Just Passin' Through

This image from around 7th and Jefferson gives a sense of what it might look to drive through Seattle on I-5 in 1887 or 1888, a year or two before Washington attained statehood. The dramatic growth of the city is remarkable when you compare wider shots that contrast a town of wood and brick with the glass, steel and cement of today. Of course the stage will be set for Seattle's next growth phase by Great Seattle Fire which cut a huge swath through many of the buildings to the left in 1889.