It should be obvious to all that Seattle is a major port on the Pacific Rim. It has all of the makings for a good port. It has a natural harbor, thanks to be located within the Puget Sound. It is ringed with mountains, shielding it from the brutal Arctic winds. This keeps the water from getting iced over in the winter. A productive hinterland helps very much. In the eastern portion of the state of Washington is a cornucopia of goods, with crops like apples, cherries, mint, lentils, pears, grapes, and wheat. The Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area has its own products to boast, such as airplanes, paper, and light technology. A good hinterland, warm water, and a natural harbor, all of these things working in concert to make a perfect harbor. All of this is part of what makes Seattle what it is.
However, there Is still a wonder of why Seattle didn’t grow to have as large a population as New York City? Both cities had productive hinterlands, good harbors, and Seattle had a higher likelihood of being a useful port in the winter. Seattle has historically been a major center for lumber. William Boeing didn't come to Seattle by accident. He chose this location because of the ample supply of wood. The very wood needed to make airplanes, for which Seattle would get its nickname "Jet City", based on its Boeing airplanes. Tacoma didn't have paper mills for nothing. A by product of the lumber industry is paper. Seattle experienced a large amount of growth when the Klondike gold rush. Seattle was a major supply center for miners headed for Yukon and Alaska.
One thing to consider is that Seattle’s location created an interesting situation. San Francisco, not Seattle, was a major processing center for immigrants coming from East Asia. There were more immigrants passing through San Francisco than through anywhere else on the West Coast. While there were many Asian immigrants going to Seattle, there weren’t as many people passing through Seattle as through San Francisco. And this would nearly come to a stop as immigration from Asia was being restricted in the 1920s. New York had immigrants coming through Ellis Island, and for this reason, New York was the major stop for immigrants coming to the USA.
Seattle’s location on the railroads could have played a factor too. New York City was located close to other major cities. Philadelphia, Boston, and Baltimore were other ports located up and down the Atlantic seaboard, in relatively close proximity to one another. New York beat out all of these ports because of a productive hinterland. Goods sent through the port of New York could go up the Erie Canal and to the city of Buffalo. With Seattle, there isn’t an Erie Canal, but there is a way to transport goods from the east to Seattle, via railroad. Seattle has the hinterland and the warm water. However, its remote location has created a disadvantage. Between Seattle and Minneapolis, there were basically no large cities of any scale. The next big city of any scale, in any direction was either Portland or Vancouver (in Canada). The eastern USA was heavily populated, and had been heavily populated since the founding of the USA. This brings up two very important reasons why Seattle’s population hasn’t grown as large as New York City did. Seattle and New York both have similar reasons of why they became major ports. Seattle has a climatic advantage over New York. However, New York has age and a relatively density of population on its side.
However, why did Los Angeles grow to be larger than Seattle or San Francisco? Los Angeles never really had a productive hinterland until the 20th century? Los Angeles grew very fast throughout the 20th century. People were drawn to Los Angeles because of the sunny climate and the cinema industry. Aircraft companies started building facilities in the Greater Los Angeles area. Fruits grown in the area were being shipped. Oil was also discovered in the area.
In the end, what has made Seattle an important port is its commerce with East Asia. As long as certain goods are in demand in Asia, there will be goods coming out of the Puget Sound. There is not a guarantee that the oil in California will last forever. Because of this, if oil does go far below peak levels, then this could present a blow to the port of Los Angeles. This is not a blow that Seattle has to worry about.
Perhaps Seattle’s geographic legacy as a port is not in how large Seattle became, but in the fact that it was a great place to have a major port from the start. Its geographic legacy is having the geographic ingredients necessary to making a perfect port. These ingredients include warm water, a natural harbor, and a productive hinterland behind it. Perhaps this is why Seattle is a major economic engine in the Pacific Northwest. Perhaps its legacy is that of being a jewel in the rough.
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