Skid Road. An Informal Portrait of Seattle.

by Murray Morgan

Hardcover, 1951

Call number

NWC 979.7 MOR

Collection

Publication

Viking Press (1951), 279 pages

Description

Skid Road tells the story of Seattle ?from the bottom up,? offering an informal and engaging portrait of the Emerald City's first century, as seen through the lives of some of its most colorful citizens. With his trademark combination of deep local knowledge, precision, and wit, Murray Morgan traces the city's history from its earliest days as a hacked-from-the-wilderness timber town, touching on local tribes, settlers, the lumber and railroad industries, the great fire of 1889, the Alaska gold rush, flourishing dens of vice, the 1919 general strike, the 1962 World's Fair, and the stuttering growth of the 1970s and ?80s. Through it all, Morgan shows us that Seattle's one constant is change and that its penchant for reinvention has always been fueled by creative, if sometimes unorthodox, residents. With a new introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic Mary Ann Gwinn, this redesigned edition of Murray Morgan's classic work is a must for those interested in how Seattle got to where it is today.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member ksmyth
This tasty little book, by the master storyteller of the Northwest is a great collection of vignettes of Seattle History. From Doc Maynard and the Mercer Girls, to Dave Beck and Big Labor, Morgan focused on important folks in Seattle history and the important issues surrounding them.
LibraryThing member benjfrank
Morgan doesn't just tell the history of Seattle with one event following another. Each chapter is a story in itself and each focuses on one or two individuals. It was the first history book I ever read like that: history as experienced by specific people at the time. A wonderful read.
LibraryThing member kcshankd
Sweeping history of earliest Seattle, ending at the World's Fair in 1962. Wobblies & Teamsters on the original Skid Road - Yesler Way.
LibraryThing member buffalogr
Histories are often "dry" but this one isn't. Each chapter is a story in itself and each focuses on one or two individuals key in the development of Seattle.I really enjoyed the early chapters--the latter ones dried out a little. It's a good, solid, history that covers the good and the bad, the
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sleazy and the churchy. The stories of Seattle's good ole' days.
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Pages

279

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