Nestled beneath the waters, islands, and inlets of Puget Sound, the Jewel of the Northwest bustles at the center of a prosperous metropolis.

Having survived boom and bust, fires, and labor unrest, Seattle was hard-hit during the Depression. The drop in global trade, the protectionism of the Hoover administration, and violent labor strife put the hammer on the city's once-bustling maritime traffic. The city's slow recovery was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War, bringing with it both government contracts and renewed prosperity, even as it shattered its nascent Japanese community.

Once a boomtown for logging and timber, Seattle now thrives beneath the mushrooming of jet-age industry and plentiful government contracts. A fact distinctly exemplified by the newly built Space Needle, an unmistakable sight in the city's skyline. The city's docks, however, remain barren. Once a hotbed of labor strife, isolation from East Asian markets has left Seattle's harbors as shadows of their pre-Depression selves.