) is formed.
  • Public Library building opens.
  • King Street Station opens.
• 1907
  • City expands, annexing Atlantic City, Ballard, Columbia, Dunlap, Rainier Beach, Ravenna, South-East Seattle, South Park, and West Seattle.
  • St. James Cathedral is built.
  • August 17: Pike Place Market opens.
• 1908 - The Great White Fleet visits Seattle and Puget Sound area.
• 1909
  • June 1: Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition opens.
  • Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad begins operating.
• 1910
  • Georgetown becomes part of the city.
  • Municipal League of Seattle is founded.
  • Population: 237,194.
• 1911, Port of Seattle is established.
• 1913
  • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People branch is established.
  • 20th Avenue NE Bridge opens.
• 1914, Smith Tower is built.
• 1916
  • Seattle Audubon Society is established.
  • Coliseum Theater opens.
  • July 15: William Boeing incorporates Pacific Aero Products Co. This becomes the Boeing Company.
• 1918, Bessaroth Synagogue is dedicated.
• 1919, February: Seattle General Strike.
• 1920, Seattle Northwest Enterprise newspaper begins publication.
• 1922, The first Miss Seattle is crowned.
• 1923
  • Seattle Goodwill Industries is established.
  • Mountaineers Players (theatre troupe) is active.
• 1924
  • September 28: First aerial circumnavigation of the world lands at Sand Point.
  • Seattle Camera Club is founded.
• 1925
  • Sears, Roebuck store opens.
  • Eagles Auditorium Building is constructed.
  • Seattle Planning Commission is established.
• 1926
  • U.S. Naval Air Station is established at Sand Point.
  • Bertha Knight Landes is elected mayor, the first woman elected to head a major US city.
• 1928, Civic Auditorium and Paramount Theatre opens.
• 1929, Seattle Urban League is founded.
• 1930
  • Pike Place Fish Market and Japanese American Citizen's League are established.
  • Exchange Building is constructed.
• 1932, Grace Hospital is established.
• 1933, Seattle Art Museum opens.
• 1938, Vedanta Society of Western Washington is founded.
• 1940
  • Population: 368,302.
  • April 28: Seattle trolleybus system opens.
• 1941 - April 12: Last streetcar line closes.
• 1946, Seattle Foundation is established.
• 1947
  • Memorial Stadium opens.
  • September 1: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (popularly known as Sea-Tac) begins operation.
• 1949, Free port opens.

1950s-1990s

• 1950
  • Seattle Chinese Golf Club is formed.
  • Population: 467,591.
• 1957, Sister city relationship is established with Kobe, Japan.
• 1959, City joins Puget Sound Governmental Conference.
• 1960, Population: 557,087.
• 1961
  • Space Needle is built.
  • American Institute of Architects Seattle chapter becomes active.
• 1962
  • Alweg Monorail begins operating.
  • April 21, Seattle World's Fair opens.
  • Congress of Racial Equality chapter is established.
  • Blaine Memorial United Methodist Church is built.
• 1963
  • Seattle Opera and Seattle Repertory Theatre is founded.
  • Martin Cinerama opens.
• 1964 - August 21: The Beatles performs at the Seattle Center Coliseum; they would perform again just over two years later.
• 1965
  • April 29: The 6.7 M_w Puget Sound earthquake affects western Washington with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), causing seven deaths and $12.5-28 million in financial losses in the Puget Sound region.
  • ACT Theatre is founded.
• 1967
  • November: Radical Women is founded.Seattle Radical Women, one of first women's liberation groups in the United States, forms in November 1967.
  • Allied Arts of Seattle is founded.
  • Sister city relationship is established with Bergen, Norway.
• 1969
  • Seafirst Building is constructed. This is Seattle's tallest building for the next 16 years.
• 1970, Seattle Marathon, and negative income tax program begins.
• 1971
  • Mayor's Arts Festival begins (later known as Bumbershoot).
  • Starbucks opens its first store near the Pike Place Market.
  • Seattle voters approve the "Let's Keep the Market" initiative, preserving the Pike Place Market
• 1972
  • Pacific Northwest Dance Association is established.
  • Intiman Theatre Festival begins.
• 1973, Sister city relationship is established with Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
• 1974, Seattle Seahawks franchise is established, beginning play in 1976.
• 1976, Daybreak Star Cultural Center opens.
• 1977
  • Seattle Mariners baseball team is formed.
  • Sister city relationship is established with Beersheba, Israel.
• 1978, Central Co-op is established.
• 1979
  • P-Patch Advisory Council is established.
  • Music Magazine The Rocket begins publishing.
  • June 1: Seattle SuperSonics basketball team wins NBA Finals.
  • Sister city relationship is established with Mazatlán, Mexico.
• 1980
  • Subterranean Pop fanzine begins publication.
  • Sister city relationship is established with Nantes, France.
  • The last Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad train leaves Seattle before abandonment.
• 1981, Sister city relationship is established with Christchurch, New Zealand; and Mombasa, Kenya.
• 1982, Market Park is landscaped.
• 1983, Sister city relationship is established with Chongqing, China.
• 1984
  • 911 Media Arts Center and Weird Science Salon is founded.
  • Sister city relationship is established with Limbe, Cameroon.
• 1985
  • Seattle Municipal Archives are established.
  • The 76-story Columbia Seafirst Center is built and becomes the city's tallest building. In response, the Citizen Alternative Plan (CAP) advocates for height limits in Downtown.
• 1986, Sister city relationships is established with Galway, Ireland; and Reykjavík, Iceland.
• 1988
  • Washington State Convention Center and Telephone Museum both open.
  • Nirvana issues its first release, a 7" with Love Buzz and Big Cheese on Seattle's SubPop Records.
• 1989
  • Jim McDermott becomes U.S. representative for Washington's 7th congressional district.
  • Sister city relationship is established with Daejeon, South Korea.
• 1990
  • September 15: Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel opens.
  • October: Pearl Jam plays its first concert ever in Seattle's Off Ramp Café.
  • Norm Rice becomes mayor.
  • Population: 516,259.
• 1991
  • Sustainable Seattle nonprofit is established.
  • Washington Hemp Expo begins.
  • Seattle Art Museum is rebuilt.
  • Sister city relationships is established with Cebu, Philippines; and Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
• 1992, Sister city relationship is established with Pécs, Hungary; and Surabaya, Indonesia.
• 1993
  • Seattle Knights jousting acting troupe is founded.
  • Fictional movie Sleepless in Seattle is released.
  • Sister city relationships is established with Gdynia, Poland; and Perugia, Italy.
• 1994
  • Amazon.com is established.
  • Seattle Asian Art Museum opens.
  • City Public Access Network goes online.
• 1996, Sister city relationship is established with Haiphong, Vietnam.
• 1997
  • Seattle Internet Exchange and Seattle Channel are established.
  • Jet City Maven newspaper begins publication.
• 1998, Paul Schell becomes mayor.
• 1999
  • November 30: Anti-globalization protests during World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference.
  • Town Hall Seattle opens.
  • Sister city relationship is established with Sihanoukville, Cambodia.
• 2000
  • Experience Music Project opens.
  • Music Magazine The Rocket ceases publishing.

