The Town of Seattle is incorporated on January 14, 1865 by the Territory of Washington Legislature. The city limits encompass the area from Howell Street on the north to Atlantic Street on the South, and from Elliott Bay on the west to 24th Avenue South on the east. This incorporation was repealed in 1866, after receiving a petition from some Seattle citizens. Then on December 2, 1869, the Legislature again incorporated Seattle. Chief Seattle, the leader of the Duwamish and Suquamish Tribes in whose honor Seattle was named, died on June 7, 1866.
At about 2:30 p.m. on June 6, 1889, a pot of glue bursts into flames in Victor Clairmont's basement cabinet shop at the corner of 1st Ave and Madison St. Efforts to contain the fire fail and it quickly engulfs the wood-frame building. Thanks to a dry spring and a brisk wind, the flames spread, and volunteer firefighters tap out the town's inadequate, privately-owned water mains. By sunset, some 64 acres lie in smoldering ruins. This event is known as Seattle's Great Fire. The city was rebuilt with more brick, stone and iron and the result survives today as Pioneer Square.
Now, lets take a look at who lives there today. Seattle is a bustling city with lots going on and as one would guess, there are all kinds of individuals that live and work there. Being the chief city in the state of Washington, Seattle boasts a population of over 560,000 people. Fortunately for this city, females make up the most of it's population with a little over 282,000 women. The primary age group for the city is fairly young. Over 122,000 people are between the ages of 25-34 years old. The races living in Seattle are not as equally balanced though; actually the come nowhere close. Over 70% of Seattle is white and that makes up about 395,000 people. A shocking 8.4% of this city is African-American, which constitutes just over 47,000 people. 13% make up the Asian race with 73,000 and only 1% makes up the Indian-American race.
