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Diablo Dam incline railway climbing Sourdough Mountain, 1930. Courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives, 2306.
Children waving to ferry, 1950. Courtesy Museum of History and Industry.
Loggers in the Northwest woods. Courtesy Washington State Digital Archives.

This Week Then

8/28/2025

Montlake Cut construction

News Then, History Now

Your Package, Please Sign

On August 28, 1907, two teenage messengers named Jim Casey and Claude Ryan established their own delivery business in Seattle, which they operated out of the basement of a Pioneer Square saloon. Funded with a $100 loan from Casey's uncle, their American Messenger Service proved to be a huge success and has since grown to become United Parcel Service – the largest package delivery company in the world.

Jewels That Shine

On September 1, 1914, the Davenport Hotel opened in Spokane, providing the city with a grand hotel worthy of royalty. This week also marks the September 3, 1931, opening of Spokane’s Fox Theater, which is now known as the Martin Woldson Theater – home of the Spokane Symphony.

End of the Line

On August 31, 1936, Spokane's last electric trolley car rolled through the city streets bedecked in funeral crepe. At the end of its last run it was lit afire. This week also marks the last Lake Washington run of the ferry Leschi, on August 31, 1950. The boat was later towed to Alaska for use as a salmon cannery and can still be seen collapsed in the muck near Valdez.

That's Quite a Win

On August 31, 1948, Alice Annibal of Seattle won a small island in the San Juans in an essay contest sponsored by the Exton Realty Company on Orcas Island. She traded it to another woman for $200 and a 12-year-old automobile. The island changed hands several times through the years before being purchased in 1975 by The Nature Conservancy.

The King Swivels In

On the afternoon of September 1, 1957, approximately 6,000 rock 'n' roll fans – most of them teenage girls – attended an Elvis Presley concert at Tacoma's Lincoln Bowl. That evening he played to more than 16,200 fans at Sicks' Stadium, and many of those in attendance were all shook up. Four years later, Elvis returned in early September to begin filming It Happened at The World's Fair. He spent 10 days in the city and even though the school year had just begun, screaming teenage girls were somehow able to follow him everywhere.

Concerts Begin

On August 30, 1968, hordes of hippies descended on Sultan near the Skykomish River for the Sky River Rock Festival, one of America's first multi-day, outdoor rock concerts. A second Sky River festival was held in Tenino a year later. And on September 3, 1971, the Satsop River Fair and Tin Cup Races began a four-day run as the first "legal" outdoor rock festival in Washington after passage of a state law regulating such events. It turned into a chaotic mess of epic proportions due to such things as awful weather, bad drugs, gross mismanagement, violence, and more.

Today in
Washington History

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Image of the Week

Evergreen Point Floating Bridge opening

 The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge opened over Lake Washington on August 28, 1963.

Quote of the Week

"Scientists dream about doing great things. Engineers do them."

–James Michener

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