Food & Drink
This Week Then: The Deadly Spanish Flu Pandemic Came To Seattle 100 Years Ago
Plus: Noteworthy events in the history of military aviation took place in Washington during this week in history
By Alan Stein September 20, 2018
This story was originally published at HistoryLink.org. Subscribe to their weekly newsletter.
Deadly Flu
One hundred years ago this week, on September 21, 1918, the worldwide “Spanish Flu” pandemic officially arrived in Washington with the report of 11 cases at Camp Lewis. Within two weeks, 700 cases were reported in Seattle, including one death at the University of Washington’s Naval Training Center. Meetings and public gatherings were canceled throughout the state. Schools were closed. By the end of October, six-ply gauze masks were mandatory for anyone who dared venture outside.
The flu remained prevalent until the spring of 1919, when the disease disappeared as quickly as it had arrived, but it remains the most widespread and lethal outbreak of disease to afflict humankind worldwide in recorded history. Nearly 5,000 people were killed in Washington and, while the death toll was highest in the state’s most populous cities — 1,441 people died in Seattle, and 428 flu deaths were recorded in Spokane — the pandemic touched nearly every community. Outside of Washington the numbers are even more staggering. More than 500,000 people died nationwide, and the worldwide death toll soared into the tens of millions.
But numbers don’t tell the human story behind the tragedy. This week we end our examination of the 1918 pandemic with a look back at three lives affected by its course: singer Linnie Love, who was stricken performing for troops at Camp Lewis; journalist Emmett Watson, who lost his mother and twin brother to the influenza; and noted author Mary McCarthy, who with her brothers was orphaned in the epidemic and later wrote of the difficulties she faced afterward.
Where Planes Flew
Two noteworthy events in the history of military aviation took place in Washington on September 21, 1942. The first, at Boeing Field, was the maiden flight of the B-29 bomber, a top-secret aircraft that the Boeing Company had been working on prior to America’s entry into World War II. Although the project later suffered a setback, thousands of B-29s were eventually used in the Pacific theater and the Superfortress became the only aircraft to drop atomic bombs during war.
And as Boeing engineers watched the prototype B-29 take to the air, military brass were gathered near Oak Harbor for the opening of Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. During World War II, NAS Whidbey was used to train fighter and patrol-bomber crews, and it remains the navy’s principal air facility north of San Francisco and west of Chicago.
NEWS THEN, HISTORY NOW
Fishing Boat’s Yield
On September 20, 1888, the Northwest’s commercial halibut fishery began when the schooner Oscar and Hattie arrived at Tacoma with 50,000 pounds of the tasty fish. Thirty-five years later fish stocks had declined so drastically that the Pacific Halibut Convention was signed, and today the fishery is one of the world’s healthiest.
Fresh from the Field
Harvest season is here for farmers, and it’s a good time to show off their crops. On September 24, 1894, the first Washington State Agricultural Fair opened in Yakima. And on September 24, 1937, the Lincoln County Fairresumed in Davenport after a decades-long hiatus.
Oiled and Wheeled
On September 23, 1904, the Automobile Club of Seattle, predecessor of AAA Washington, was founded with 46 members and officers. This week also marks the anniversary of the Washington State Department of Transportation, which was created by the Washington State Legislature and officially came into being on September 21, 1977.