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Learn About Washington
First Inhabitants	Early History	Geography & Landforms	Economy
Capital: Olympia	Entered the Union: 11/11/1889	Population: 5,894,121	Area (square miles) 71,300
State Bird: Willow Goldfinch	State Flower: Pink Rhododendron	Nickname: Evergreen State	Governor: Christine Gregoire
Web Links: State Home Page	Home Page for Students	Members of Congress

Places to Visit in Washington: (Click the links to learn more.)

Grand Coulee Dam -
The Grand Coulee Dam is the largest concrete dam in North America and the third largest producer of electricity in the world. The Grand Coulee Dam was completed in 1942 and provides hydropower, flood control, irrigation and recreation to 500,000 acres of farmland in the Columbia Basin.

The Space Needle - Seattle
The Space Needle was built for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair and was designed by Edward E. Carlson. The Space Needle was finished in December 1961 at a cost of $4.5 million. The Needle is Seattle’s number one tourist destination.

Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument - near Castle Rock
On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted and nearly 230 square miles of forest was blown over or left dead. The eruption lasted nine hours and ash rose thousands of feet skyward and then fell over eastern Washington and beyond. In 1982, Congress created the 110,000 acre National Volcanic Monument for research and education. Within the acreage of the Monument, the environment has been left alone to respond naturally to the eruption and its aftermath. There is an observatory, visitor center and a cave to visit.

Klondike Gold Rush Park - Seattle
In 1897, news of a gold strike in the Canadian Yukon reached Seattle and tens of thousands of people from across the US came to Seattle to purchase food, clothing, equipment and steamship tickets to the Yukon. This “gold rush” shaped the history of Seattle. The site provides gold panning demonstrations, a walking tour of the Pioneer Square Historical District and other exhibits and audiovisual programs.

Fort Vancouver Historical Site - Vancouver
Fort Vancouver was the administrative headquarters and mail supply center for the Hudson’s Bay Company’s fur trading operation. Fort Vancouver provided the pioneers who arrived in the area during the 1830s and 1840s supplies to begin new settlements. The site includes living history demonstrations, an archaeology site, and reconstruction of the Fort.

Famous Citizens:

Bob Barker
Born in Darrington, Washington, Robert William Barker grew up on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota where his mother was a schoolteacher. He grew up to become one of the best known television game show hosts in history. He served as the host of “The Price is Right,” the longest running game show, and received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Daytime Television in 1999. His first game show was “Truth or Consequences” in which he debuted in 1956. He has appeared twice in the Guinness Book of World Records for having taped 3,524 shows (“most Durable Performer”) and for having awarded more than $55 million in prizes on his shows (“Most Generous Host”), and has won 11 Emmys as a Game Show Host.

Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain, a sickly, anti-social and depressed child, went on to lead the band Nirvana, the “grunge” band that redefined the sound of the nineties and kicked off what became known as the “Seattle sound.” The band’s song “Smells Like Teen Spirit” became Nirvana’s most highly acclaimed song, and made Cobain and the band overnight millionaires. This new-found wealth and Kurt’s ongoing bouts with depression and his drug use came together in his eventual suicide in 1994 at the early age of 27.

Bing Crosby
Born Harry Lillis Crosby in Tacoma, Washington. “Bing” began singing with a local group while a student at Gonzaga University. By 1925, Crosby went to Los Angeles and developed a singing act. When he became a solo star on the radio, he soon became a popular singing idol, and began to appear in movies. His relaxed “crooning” style was especially popular among Americans during the Depression years, and his comedic timing on stage made him a hit both as a singer and as a performer. He starred in more than 100 movies, and won an Oscar for his role as a priest in “Going My Way.” By 1943, he was among the top ten box office attractions for 12 years. Aside from show business, Crosby loved sports, especially golf.

Hank Ketcham
Born Henry King Ketcham in Seattle, Washington, Hank Ketcham attended the University of Washington, and then went on to Hollywood and began working for Walter Lantz Productions and then Walt Disney Productions as a film animator. He worked on Disney’s “Pinocchio” and “Fantasia.” In 1951, he developed the idea for a panel comic strip based on his four-year-old son, Dennis. “Dennis the Menace” earned Ketcham an award as Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year in 1952. He had drawn “Dennis the Menace” for more than 50 years when he died in 2001.