On October 14, 2004, HistoryLink launched a new and improved database merging all of our files and features on Seattle-King County and Washington state into a single search engine. We hope this makes HistoryLink faster and more efficient, but you’re the driver -- so don’t hesitate to contact us to report glitches or suggest refinements.

A little history is in order. When HistoryLink was launched in May 1998, it initially focused on metropolitan King County in anticipation of the 2001 sesquicentennial of the Denny Party’s arrival. At the urging of teachers and students across Washington, we began expanding our scope in March 2003 to include the whole state. The larger King County resource and new state files were placed in separate databases so the former would not overwhelm the latter. While state files have a ways to go to catch up, we feel the benefit of easier access via a single database outweighs any imbalance in content -- and, hey, we all do live in the SAME state!

We have also taken this opportunity to review, edit, and update older essays, and to tighten the site’s overall design and layout. While some weaker and duplicate files have been weeded out, HistoryLink still offers more than 3,650 original essays containing some 3 million words and 8,500 images, and hundreds of new essays are in the works.

Getting to today has been a major undertaking, not unlike replacing a car’s engine while racing down the freeway. We want to thank the Paul Allen Family Foundations, Peach Foundation, Seattle Foundation, 4Culture King County Cultural Development, and many individual donors for underwriting HistoryLink’s overhaul.