Washington
The State of Washington is located in the Northwestern United States and borders the Pacific Ocean. Since over half of the state is covered by coniferous forests, it is also called "The Evergreen State." Washington has one of the few rainforests in the U.S. and is also home to the Cascade Mountains and Puget Sound. At 14,411 feet (4,392 m), the active volcano Mount Rainier is the highest peak in Washington. Olympic National Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981.
In pre-colonial times, the area of Washington was inhabited by presumably 125 distinct Native American tribes, who spoke 50 languages or dialects. Some of them, such as the Makah, are known for their salmon fishing and whale hunting industries, wooden canoes, long houses and carved welcome figures. The state motto "Alki" comes from the historic pidgin language Chinook Jargon and means "by and by." Settlers from New York sought to express their hope of seeing a city grow as prosperous as their place of origin. The Spanish were the first Europeans to reach the Washington coast in 1775 and claimed it until the Nootka Convention with the British in 1790 opened the area to settlement by other nations. After the U.S. acquired Louisiana in 1803, the Louis and Clark Expedition followed the Snake River through present-day Washington in 1805. The Territory of Washington was established by secession from the Territory of Oregon in 1853 and originally included parts of Idaho and Montana. It was named in honor of Founding Father George Washington. In 1889, Washington was admitted to the Union as the 42nd state.
The largest city, Seattle, is a major transportation hub and a center of the music industry. The Space Needle observation tower was built for the 1962 World's Fair. It is 605 feet (184 m) high and the most famous building on the Seattle skyline. King Street Station in Seatle is one of the busiest train stations in the Pacific Northwest region and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Facts
- Capital city: Olympia
- Largest city: Seattle
- Area: 71,362 square miles (184,827 km²)
- Population: 7.8 million
- Date of statehood: 11th November 1889
- Rank of the admission: 42nd
Washington Folding Card
In 1916, William Edward Boeing built his first airplane together with Conrad Westervelt in a boathouse on Lake Union, thereby founding the Boeing Company – the largest exporter in the United States. Boeing's first airliner designed solely to carry passengers, the Model 80, was a was a three-engined biplane with 12 seats and eventually took off in 1928. This note of the 50 U.S. States Program depicts a portrait of Boeing, the Seattle skyline with the Space Needle observation tower, drawings of the Boeing Model 80 and King Street Station, the state motto "Alki" (meaning "by and by" in Chinook Jargon) and the year of admission to the Union.
100 Souvenir Dollars
Obverse: William Edward Boeing (1881–1956), aviation pioneer, skyline of Seattle with Space Needle observation tower, Boeing Model 80 airliner, King Street Station with clock tower
Reverse: United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., seals of the commemorative series
| Dimensions: 7.07 x 3.00 inches (179.50 x 76.20 mm) Material: Paper |
