Before you lies a fine street in a big, busy city. Seattle is the metropolis (m-trp´-ls-largest city) of the state of Washington, and one of the largest cities in our great Northwest. About seventy years ago a sawmill was set up not far distant from where this street now is. Around it, for hundreds of miles inland, was the untouched forest. By 1870 it was a village of a thousand people. It now has a population of about 35,000. That is a wonderful growth in fifty years. How did it come about? Seattle has come to be a large city because of its happy location, its healthy climate, the resources of the country about it, and its people. It is on Elliot Bay, a part of Puget Sound, and has an excellent harbor. This makes it a port for many steamship lines that connect it with Canada, Alaska, eastern Asia, South America, and Europe. Railroads from clear across our continent connect with the steamship lines. It is therefore a large center of commerce. Its climate is mild, even, and moist-the best combination for our white race. The large forests of the state afford material for its shipyards, shingle and lumber mills, and wagon factories. The plains supply it with hides for its leather works, and the iron mines farther east keep its foundries and machine shops busy. Coal fields near by and waterfalls harnessed by electricity furnish motive force for its factories. Its people are largely native Americans, thrifty, industrious, and confident of the great future before their city. Find Seattle on the map. What other large cities are in Washington? Keystone ID: 13721 Note: All titles, descriptions, and location coordinates are from the original Keystone Slide documentation as supplied by the Keystone View Company. No text has been edited or changed.