An 1885 Delegation's 'Grand Tour' of Seattle
When a Portland delegation arrived in Seattle by steamer in July 1885, they were treated to an opulent tour of the town, a clambake at Port Blakely, and a glowing review in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
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.
On the Monday following the Sunday of our arrival, we started northward on steamer for Seattle and Tacoma on Puget Sound. Arriving at Tacoma about 11 o'clock at night, we transferred to a fine little steamer, the 'Queen of the Pacific,' and enjoyed a magnificent ride up that grand body of water, to Seattle, arriving at that place about midnight or later. The city was magnificently illuminated, and a large delegation of businessmen was present to extend the hand of welcome. The next day, about 10 o'clock, we boarded a steamer, accompanied by a large number of citizens, and steamed down the Sound about seven miles to Port Blakely, where a clambake was indulged in, and it was an occasion never to be forgotten by all who participated in its rare pleasures. Seattle is a thriving, progressive town, and made a very favorable impression upon the guests. We viewed the place in carriages, and each member of our party was furnished with free tickets to ride and see the gardens. They have no cold weather there, and the most delicate flowers remain in the ground all the year around, and bloom and grow to perfection.
“The city was magnificently illuminated, and a large delegation of businessmen was present to extend the hand of welcome.”
In 1885, Seattle was a growing boomtown desperate to prove its status to regional power brokers from Portland. Today, the city’s promotional efforts have shifted from industrial 'clambakes' to tech-centric urban branding, but the desire for external validation and economic dominance remains a constant in Seattle's civic DNA.
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