Seattle: takes it easy: today's rapidly-growing city of coffee and culture has always taken pride in its solid roots of history.

Seattle's lovely landscape serves to promote its progressive yet laidback temperament. The hilly city of masterfully designed parks is framed by bodies of water all around and has a view of snow-capped Mt. Rainier to the southwest. It's hard not to stop for a bit to take in the view.

And perhaps it was this view of lush greenery and calm waters that urged a pioneering group to plant themselves here. The Denny Party, a group of five pioneer families from Illinois, established Seattle in 1851. The group laid temporary roots at Alki Point but moved soon after to what is now downtown Seattle. This settlement is commemorated by the current Pioneer Square.

A Native American who befriended these settlers and helped them communicate with other Native Americans may have been the first person to get rich quick from Seattle's commerce. Because of his role concerning treaties between Native American tribes and the settlers, Chief Noah Sealth (sometimes called Chief Seattle) was given $16,000--more than $350,000 in today's money--to use his namesake to coin "Seattle" in the 1850s.

But the treaties that Sealth worked out with the settlers would ultimately cause native upset. The Point Elliott Treaty, signed in 1855, ceded a large portion of the Native American land in western Washington to the U.S. government. A year later, Native Americans retaliated to being relocated, sparking The Battle of Seattle. Two settlers were killed.

Despite the growing pains of a new settlement, the settlers continued to establish themselves. Just 10 years after settling, the city founded what is now the University of Washington and published its first locally printed newspaper in 1863. The city saw exponential growth in the next few years. Railroads were completed, steamship services were initiated and ferries scheduled routes. Transportation brought in new commerce and people. The small settlement, with a population of 1,107 in 1870, grew into a port town of 42,837 by 1890.

The ports in the downtown area helped the district establish itself as a hub for commerce on the west coast. But a spilled glue pot in a cabinetry shop set a fire that burned down all 29 blocks of the business district in a matter of hours. The Great Seattle Fire destroyed all of Seattle's railroad terminals and most of its wharves.

Business and political leaders pitched in to form the company now known as Washington Mutual in an effort to fund rebuilding the city. The company quickly turned the devastation into prosperity by resurrecting the buildings and businesses consumed by the fire. But rather than demolish and rebuild, the city was built directly on top of the fire ruins, allowing scorched storefronts and abandoned roadways to exist below the street level in Pioneer Square.

It was these newly rebuilt businesses that would profit from the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897. The steamship Portland docked in Seattle, carrying prospectors returning from the Yukon carrying bags of gold. Word of the miners' success got around quickly and a stampede of gold-seekers began to head north. Businesses caught on and began marketing prospecting gear to these gold-seekers. The business of selling prospecting tools and equipment became a lucrative source of wealth for the growing city for several years.

The gold rush craze didn't last long. By 1901, prospectors had put down their picks and were comfortably back at home. But the rush did leave its mark on the transportation system, making Seattle more accessible than ever. This improved accessibility likely played a significant role in the population increasing five-fold from 1900 to 1930.

With the constant flow of incoming residents, the Seattle City Council had the foresight to commission an extensive park system to preserve existing greenspace and give Seattleites a place to recreate. The council hired John Charles Olmsted, the stepson of Frederick Law Olmsted who designed Central Park in New York City, N.Y., to implement a citywide parks plan in 1903. Seattle eventually realized Olmsted's vision of a 20-mile system of parks and fields, integrating the city's first neighborhood playgrounds. Olmsted continued to work with Seattle on projects until his death in 1920, when others in the Olmsted firm took charge. The firm made contributions to the city's public lands until 1941. Many of John Olmsted's original designs have been meticulously maintained to this day.

Not only was Seattle enhanced by recreation options throughout every neighborhood, but its infrastructure was improving because of technology. In 1928, Thomas Edison flipped a switch in New Jersey, lighting up the city's new streetlight system. The first highway bridge built in the city, Aurora Bridge, was dedicated in 1932.

After recovering from a 1949 earthquake that knocked down chimneys and cracked building walls, Seattle had proven itself a sustainable city of commerce and a booming metropolis. By the 1950s, it was apparent that the city was prepared to represent the country as a city of the future: Seattle was chosen to host the 1962 World's Fair.

The Century 21 Exposition played an important role in the identity of Seattle. Not only did the fair bring millions of people into the city, but commissioned the building of the Alweg monorail, the building that now houses the Pacific Science Center and the Space Needle, all landmarks to this day. The fairground is now the Seattle Center, the site of other important establishments, including the Seattle SuperSonics' KeyArena and the Experience Music Project.

The more recent opening of the Experience Music Project continued Seattle's theme of futurism through its architecture and progressive concepts. EMP is well suited to a city known for influencing the grunge music era of the 1990s. Some say that the isolation of Seattle bands and the rise of "Generation X" contributed to this musical development. The band Green River was credited with creating grunge, but more recognized Seattle bands of the genre include Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. The fact that Seattle is responsible for an entire genre of music is not shocking considering that the city has surprisingly deep roots in live music, specifically a dynamic (but rarely recognized) jazz scene from the 1920s to the 1950s.

Locals nurture this sort of creativity. Since 1973, law has required that one percent of all city capital improvement project funds be spent on the arts. Seattle is home to 34 museums, 30 performing arts centers, 80 theater companies and more than 80 night clubs and restaurants with live music. By walking through any neighborhood of the city, you can see and hear that Seattle has made itself a blank canvas for the culture of its people.

The people are as diverse as the city's neighborhood offerings. It is a melting pot of Asian-American populations and well-established Scandinavian communities, as well as African Americans, Native Americans and Latinos.

Seattle is now characterized as a major player in the arts scene, a hub of international commerce and the coffee capital of the country. Its people are admittedly bookish, frequenting the highest density of bookstores in any major city of the United States. But despite the success of local businesses like Amazon.com, Starbucks, Microsoft and Boeing, Seattle remains mellow and modest.

Maybe Seattle culture is good natured because of its solitude. Surrounded by mountain terrain that looks over an endless expanse of ocean, Seattle adds a little urban cool to its picturesque northwest plot.

Fun Fact:

Put a siren on that Schwinn! The Seattle Police Department was the first modern-day police force to use bikes in 1987.

Rainy reputation?

Seattle is actually 44th on the list of rainiest cities in the U.S., averaging 37 inches of rain a year. It gets less rain than Mobile, Ala., and Miami, Fla.!