Walking Washington's History: Ten Cities

by Judy Bentley

Overview

Walking Washington’s History: Ten Cities, a follow-up to Judy Bentley’s bestselling Hiking Washington’s History, showcases the state’s engaging urban history through guided walks in ten major cities. Using narrated walks, maps, and historic photographs, Bentley reveals each city’s aspirations.

She begins in Vancouver, established as a fur trade emporium on a plain above the Columbia River, and ends with Bellevue, a bedroom community turned edge city. In between, readers crisscross the state, with walks through urban Olympia, Walla Walla, Tacoma, Seattle, Everett, Bellingham, Yakima, and Spokane.

Whether readers pass through these cities as tourists or set out to explore their home terrain, they will discover both the visible and invisible markers of Washington history underfoot.  

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780295996684
Publisher:	University of Washington Press
Publication date:	04/01/2016
Series:	Ruth E. Kirk Books Series
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	1,137,032
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Judy Bentley writes hiking guides, history, and biography and is emeritus faculty at South Seattle College. She is the author of Hiking Washington’s History and (with Lorraine McConaghy) Free Boy: A True Story of Slave and Master.

Table of Contents

Introduction vii

How to Use This Book xiii

Chapter 1 Vancouver: The First City 3

Chapter 2 Olympia: The Birthplace of Washington 23

Chapter 3 Walla Walla: Frontier Town 47

Chapter 4 Tacoma: Boomtown on Commencement Bay 71

Chapter 5 Seattle: Gateway to Gold 97

Chapter 6 Everett: Milltown 129

Chapter 7 Bellingham: Reluctant City 157

Chapter 8 Yakima: Hub of the Valley 187

Chapter 9 Spokane: City by the Falls 211

Chapter 10 Bellevue: Edge City 239

Sources 257

Acknowledgments 261

Index 263

What People are Saying About This

Charles LeWarne

Walking Washington’s History has a fund of readable information, adding valuable interest to those visiting familiar and unfamiliar cities. Bentley brings Washington’s urban history closer to the public.

Ruth Kirk

By guiding our footsteps, Judy Bentley leads us off the couch and away from the TV set to where the events that shaped our state actually took place. Her first book led us on ten hikes; this one takes us to ten cities representing Washington’s ongoing story. Each walk highlights historic sites and events, provides maps and parking suggestions, and locates amenities such as museums and libraries.

Editorial Reviews

Bentley provides brief by engaging historical overviews. . . . There are stories in the ground beneath our feet, dashed dreams lingering in the air, as well as legacies of benevolent forethought from a not-so-distant past all around us.

Chattermarks blog (North Cascades Institute) - Christian Martin

Coming soon to a city near you: clusters of visitors gazing intently at a handheld object as a way to engage with their surroundings. . . . The commendable new book by Judy Bentley. . . . This is an immensely appealing approach to writing history. . . . Bentley demonstrates that history is not abstruse and remote from our current experience; it is ever present—and just around the next corner.

Seattle Times - David Takami

Bentley endeavors to make her book as useful as possible while toting it along on a history-minded walk.

Bellingham Herald - Dean Kahn