The first bicycle to ever make it into Washington Territory arrived on this day in 1879, according to History Link:
On November 14, 1879, the first bicycle ever seen in Washington Territory arrives in Seattle aboard a steamer from San Francisco via Portland.
Seattle Merchant William H. Pumphrey displayed the boy’s size two-wheeler in front of his store at 617 Front Street (later 1st Avenue). On November 18, 1879, Jules Lipsky bought the bicycle for his son.
I almost feel bad for the Lipsky kid. It can’t be that fun being the only kid in town with a bicycle (also, there were no roads).
For more on early Seattle cycling, this MOHAI video from the spring is worth re-watching: