The State of Washington is at the North Western end of continental US. The state has a lot of natural attractions, with vast areas occupied by parks and forests which are federal protected areas.
Washington has several bridges which are well deserving to be called attractions because of the beautiful scenery that surrounds them. This bridges include, Agate Pass, Deception Pass Bridge, La Conner Bridge and Umatilla Bridge. The first two are included in US National Register of Historic Places.
Lake Chelan Historical Museum is a good place to stop by. Here you can view photos of Native American History which happened in Chelan County and neighboring areas.
Hiking along the banks of Sammamish River, fishing or bird watching are other things nature trekkers can engage in. Sultan River is another river where one can enjoy paddling, fishing and rafting.
Roche Harbor at San Juan Island is a resort which offers lodging and could be a perfect venue for celebrations. It also offers a breath-taking view of Roche Harbor Marina.
Getting around the state, you may notice government buildings such as Bremerton, General Administrative Building, Capitol Legislative and Temple of Justice. State Old Capitol is a 19th century building which houses most state offices until 1919.
Space Needle is Seattle’s major attraction. It was built for the 1962′s World Fair. To view the other State of Washington pages we have created just select one of the links in the menu on the right side.
The law making body of state of Washington is the Washington State Legislature. Composed of 98 representatives in the Washington House of Representatives and 49 Senators in the Washington State Senate, the Washington State Legislature is a bicameral body. Meetings of State Legislature are held in Olympia at the Legislative Building in the Washington State Capitol.
The Washington State Legislature has its origins in 1853 with the birth of the Washington Territory. This happened after extensive arguments and debates between the north Columbia River settlers and the Federal Government for the legal separation of Washington State from that of Oregon.
The bicameral legislature of the Washington State Legislature convened for the first time the next year. The representatives of the legislature were from present-day Montana to the Juan de Fuca straits.
The legislators which comprise the bicameral body start the legislative session yearly on the 2nd Monday of January. During the years that are odd-numbered, during the time of debates on state budget, the sessions of the State Legislature last for 105 days, and in the years that are even-numbered, sessions last for 60 days.
At any time of the year, the Governor of Washington, when necessary, has the right to call legislators in for a special session for a whole month. A special session can be held by the legislators themselves in cases wherein votes for this purpose amount to two-thirds vote of legislators from both houses Legislators.
The Umatilla Bridge was opened to public traffic on April 15, 1955. This bridge of steel cantilever is the state’s easternmost bridge to link Oregon with Washington, and is responsible for Interstate 82 near Plymouth, Washington, Benton County, to Umatilla County in Oregon.
The bridge is found on west side of the McNary Dam and just a little further west from the area where the Columbia turns from facing north-south to go west in the direction of the Pacific Ocean.
A segmental bridge of concrete with 2 main spans was built in 1987 and runs parallel to the Umatilla Bridge. Though once dubbed “Surgis Folly”, after Judge James Surgis who was the project’s biggest supporter, the Umatilla Bridge soon became a very important addition to the fast developing agriculture business that was growing in both states and very soon started to earn its keep until it finally paid off its construction and maintenance costs. Ironically, James Surgis later became the Umatilla Bridge’s traffic director. With the support of W.S. Nelson, a McNary Development Association board member, who lobbied the bill which supported the selling of bonds to fund construction of the bridges between the 2 states, the Dallas Bridge was built, followed by the Umatilla-Plymouth Bridge.
Located on Capitol Way, just in the middle of 11th and 12th Avenues is the Temple of Justice. Built in a severe rectangular-style structure with large windows and lofty walls, the building houses the offices of the attorney general as well as that of the State Supreme Court. It was first built in 1921 and stands just across the Legislative Building. The State Library can be found in the basement and contains rare, hard to find books, relics of pioneer days, and various historical material.
Purchased in 1854 around the Horn, the State’s original library contained scientific, medical, legal texts, and works of fiction, personally selected by Governor Stevens with a Congress bestowed grant of $5,000. Today, the library has in its collection over a hundred thousand volumes and an impressive newspaper file. Also housed in the building are the 85,000 volumes belonging to the State Law Library.
Construction of the Temple of Justice started in 1912 just after the approval for the construction of Capitol Campus by Congress. It was also the very first school building to be built on campus. The project lasted for 8 years due to funding difficulties, and construction was slower than first anticipated. The Temple of Justice is available to the public from Monday to Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
One of the biggest wooden domed buildings globally, the Tacoma Dome is owned and run by the Public Assembly Facilities Department of the city of Tacoma. The key to the Tacoma Dome’s success is flexibility. Virtually any event can be held within it because 65% of its numerous seating is re-arrangeable.
Diverse configurations of seating arrangements ranging from 5 to 23 thousand plus a 2.5 seconds reverberation speed places the Tacoma Dome the Pacific Northwest’s Preferred Concert Venue.
The Tacoma Dome had its ground breaking ceremony on July 1, 1981. In less than 2 years, the building was and was officially inaugurated on April 21, 1983. The first major concert held at the Tacoma Dome was that of David on August 11, 1983. Each year, the Tacoma Dome welcomes over a million guests. Its Exhibition Hall combined with the Tacoma Dome Arena hosts more than 300 days of events annually. This includes high school sports of the WIAA, family shows, major concerts, and numerous tradeshows.
The roof of the Tacoma Dome was constructed with over a million feet of boards and weighs around 1,444,000 lbs. Over twenty-four million cubic feet of concrete was employed in the building of the Tacoma Dome.
In the Snohomish County in Washington State is the Sultan. It serves as the Kykomish River’s tributary, joining it to the city of Sultan, Washington. Its upper third portion is dammed by Culmback Dam and forms Spada Lake. The river and town were both named by prospectors for Tsul-tad (sometimes known as Tseultud), a chief of a sub-tribe of the Snohomish that dwelled on the river of Skykomish around the 1870s.
The chief’s name was anglicized into “Sultan” by the miners.
The river’s basin for drainage was exposed to severe glaciation in the era of Pleistocene. This explains the well defined glacially-formed trench through which the river flows. Through a U-shaped hollow formed by dark and course-grained quartz the upper southern portion of Sultan River flows unimpeded.
The main tributaries of Sultans River are the North Fork, Elk Creek, South Fork, and Williamson Creek. These run through valleys that are narrow and converge into the Sultan’s lower basin at which part the valley floor is comparatively broader. The Sultan River leaves this basin by falling suddenly into and through a canyon that is narrow.
Glaciers from the Pleistocene era spread towards the gorges of the Sultan River and its subsequent tributaries, meeting in the sub-basin. It is from here that the ice went on west through what is known today as the Pilchuck River valley.
It was in 1949 that an earthquake brought down the Old State Capitol Building’s cone-shaped turrets, except those found at the main entrance. This resulted in the third floor becoming mostly inaccessible because of structural damage. Even the main entrance’s stonework sustained some damage as did the east wing’s steps and stone entrance.
The whole interior structure was refitted with steel reinforcements weighing a little less than 200 tons. The entrances’ masonries were rebuilt, but the cone-shaped turrets weren’t, a decision which altered the old courthouse’s appearance. The steps to the entrance of the east wing were repaired with cement.
The Old State Capitol Building became designated officially on May 30, 1975 by the Washington State Advisory Council on Historic Preservation as a historic place by the and is therefore on the list of the Washington Heritage Register. At the same time, it was also listed on the National Register of Historic Places which is maintained and presided over by the National Park Service.
In 1981 up to 1983, this 90-year-old building had undergone complete renovation. This procedure included the inclusion of 2 conical towers on the building’s east side, a complete cleaning maintenance of the stonework’s exterior, and seismic reinforcement. On February 22, 1983, Washington’s Birthday, the Old State Capitol Building was reopened and rededicated to the public and presently houses the Superintendent of Public Instruction’s.
It was in 1959 that the idea for the Space Needle first came to light. With Germany’s Stuttgart Tower as the inspiration, the president of hotels of Western International, Edward E. Carlson, sketched in a coffee house on a placemat his vision of a dominant central structure for the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962. The theme of the Fair was Century 21, and his space-age design was the pivotal point of the futuristic Seattle World’s Fair. Carlson drew the shape that would later become the world known symbol for the
city of Seattle in Washington State, the Space Needle.
The dome, which consists of five levels, was built especially to jive with the Observation Deck’s revolving restaurant. So perfect was the balance of the top of the house that the restaurant could rotate with only an electric motor with a single horsepower. Standing at 605 feet, the Space Needle was finished in 1961 of December 1961 and became open to the public on April 21, 1962, on the World Fair’s first day just four months later. The last pieces to be installed just before the official opening were the elevators; the last one arrived just a day before the Fair. In 1993, new computerized elevators replaced the old ones.
Running at a stretch of over 10 miles, the Sammamish River Trail stretches from Sammamish River starting at Bothell up to Marymoor Park at Redmond. This area is dubbed the “Locks to Lakes Corridor.”
One of King County’s most famous trails in the region, the Sammamish River Trail or SRT is well paved for its whole length. It offers spectacular river views, namely: the Cascade foothills, the wide Sammamish River Valley, and that of Mt. Rainier. Cyclists, joggers, walkers, skaters, and others make full use of the trail as a prime recreational location in the region.
Used also by pedestrians, the SRT also serves as non-motorized alley between Seattle and rural cities. Horse riders also enjoy the trail since a soft-surface area separate from that of the trail but runs parallel to it is available between Marymoor Park and Woodinville.
Beginning at its cross-path with the trail at Burke-Gilman which is very near Blyth Park in the Bothell City, the trail runs east and then south past Redmond and Woodinville. It then passes Sammamish River Park, Bothell Landing, the Woodinville Wilmot Gateway Park as well as its breweries and wineries, Northshore Athletic Fields, Redmond City Hall, Sixty Acres Park, and parks prior to entering the Marymoor Park in King County.
An old favorite with travelers of the San Juan Islands, Roche Harbor is the best place to explore the best of the area. Situated on the northernmost part of San Juan Island, the beautiful Roche Harbor is just beside the historical company town. It offers the most picturesque sunsets in the area of the Pacific Northwest. On Roche Harbor is the National Register of Historical Sites old Hotel de Haro.
This hotel was opened in 1886 and boasts of many rooms furnished with the exact same authentic antique pieces. This Old World ambience gives the traveler a feeling of stepping back in time.
Time was when President Theodore Roosevelt favored Roche Harbor during vacations, and the place can still beckon to visitors from all over to enjoy the old country charm and history it has to offer. The San Juan Island’s historical village has a lot of dining opportunities to offer the weary traveler.
This includes the McMillin’s Dining Room (for fine dining and a great view overlooking the spectacular sunsets and harbor). The Madonna Grill’s colorful coastal cuisine in the gazebo is truly enjoyable.
You can relax on the deck’s waterfront, and appreciate the live music offered during weekend afternoons in summer.
