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Seattle’s Story Told in Flannel, Ferries and Flood Lines

A new book presents Seattle’s history through engaging infographics

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This article originally appeared in the October 2018 issue of Seattle magazine.

This article appears in print in the October 2018 issue. Click here to subscribe.

In a region experiencing rapid growth and development, it’s beginning to feel like we need a central, handy storage place for the details of the city’s fast-changing story before we all forget them. 

Authors Tera Hatfield, Jenny Kempson and Natalie Ross are on it with Seattleness: A Cultural Atlas (Sasquatch, $24.95, released October 23), a collection of compelling data and creatively illustrated charts full of statistics about what makes our region special. Topics range from ferries and ferry traffic, the region’s seismic activity, indigenous histories and native foods to cultural cornerstones such as Seattle’s notable grunge music venues—told, of course, in flannel. Learn more when the authors visit the Rainier Arts Center on 11/8 to talk about the book. 

Seattle Grunge-Era Venues

1. Kurt Cobain Memorial at Viretta Park

2. MoPOP (Museum of Pop Culture)

3. Showbox at the Market

4. Motorsports International Garage

5. OK Hotel

6. Cyclops Cafe

7. Gorilla Gardens

8. Central Saloon

9. Moore Theatre

10. The Crocodile

11. Music Bank Studio

12. Blue Moon Tavern

13. Cornell Apartments

14. Gas Works Park

15. Comet Tavern

16. Terminal Sales Building

17. Metropolis

18. Black Dog Forge

19. Rainbow Tavern

20. Re-bar

21. Black Hole Sun at Volunteer Park

22. Neumos

23. The Vogue

 

Rearview Mirror: Spinasse at Home, a New Spa Experience, and Seattle Mag’s Reader’s Choice Awards 

Rearview Mirror: Spinasse at Home, a New Spa Experience, and Seattle Mag’s Reader’s Choice Awards 

Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).

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Studio Sessions: Ling Chun

Studio Sessions: Ling Chun

The Seattle-based artist brings playful color to ceramics and neon while exploring memory, transformation, and life between cultures.

For Ling Chun, creating begins with something sensed before it can be named. Working with clay, glass, light, and sometimes synthetic hair, the Hong Kong-born artist gives physical form to things that words cannot always hold. “For me, the magnitude of making goes far beyond the object that is eventually produced,” Chun says. “The object…

The Magic of PAX Is Stronger Than Ever

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Your Guide to Bumbershoot 2026

Your Guide to Bumbershoot 2026

Navigate Seattle’s wildest end-of-summer weekend with 20 picks spanning Death Cab for Cutie, Blood Orange, wrestling, skateboarding and—obviously—movies made in 48 hours.

Four years after Bumbershoot returned with its quirkiness revivified, Seattleites broadly acknowledge the two-day multimedia extravaganza as a welcome finale to the summer festival season. Fests like Bumbershoot are designed around a choose-your-own-adventure model, but if you’re the kind of person who looked at this year’s sprawling lineup—featuring multiple bands, artists, and exhibits happening at…