Over the next few decades, Seattle\u00a0continued to grow, supported by the lumber industry and later by the coal, fishing and shipbuilding industries as well. Scroll\u00a0on to see shots of the city\u00a0in the late 1800s, when it was still in its infancy.<\/p>\n
Pioneer Square, 1896<\/b><\/h2>\n
Photo: <\/span>Seattle Municipal Archives\/Flickr <\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n By the time it was officially\u00a0incorporated in 1869, Seattle had\u00a0more than 2,000 residents.\u00a0Pioneer Square, still a hotspot today, was\u00a0one of the first places that the city’s earliest inhabitants\u00a0set up shop.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Photo: Seattle Municipal Archives\/Flickr<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n In the 1870s, Seattle was growing so quickly that it didn’t have the capacity to process its sewage.\u00a0Unfortunately, most of the city\u2019s waste wound up on the beach or in the bay, causing an 1876 diphtheria epidemic<\/a> that plagued entire families.<\/p>\n Photo: IMLS Digital Collection\/Flickr<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Logging became a major industry in Seattle after Yesler set up his lumber mill. However, logging was a dangerous profession \u2014 while it helped the city prosper, it involved automated saws and heavy and cumbersome trees, and\u00a0brought a horrifying\u00a0death and dismemberment rate.<\/p>\n Photo: Seattle Municipal Archives\/Flickr<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Logging was also crucial\u00a0out in rural Washington, where workers\u00a0extracted massive logs that were skidded away by oxen or floated down rivers to sawmills. Giant stumps were left behind and sometimes transformed\u00a0into magical stump homes<\/a>.<\/p>\n Photo: <\/span>Seattle Municipal Archives\/Flickr<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Seattle’s first horse-drawn streetcar line was built in 1884<\/a> by entrepreneur Frank Osgood, and it cost just a nickel to catch a ride.\u00a0Pulled by horses and driven by men, the city’s four streetcars ran\u00a0on three miles of track, and quickly became very popular with Seattleites.<\/p>\n Photo: <\/span>IMLS Digital Collections\/Flickr<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n In 1889, the Great Seattle Fire<\/a> ravaged the city.\u00a0It all began with a woodworker heating glue over a gasoline fire. The glue boiled over, caught fire and spread to the floor, which was\u00a0covered with\u00a0wood chips and turpentine. The woodworker\u00a0tried to put the fire out with water, but that only thinned the turpentine and made the fire spread further. <\/span><\/p>\n The blaze quickly reached\u00a0the Dietz & Mayer Liquor Store, which exploded, then came to\u00a0the\u00a0Crystal Palace Saloon and the Opera House Saloon. Fueled by alcohol, the entire block from Madison Avenue to Marion Street was aflame.<\/span><\/p>\n Photo: <\/span>Seattle Municipal Archives\/Flickr<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n The day after the fire, there was a citizen\u2019s meeting where nearly all attendees<\/span>\u00a0agreed that the streets in Seattle’s\u00a0business district should be widened. Most people also agreed that “fireproof” brick buildings should be constructed\u00a0\u2014 people<\/span>\u00a0lived in tents until those structures were built.<\/p>\n Photo: <\/span>Seattle Municipal Archives\/Flickr<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n The Madison Street Cable Railway Company barn and power house was where Seattle’s cable railway cars \u2014 not to be confused with its\u00a0horse-drawn streetcars \u2014 were parked. The wood-framed facility had a tall smokestack and long, tall windows on its sides.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Photo: <\/span>Seattle Municipal Archives\/Flickr<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Front Street (now called 1st Avenue) became a bustling business district in Seattle after repairs were made following the\u00a0Great Seattle Fire.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Photo: <\/span>IMLS Digital Collection\/Flickr<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n The Denny Hotel was conceived in 1889<\/a> by a group of developers, including Seattle founding father Arthur Denny. An economic depression known as the Panic of 1893 halted its construction, and its<\/span>\u00a0turreted shell hung over the city\u00a0for a decade. Eventually, James A. Moore bought the building, and it\u00a0flourished as the Washington Hotel after Teddy Roosevelt stayed in it for a\u00a0night. <\/span><\/p>\n![\"pioneer](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/pioneer-square-1024x750.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nSeattle waterfront, ca.\u00a01878<\/h2>\n
![\"seattle](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/seattle-waterfront-2-1024x658.jpg\")
<\/p>\nLogs being loaded\u00a0onto a ship, ca. 1880<\/h2>\n
![\"seattle](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/seattle-waterfront-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nCedar stump at Sedro-Woolley, ca.\u00a01890<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"sedro](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/sedro-woolley-1024x715.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n1st\u00a0Avenue and James Street, 1886<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"first](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/first-avenue-1024x671.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAftermath\u00a0of the Great Seattle Fire, 1889<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"seattle](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/seattle-fire.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n3rd\u00a0Avenue and Jefferson Street, 1889<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"third](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/third-avenue-1024x753.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nMadison Street Cable Railway Company barn, ca.\u00a01890s<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"cable](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/cable-railway-company-1024x690.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nLooking north at Front Street from James Street, ca.\u00a01895<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"front](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/front-street.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe Denny Hotel, 1895<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"denny](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/denny-hotel.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nDowntown from Denny Hill, ca. 1880<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"downtown](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/downtown-seattle-1024x719.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n