1.
Seattle
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Seattle is a seaport city on the west coast of the United States and the seat of King County, Washington. With an estimated 684,451 residents as of 2015, Seattle is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of North America. In July 2013, it was the major city in the United States. The city is situated on an isthmus between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, about 100 miles south of the Canada–United States border, a major gateway for trade with Asia, Seattle is the fourth-largest port in North America in terms of container handling as of 2015. The Seattle area was inhabited by Native Americans for at least 4,000 years before the first permanent European settlers. Arthur A. Denny and his group of travelers, subsequently known as the Denny Party, arrived from Illinois via Portland, the settlement was moved to the eastern shore of Elliott Bay and named Seattle in 1852, after Chief Siahl of the local Duwamish and Suquamish tribes. Logging was Seattles first major industry, but by the late-19th century, growth after World War II was partially due to the local Boeing company, which established Seattle as a center for aircraft manufacturing. The Seattle area developed as a technology center beginning in the 1980s, in 1994, Internet retailer Amazon was founded in Seattle. The stream of new software, biotechnology, and Internet companies led to an economic revival, Seattle has a noteworthy musical history. From 1918 to 1951, nearly two dozen jazz nightclubs existed along Jackson Street, from the current Chinatown/International District, to the Central District, the jazz scene developed the early careers of Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Ernestine Anderson, and others. Seattle is also the birthplace of rock musician Jimi Hendrix and the alternative rock subgenre grunge, archaeological excavations suggest that Native Americans have inhabited the Seattle area for at least 4,000 years. By the time the first European settlers arrived, the people occupied at least seventeen villages in the areas around Elliott Bay, the first European to visit the Seattle area was George Vancouver, in May 1792 during his 1791–95 expedition to chart the Pacific Northwest. In 1851, a party led by Luther Collins made a location on land at the mouth of the Duwamish River. Thirteen days later, members of the Collins Party on the way to their claim passed three scouts of the Denny Party, members of the Denny Party claimed land on Alki Point on September 28,1851. The rest of the Denny Party set sail from Portland, Oregon, after a difficult winter, most of the Denny Party relocated across Elliott Bay and claimed land a second time at the site of present-day Pioneer Square, naming this new settlement Duwamps. For the next few years, New York Alki and Duwamps competed for dominance, david Swinson Doc Maynard, one of the founders of Duwamps, was the primary advocate to name the settlement after Chief Sealth of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes. The name Seattle appears on official Washington Territory papers dated May 23,1853, in 1855, nominal land settlements were established. On January 14,1865, the Legislature of Territorial Washington incorporated the Town of Seattle with a board of managing the city
2.
Washington (state)
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It was admitted to the Union as the 42nd state in 1889. Washington is sometimes referred to as Washington State or the State of Washington to distinguish it from Washington, Washington is the 18th largest state with an area of 71,362 square miles, and the 13th most populous state with over 7 million people. Washington is the second most populous state on the West Coast and in the Western United States, Mount Rainier, an active stratovolcano, is the states highest elevation at almost 14,411 feet and is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States. Washington is a leading lumber producer and its rugged surface is rich in stands of Douglas fir, hemlock, ponderosa pine, white pine, spruce, larch, and cedar. Manufacturing industries in Washington include aircraft and missiles, shipbuilding and other equipment, lumber, food processing, metals and metal products, chemicals. Washington has over 1,000 dams, including the Grand Coulee Dam, built for a variety of purposes including irrigation, power, flood control, the Washington Territory was named after George Washington, the first President of the United States. The area was part of a region called the Columbia District after the Columbia River. The area was renamed Washington in order to avoid confusion with the District of Columbia, Washington is the only U. S. state named after a president. To distinguish it from the U. S. capital, which is named for George Washington, Washington is sometimes referred to as Washington State, or, in more formal contexts. Washingtonians and other residents of the Pacific Northwest refer to the state simply as Washington, calling the nations capital Washington, D. C. or, often, Washington is the northwestern-most state of the contiguous United States. Washington is bordered by Oregon to the south, with the Columbia River forming the western part, to the west of Washington lies the Pacific Ocean. The high mountains of the Cascade Range run north-south, bisecting the state, from the Cascade Mountains westward, Western Washington has a mostly marine west coast climate, with mild temperatures and wet winters, autumns and springs, and relatively dry summers. The Cascade Range contains several volcanoes, which reach altitudes significantly higher than the rest of the mountains, from the north to the south, these major volcanoes are Mount Baker, Glacier Peak, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Adams. Mount Rainier, the tallest mountain in the state, is 50 miles south of the city of Seattle and it is also covered with more glacial ice than any other peak in the contiguous 48 states. Western Washington also is home of the Olympic Mountains, far west on the Olympic Peninsula and these deep forests, such as the Hoh Rainforest, are among the only temperate rainforests in the continental United States. Eastern Washington – the part of the state east of the Cascades – has a dry climate. It includes large areas of steppe and a few truly arid deserts lying in the rain shadow of the Cascades. Farther east, the climate becomes less arid, with annual rainfall increasing as one goes east to 21.2 inches in Pullman, the Okanogan Highlands and the rugged Kettle River Range and Selkirk Mountains cover much of the northeastern quadrant of the state
3.
