Secrets of Seattle's Botanical Past - Online
Event Details
- When
- Feb 17, 2027 from 07:00 PM to 08:15 PM
- Where
- Instructor
- David B. Williams
- Class Tuition
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What did Seattle look like before the streets, neighborhoods, and skyscrapers? Towering Douglas firs were once a defining feature of the region, but they were only part of a rich and diverse botanical landscape. What other trees and plants flourished here, and what clues to that earlier world can we still find in the city today?
Join acclaimed author and naturalist David B. Williams for a fascinating virtual exploration of Seattle’s botanical past. Drawing on historical records, natural history, and clues hidden in the modern landscape, David will take us back more than 150 years to discover the forests, wetlands, and plant communities that once characterized the region.
Along the way, we’ll learn how neighborhood names, surviving old-growth trees, enormous stumps, and other overlooked features offer glimpses into Seattle’s ecological history. David will show us how to read these clues, revealing the surprising complexity and beauty of the landscape before the city grew around it—and how traces of that earlier natural world persist today.
Whether you’re a Seattle resident, history enthusiast, naturalist, or simply curious about the landscapes beneath our cities, you’ll come away with a deeper appreciation for the region’s botanical heritage—and a new way of seeing the familiar streets, parks, and neighborhoods around you.