The Wild West World's Fair That Never Was
Before the 1909 A-Y-P Exposition defined Seattle's rise, city boosters were already jockeying to turn the town into a national stage for regional agriculture and industry.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
At the meeting of the board of trustees of the Seattle exposition this morning, Messrs. Vashon and A. J. M’Burney gave a favorable report of their recent trips through Wenatchee and Yakima. Chelan will exhibit fruits and nuts, Spokane a mineral exhibit, and Walla Walla is also planning an exhibit. Perry Ankeny offers a $10 premium for sugar beets, and Mrs. Ankeny will have a private display of Indian baskets. Dr. Blalock will send a display of fruits, and C. I. Whitney an exhibit of nuts. An excursion of people will come from Walla Walla. Mr. Ankeny has offered to pay the expenses of a train load if the troops from Manila are in Seattle at the time. From Dayton a display of fruit and grain will be sent, and an excursion of 500 people is coming.
“In the coming century Seattle will be the New York of the Pacific.”
This piece captures the frantic, booster-led energy of turn-of-the-century Seattle. Just as city leaders today grapple with mega-projects and global image, the 1898 organizers were using local resources and the novelty of returning Spanish-American War troops to put their nascent city on the map.
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