Washington's Highway 99For a century, the route of Highway 99 has been the main transportation corridor in western Washington. Forest and farm products, fish, and families have all been a part of the flow of business and recreational travel between the Canadian border at Blaine and the Columbia River at Vancouver. What is now Highway 99 originated as a loose network of muddy roads connecting early settlements. With the dawn of the automobile age and construction of good roads, travel for business and pleasure began to shift away from ships and railroads to trucks and family cars. Roadside services developed within and between towns to cater to the new type of travelers--as many as 1,300 "gas, food, and lodging" businesses lined Highway 99, ranging from primitive auto camps to luxury hotels and from simple burger stands to roadside eateries shaped like giant tepees and igloos. |
Contents
Acknowledgments | 6 |
Everett to Seattle | 29 |
Seattle to Tacoma | 65 |
Tacoma to Olympia | 97 |
Olympia to Vancouver | 111 |
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4th Avenue Alaskan Way Viaduct alignment AMHA Aurora Avenue Auto Camp Auto Court automobiles Battery Street became Bellingham Blaine Bothell bridge building built business district bypassed cabins café carhop Castle Rock Center Chehalis Chief Seattle Chuckanut Drive coffee constructed Coon Chicken Inn Cowlitz River downtown Olympia downtown Seattle drive-in Duncan Hines early Everett freeway garages gas station gasoline hamburgers Highway 99 Hotel House HSFW intersection Interstate JCO’D Lake lunch Marysville miles north miles south MOHAI Motel Motel was located Motor Court motorists neon sign Nisqually River Northwest Avenue offered old highway opened operated original Pacific Highway Park Peace Arch photograph was taken Puyallup Avenue Puyallup River remodeled renamed restaurant road roadhouses roadside businesses route Rucker Avenue Samish Seattle-Everett Highway Seattle-Tacoma Highway Seattle’s service station showers Snohomish River South Tacoma steak tourist town traffic Triple XXX Barrel turned south units Vancouver Washington WSA-PSR