Lake Washington Ship Canal
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The Lake Washington Ship Canal, which runs through the city of Seattle, connects the fresh water body of Lake Washington with the salt water inland sea of Puget Sound. The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks accommodate the approximately 20-foot difference in level between Lake Washington and the sound. The canal runs east–west and connects Union Bay, Lake Union, the Montlake Cut, Portage Bay, the Fremont Cut, Salmon Bay, and Shilshole Bay, with the sound, the ship canal project began in 1911 and was officially completed in 1934. As early as 1854, there was discussion of building a connection between Lake Washington and Puget Sound for the purpose of transporting logs, milled lumber. Thirteen years later, the United States Navy endorsed a canal project, in 1891 the US Army Corps of Engineers started planning the project. Some preliminary work was begun in 1906, and work began in earnest five years later, the delays in canal planning and construction resulted in the U. S. Navy building the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, which is located across the Sound from Seattle. For centuries, people had been dragging boats between the lakes, giving names like carry a canoe sxWátSadweehL to the crossing points, Lake Union was chosen to suggest the future canals merging the waters, and Lake Washington for George Washington. In 1860 local landowner Harvey L, pike tried to dig a ditch by himself with pick and shovel at Montlake to transport logs between Portage Bay and Union Bay, in the hopes of increasing the value of his property along the route. Giving up on digging the first Portage Canal himself, in 1871 he joined Thomas Burke and Daniel Gilman in incorporating the Lake Washington Canal Company, instead of finishing the canal, the company instead built a tramway to carry coal brought by barge across Lake Washington. A report by Lieutenant Thomas H. Hardy of October 13,1871, as to connecting Lake Union to Shilshole Bay — the route ultimately chosen — Gen. The estimated cost for the project was $4.7 million, Lieutenant Colonel William H. Heuer, Captain William C. Langfitt and Lieutenant Robert P. Johnson met August,1902 in Seattle and they examined the route of the Lake Washington Waterway Company, via Shilshole Bay, as well as a route from Lake Union to Smith Cove, the Montlake coal tramway, and Thomas Mercers farm. In November 1902, a meeting was called in the Chamber of Commerce hall. Moore secured Congressional approval for his project, granting him rights to build, in April of the same year, Hiram M. Chittenden came to Seattle as the new Army District Engineer. Chittenden favored the same route to Shilshole Bay as Moore, but found the plan too modest, instead, Chittenden proposed a double concrete lock with steel gates, allowing small craft to pass with less waste. A single set of locks on the end of Salmon Bay would be used in place of the small wooden lock near Fremont Avenue. Having a single lock between Puget Sound and the lakes would reduce the risk of flooding and reduce overall cost of the project. Before he could move forward, Chittenden had to sway local leaders away from supporting Moores project, after enthusiasm for his canal eroded and funding dried up, Moore transferred his rights to a public-private entity, the Lake Washington Canal Association, in 1907
4.
Lake
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A lake is an area of variable size filled with water, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land, apart from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, and therefore are distinct from lagoons, Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams, which are usually flowing. Most lakes are fed and drained by rivers and streams, natural lakes are generally found in mountainous areas, rift zones, and areas with ongoing glaciation. Other lakes are found in endorheic basins or along the courses of mature rivers, in some parts of the world there are many lakes because of chaotic drainage patterns left over from the last Ice Age. All lakes are temporary over geologic time scales, as they will fill in with sediments or spill out of the basin containing them. The word lake comes from Middle English lake, from Old English lacu, from Proto-Germanic *lakō, cognates include Dutch laak, Middle Low German lāke as in, de, Moorlake, de, Wolfslake, de, Butterlake, German Lache, and Icelandic lækur. Also related are the English words leak and leach, none of these definitions completely excludes ponds and all are difficult to measure. For this reason, simple size-based definitions are used to separate ponds. One definition of lake is a body of water of 2 hectares or more in area, however, others have defined lakes as waterbodies of 5 hectares and above, or 8 hectares and above. Charles Elton, one of the founders of ecology, regarded lakes as waterbodies of 40 hectares or more. The term lake is used to describe a feature such as Lake Eyre. In common usage, many bear names ending with the word pond. One textbook illustrates this point with the following, In Newfoundland, for example, almost every lake is called a pond, whereas in Wisconsin, the majority of lakes on Earth are fresh water, and most lie in the Northern Hemisphere at higher latitudes. Canada, with a drainage system has an estimated 31,752 lakes larger than 3 square kilometres and an unknown total number of lakes. Finland has 187,888 lakes 500 square metres or larger, most lakes have at least one natural outflow in the form of a river or stream, which maintain a lakes average level by allowing the drainage of excess water. Some lakes do not have an outflow and lose water solely by evaporation or underground seepage or both. Many lakes are artificial and are constructed for power generation, aesthetic purposes, recreational purposes, industrial use. Globally, lakes are greatly outnumbered by ponds, of an estimated 304 million standing water bodies worldwide, 91% are 1 hectare or less in area
5.
