Edmonds Beacon - Your Hometown News Source

I grew up in Seattle.

Washington state history was in the curriculum one year; another year included U.S. history. One year in elementary school, we were taught Seattle history. But “indoctrinated” might be a better word.

I remember that we were taught Seattle grew to be the “Queen City of the Northwest” because of the “Seattle Spirit,” as exemplified by the fact that Seattle built a railroad when the Northern Pacific Railway bypassed Seattle and chose Tacoma as its western terminus.

I have a friend my age who grew up in Tacoma, where he was taught Tacoma history. He remembers...