AHC: Beast Mode-A Bigger Seattle

With a PoD anytime after 1785, how do we get Seattle to be one of the 5 largest cities in the US?

Bonus points for annexing Canada.
 
Getting it into the #1 or #2 spot might be tough, but 3-5 is certainly doable. Hell, even if you redistrict it and have a "Greater Seattle Area" that takes in some of the surrounding municipalities today you might get close to Philly's 1.5 million.
 
Massive Earthquake in California wipes out the other west coast cities in 1935.

Hollywood relocates, and growing tension with Japan causes US Pac Fleet to rebase to Seattle. Huge WPA investment in port facilities and rail connection. Explosive growth during WWII. People leery of California move to Seattle instead. Seattle annexes Bremerton and Tacoma.
 
Massive Earthquake in California wipes out the other west coast cities.

Actually an earthquake is a very good idea. The growth of LA was triggered by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. San Francisco's harbor facilities were damaged so shipping started going to LA and never came back. If the quake affects LA and San Diego too then ships would be forced to head north. That, combined with a long-term California longshoreman strike in the 1930 or 40s forces shipping to Seattle, the biggest major port open on the west coast. LA stays a midsized city and southern California is mostly open farmland and desert.

Interestingly, moving LA's population to Seattle would probably make California a much more conservative state. They'd have fewer congressmen but more Republican ones.
 
Massive Earthquake in California wipes out the other west coast cities in 1935.

Hollywood relocates, and growing tension with Japan causes US Pac Fleet to rebase to Seattle. Huge WPA investment in port facilities and rail connection. Explosive growth during WWII. People leery of California move to Seattle instead. Seattle annexes Bremerton and Tacoma.

Tacoma might have something to say about that. And Bremerton is across the water. It might be close in absolute terms but not in driving terms (an hour if traffic is clear). Rail wouldn't be much faster.
 
The US never obtains California, but manages to obtain the entire Oregon Country. In addition to being the hub of a larger unified Pacific Northwest, *Seattle would also be the only major West Coast port. The metro area would probably have a population of 10 milion+.
 
The US never obtains California, but manages to obtain the entire Oregon Country. In addition to being the hub of a larger unified Pacific Northwest, *Seattle would also be the only major West Coast port. The metro area would probably have a population of 10 milion+.
This is your best bet. Remove California from the American sphere and you shift the US Pacific hub to the Oregon Country. Add in American expansion north into southern British Columbia and you can merge or at least remove the competition of Vancouver as a Canadian port.
 
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