How Seattle has changed since JFK era

As most longtime Seattleites and historians know, President John F. Kennedy intended to visit the final day of the successful Seattle Century 21 World’s Fair on Oct. 21, 1962, but he didn’t.

As the online site HistoryLink puts it, “He bows out with ‘a cold,’ interrupting a nationwide tour to return to Washington, D.C., for ‘bed rest.’ This is a ruse.” In fact, he was dealing with the Cuban missile crisis.

With Americans marking the 62nd anniversary of Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas last week, it’s a moment to reflect on how the economy fared during his era.

In Seattle, Boeing was the city’s largest headquartered company and private-sector employer. It revolutionized jet travel with the introduction of the 707 in 1958. Seattle was “Jet City” for the jet age and jet set.

Boeing was a