Seattle owes much of its growth to the Klondike Gold Rush of the 1890s, when it was flooded with fortune hunters on their way up north to Canada’s Yukon territory. Thousands of prospectors boarded ships for the gold fields after outfitting themselves at Seattle-area businesses, some of which remain in business today, such as Filson and Bartell Drugs. The department store chain Nordstrom got its start when its founder came back from the gold fields and invested his earnings in a Downtown Seattle storefront selling shoes.
The National Park Service operates four sites as part of its Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. Three sites are in Alaska, and the fourth is located in the Cadillac Hotel in Seattle’s historic Pioneer Square District, where it takes the form of a museum. This interactive free museum offers visitors the chance to step back in time to experience life as a gold prospector about to embark on the journey of a lifetime. Exhibits include supplies, equipment, and structures of the era. Park rangers are on hand to answer all your questions about one of the most defining periods of the city’s history.
Fifi Ding is a journalist and travel writer. She has interviewed numerous figures in the world of entertainment and genre fiction, including actor Nathan Fillion and manga artist Hiro Mashima.