> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.cascadepbs.org/llms.txt
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# How Seattle’s Logging Industry Birthed its Libraries
- URL: https://www.cascadepbs.org/podcasts/mossback/2026/04/how-seattles-logging-industry-birthed-its-libraries/
- Published: 2026-04-01T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-05-07T18:04:08.000Z
- Description: Logging pioneers Sarah and Henry Yesler helped create Seattle’s first library – and a tolerance for the unconventional. Knute Berger has the story.
- Author: Knute Berger
- Tags: Mossback, #podcast, #dovetail_1c984b47-071b-4420-831a-0eb61dd48ff0

Today, Seattle is a UNESCO City of Literature – and it’s been a literary city since its founding. In fact, the first local library was created even before the city was officially incorporated. 

Cascade PBS’s resident historian Knute Berger explored this history in a [**recent episode**](https://www.cascadepbs.org/show/mossbacks-northwest-2/episode/how-skid-road-birthed-a-literary-city-nkv3og/) of the *Mossback’s Northwest* video series, but there are more pages left to turn. 

In this episode of *Mossback*, Berger and co-host Stephen Hegg discuss their own love of libraries, the earliest books on Seattle’s shelves, the lasting literary impact of early pioneers Sarah and Henry Yesler and the unconventional couple’s remarkable connection to author Jack London. 

*For more on all things Mossback, visit* [***CascadePBS.org***](https://crosscut.com/mossback?ref=cascadepbs.org)*. To reach Knute Berger directly, drop him a line at* [***knute.berger@cascadepbs.org***](mailto:knute.berger@cascadepbs.org)*. And if you’d like an exclusive weekly newsletter from Knute, where he offers greater insight into his latest historical discoveries,* [***become a Cascade PBS member***](https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/134265/donate/1?ref=cascadepbs.org) *today.* 

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**Credits**

Hosts: [**Stephen Hegg**](https://www.cascadepbs.org/author/stephenhegg-crosscut-com/), [**Knute Berger**](https://www.cascadepbs.org/author/knute-berger)

Producer: [**Sara Bernard**](https://www.cascadepbs.org/author/sara-bernard)

Story editors: [**Sarah Menzies**](https://www.cascadepbs.org/author/sarah-menzies)**,** [**Adam Brown**](https://www.cascadepbs.org/author/adam/)

Studio recording: **Roger Basquette**