History of Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the largest city in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located in the U.S. state of Washington between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, about 96 miles (155 km) south of the United States–Canadian border in King County, Washington|King County, of which it is the county seat.
Seattle was first settled November 14 1851, by Arthur A. Denny and his crew, which would subsequently become known as the Denny party. Its first name was New York, then Duwamps, then finally it was renamed Seattle after Chief Seattle|Chief Noah Sealth who was chief of the two tribes living in the area ("Seattle" is an anglicized rendition of his last name). As of 2006, the city had an estimated population of 578,700 and an estimated Table of United States Metropolitan Statistical Areas|metropolitan area population of approximately 3.3 million. Seattle is the hub for the Seattle metropolitan area|Greater Puget Sound region. Its official List of city nicknames|nickname is the Emerald City, the result of a contest by a civic-minded association in the early 1980s to designate a pleasant nickname for the city;Seattlest Web site [http://www.seattlest.com/archives/2005/10/27/were_not_in_washington_anymore.php] the name alludes to the lush evergreen trees in the surrounding area. It is also referred to informally as the Gateway to Alaska, Queen City, and Jet City, due to the local influence of Boeing. (Seattle-area band Queensrÿche also wrote a song called "Jet City Woman".) Seattle residents are known as List of people from Seattle|Seattleites.
Seattle is often regarded as the birthplace of grunge music, and has a reputation for heavy coffee consumption; coffee companies founded in Seattle include Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee, and Tully's Coffee|Tully's. There are also many successful independent artisanal espresso roasters and cafes. Seattle was the site of the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999|1999 meeting of the World Trade Organization, and the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 protest activity|attendant demonstrations by anti-globalization activists. Researchers at Central Connecticut State University ranked Seattle the most literate city in America in 2005. [http://www.ccsu.edu/AMLC/Overall_Rankings/Top10.htm America's Most Literate Cities] Moreover, a United States Census Bureau survey showed that Seattle has the highest percentage of college graduates of any major U.S. city.[http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/departments/elearning/?article=EducatedCities Most Educated City in the US] Based on per capita income, Seattle Washington locations by per capita income|ranks 36th of 522 studied areas in the state of Washington.
source Wikipedia