• 2001
  • February 27: Seattle Mardi Gras Riots
  • February 28: Nisqually earthquake
  • September: Boeing relocates its corporate headquarters to Chicago, Illinois.
• 2002 - July 28: The first sporting event at Seahawks Stadium, a Seattle Sounders soccer match, is held
• 2004
  • Seattle Central Library building opens.
  • Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project is founded.
  • Rat City Rollergirls (rollerderby league) is founded.
• 2006
  • Seattle Metropolitan begins publication.
  • Kavana Cooperative is founded.
• 2007 - December 12: South Lake Union Streetcar line opens.
• 2008
  • Tilted Thunder Rail Birds (rollerderby league) is formed.
  • Seattle SuperSonics move to Oklahoma City
• 2009
  • July 18: Central Link light rail begins service between Westlake and Tukwila.
  • December 19: Central Link is extended to SeaTac Airport.
  • InvestigateWest news is headquartered in Seattle.
  • Upping Technology for Underserved Neighbors and Jigsaw Renaissance is founded.
  • CondoInternet is established.
• 2010
  • Northwest Chocolate Festival begins.
  • Michael McGinn becomes mayor.
  • Population: 608,660; metro 3,439,809.
• 2011
  • Seattle Shorts Film Fest begins.
  • Citizen University is headquartered in city.
• 2012
  • Ban against plastic shopping bags goes into effect.
  • Chihuly Garden and Glass and Living Computer Museum opens.
• 2013
  • Construction of the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel by the tunnel-boring machine Bertha begins.
  • Population: 652,405.
• 2014
  • January: Ed Murray becomes mayor.
  • February: Seattle Seahawks win Super Bowl football contest.
  • May: City minimum wage hike is announced.
• 2015
  • May: A large kayak protest against Arctic oil drilling is held on Elliott Bay in response to a Shell oil platform arriving at the Port of Seattle.
  • September: School teachers strike
• 2016
  • January 23: First Hill Streetcar line opens.
  • March 19: University Link Tunnel extends light rail to Capitol Hill and Husky Stadium.
• 2020
  • Beginning in March: During the week, in response to the COVID pandemic across Washington, 3 counties in the Seattle metropolitan area issued directives for residents to shelter-in-place until at least the 7th of April.
  • Beginning in May: George Floyd protests in Seattle begin.
  • Population: 737,015; metro: 3,433,000
• 2023 - February 21: Seattle becomes the first city in the United States to ban discrimination based on caste.
• 2025 - Official reopening of Waterfront Park and Pier 58 after years of renovation following the removal of the Alaskan Way Viaduct.