Interstate 5
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It serves the largest cities on the U. S. West Coast, including Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, Los Angeles, and San Diego, and also links the cities of Washington, Oregon. Upon crossing the Mexican border at its terminus, Interstate 5 continues to Tijuana. Upon crossing the Canada–US border at its terminus, it continues to Vancouver as British Columbia Highway 99. It is the 12th longest highway in the U. S. following I-15, I-5 links to control cities in California, Oregon, and Washington. North of Seattle, the city is Vancouver, British Columbia, it is signed as Vancouver B. C. in order to avoid confusion with Vancouver. One notable control city that I-5 does not directly reach is San Francisco, to the south, in the Tracy area, I-580 splits from I-5 towards San Francisco, while to the north, near Vacaville, I-505 cuts south to I-80, which serves that city. That routing, via I-580, I-80, and I-505, was planned originally as I-5W, the southernmost point of I-5 is at the Mexican border at the San Ysidro border crossing, one of the busiest in the world. Here I-5 is also known as the San Diego Freeway, at Dana Point, I-5 turns inland and heads due north through Mission Viejo to the El Toro Y interchange in southeastern Irvine. I-5 becomes the Santa Ana Freeway as it runs southeast to northwest, passing through cities and suburbs in Orange. Southern Californians refer to it as the 5 Freeway or as the Santa Ana Freeway in the Los Angeles area, from this point, the San Diego Freeway continues northward as I-405. When the freeway reaches the East Los Angeles Interchange one mile east of downtown Los Angeles, the route continues through the San Fernando Valley and then crosses the Newhall Pass through the Santa Susana Mountains into the Santa Clarita Valley. The interchange with State Route 14 is unusual in that traffic is separated into its own lanes for both the mainline of the freeway and the transition ramps to and from SR14. At that point, the Golden State Freeway rises sharply to the north through the Grapevine to eventually reach the second-highest point of its entire length, path 26 power lines generally follow the freeway along this stretch. I-580 splits from I-5 at a point south of Tracy, providing a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. After passing Tracy, I-5 heads north through Stockton and Sacramento before turning west to Woodland, at Woodland, the Interstate heads northwest again towards Dunnigan, where it converges with I-505. From Dunnigan, I-5 skirts north along the edge of the Sacramento Valley to Red Bluff. I-5 then enters the Shasta Cascade region, passing through Redding, the interstate then travels to Weed and Yreka before reaching the Oregon border
6.
Gas Works Park
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The park was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 2,2013, more than a decade after being nominated. Gas Works park contains remnants of the remaining coal gasification plant in the United States. The plant operated from 1906 to 1956 and was bought by the City of Seattle for park purposes in 1962, the park opened to the public in 1975. The park was designed by Seattle landscape architect Richard Haag, who won the American Society of Landscape Architects Presidents Award of Design Excellence for the project. It was originally named Myrtle Edwards Park, after the city councilwoman who had spearheaded the drive to acquire the site, in 1972, the Edwards family requested that her name be taken off the park because the design called for the retention of much of the plant. In 1976, Elliott Bay Park, just north of Seattles Belltown neighborhood, was renamed Myrtle Edwards Park, Gas Works Park incorporates numerous pieces of the old plant. Some stand as ruins, while others have been reconditioned, painted, a web site affiliated with the Seattle Times newspaper says, Gas Works Park is easily the strangest park in Seattle and may rank among the strangest in the world. Gas Works Park also features an artificial kite-flying hill with an elaborately sculptured sundial built into its summit, the park was for many years the exclusive site of a summer series of Peace Concerts. These concerts are now shared out among several Seattle parks, the park also has for many years hosted one of Seattles two major Fourth of July fireworks events, in 2009, it was the sole such event. The park is the end point of the Solstice Cyclists. The park originally constituted one end of the Burke-Gilman bicycle and foot trail, laid out along the abandoned right-of-way of the Seattle, Lake Shore, however, the trail has now been extended several kilometers northwest, past the Fremont neighborhood toward Ballard. The soil and groundwater of the site was contaminated during operation as a gasification plant, the 1971 Master Plan called for cleaning and greening the park through bio-phytoremediation. There are no areas of surface soil contamination remaining on the site today. Despite its somewhat isolated location, the park has been the site of political rallies. These included a continuous vigil under the name PeaceWorks Park. The vigil began at a concert in August 1990 and continued until after the end of the shooting war. Gas Works Park has been a setting for such as Singles and 10 Things I Hate About You. It has been featured twice on the television reality show The Amazing Race, once as the finish line for Season 3
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Media related to Lake Union at Wikimedia Commons