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This firm was led by three brothers, Louis, Abraham and Sigmund Schwabacher, of German-Jewish descent who fled to the U.S. to avoid persecution in their native Prussia. Louis Schwabacher first migrated to Mississippi in the mid-late 1850s and then to San Francisco in 1858. At this time, Louis sent for his brothers to join him. Sensing greater opportunity, the three resettled to the wide open Washington Territory c. 1859, and opened the first Schwabacher General Store in Walla Walla, WA, on 09/01/1860. This proved very successful and they soon expanded their wholesale business to Seattle, WA, and Portland, OR. The first Schwabacher and Company Store opened in Seattle in 1869; achieving rapid success, a second brick building opened on 10/24/1872. According to HistoryLink.org, "A wharf with warehouse attached was built adjoining the building one-half block west of Commercial Street at Elliott Bay." (See "Schwabacher's erects Seattle's first brick building on October 24, 1872,"Accessed 02/01/2013.)

This was the moorage where the first ship bearing Klondike gold, the Portland, returned on 07/17/1897. News of recent, large-scale gold strikes on the Bonanza and Eldorado Creeks, tributaries of the Klondike River, triggered what was known as the Klondike Gold Rush. Schwabacher and Company, longtime Seattle wholesalers, served as key provisioners for the departing miners.

PCAD id: 11535