Did you know Seattle is the birthplace of the popular coffee chain Starbucks ?
Nah, just kidding. If you know us, you know we’re here for the deep cuts — and there are plenty of interesting factoids to go around. As connoisseurs of the quirky + unconventional, we put together this list of fifteen interesting facts about Seattle. Maybe you’ve lived here your whole life and know some of these — or maybe you’ll learn something new.
- We may be called Rain City, but Seattle actually gets less annual rainfall than many metro areas. We see an average total of 37 inches of rain per year — whereas New York City gets 47, Houston averages 52, and even Orlando gets roughly 51 a year.
- According to the most recent census data , Seattle has more dogs (153,000) than children (107,178).
- Pike Place Market started as a protest of the high cost of onions .
- The Harvard Exit Theatre (built in 1925 + closed in 2015) was well-loved for its romantic, vintage vibe — but was also reportedly home to the ghost of Seattle’s first female mayor , Bertha Landes.
- The University Bridge gets regular baths in the summer to protect it from the heat.
- Talk about riding in style. The University of Washington’s Husky Stadium is one of three in the US where you can arrive in a boat .
- There’s substantial archaeological evidence to show that current Native American tribes have lived here for ~12,000 years .
- The Washington State Ferry system is the largest in the US.
- The first modern day UFO sighting happened over Mt. Rainier. In fact, Seattle coined the term “flying saucer.”
- Out city is home to more than 700 glass artists , making us the second-largest hub for the form in the world behind Murano, Italy.
- Settlers first named Seattle “New York” (super original, guys), before adding Alki, a Chinook word that means “in the future” to end of the name.
- The Gum Wall has only been cleaned once . In 2015, the Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority removed all the gunk because the weight was beginning to destroy the wall’s structural integrity.
- Seahawks fans once got so loud after a Marshawn Lynch touchdown, that they registered as a small earthquake on a nearby seismograph. It’s now referred to as the Beast Quake .
- Monorail Espresso started as the world’s first espresso cart in 1980.
- At the time it was created, Harbor Island was the largest man-made island in the world .
Your turn. Think you can get one over on us? Let us know
your favorite local trivia tidbit and you just might make it into the newsletter.