06/08/2026
This month in Washington (ca June 1890), the 11th Decennial Census confirmed the obvious –population growth had exploded, nearly quadrupling to 349,000. But to borrow from Charles Dickens, "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times."
The people of Washington cheered on November 11, 1889, when it became the forty-second state. But that same year, catastrophic blazes leveled the business districts of Seattle, Ellensburg, and Spokane. By 1890, these cities were aggressively rebuilding with brick, stone, and iron rather than wood, reshaping their downtown architecture.
The fires did not repel newcomers. People kept coming on the new transcontinental railroads, drawn by rich soil, ample rain, and abundant business opportunities. Thomas Prosch, a former Seattle Post-Intelligencer editor, chronicled the flurry of activity.
“(Growth) was manifested in a thousand ways, but particularly with real estate speculation, in the platting of additions to the city, hundreds of new buildings, scores of graded streets, the new railways, banks, hotels, stores, factories, shops and people.”
Unfortunately, good times would not last. The Panic of 1893 led to severe economic depression, triggered by the collapse of railroads overbuilding, and risky financing.
Post written courtesy of David J Jepsen - Historian
Image from WSHS collection: Hilman Jones collection. Scene of a Seattle street showing rebuilding after the 1889 fire. Creation date 1890. Catalog ID 1934.22.6.
