Starbucks, Hendrix ... the list goes on

BY DEBBY ABE | The News Tribune • Published November 01, 2009

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Here are a few more of the iconic places, people, moments and things in the Icons of Washington History exhibit.

Ken Griffey Jr. Photograph of Griffey grinning under a pile of teammates after scoring the winning run in an American League division series playoff series against the Yankees in 1995.

Salmon. The bellwether species on the health of ecosystems and cultural icon for Native Americans.

A brick from Nunez Gaona fort at Neah Bay. Spanish explorers used Mexican laborers to build the first non-native building in the state in 1790.

Starbucks. The only liquid better known is rain, Nicandri writes.

A concrete core sample from Grand Coulee Dam. This public works project epitomized the “can-do” ethos of America in the middle of the 20th century.

Concrete remnant from original Tacoma Narrows Bridge: The bridge linking Tacoma and the Gig Harbor Peninsula opened July 1, 1940, only to fail four months later in a dramatic wind-induced collapse that was caught on film and influenced bridge construction for decades. The remnant from “Galloping Gertie” speaks to the most famous failure in state history.

Rain. This ubiquitous element of nature in western Washington is the ultimate source of our nickname: The Evergreen State.

Aplets & Cotlets. The fruity candy made at Liberty Orchards factory in Cashmere.

Microsoft. The software giant based in Redmond.

Jimi Hendrix. The electric guitar rock star from Renton.

Wines, wheat and fruit. The agricultural plenty from Central and Eastern Washington is known nationwide.

Crosscut saw. Emblematic of the state’s lumber industry.

Asahel Curtis. Photographed Washington over the pivotal period from the Klondike Gold Rush to World War II.

Clovis Points: Exceptionally large projectile “points,” or arrowheads, believed to have been made more than 11,000 years ago. Recovered near East Wenatchee, the points are the oldest known antiquities ever found in Washington.

Ezra Meeker’s covered wagon: Meeker and his wife, Eliza Jane, crossed the Oregon Trail starting in 1852, eventually settling in Puyallup. Late in his life, he conducted a series of cross-country re-enactments of the journey, in a replica wagon, to rekindle interest in the pioneer trail.

Debby Abe: 253-597-8694

debby.abe@thenewstribune.com