Nevertheless

Post–statehood[edit]

Boeing B-17E Flying Fortress bombers under construction, circa 1942

Early eruption of Mt. St. Helens
Main article: 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens
For a long period, Tacoma had large smelters where gold, silver, copper, and lead ores were treated.^[58] Seattle was the primary port for trade with Alaska and the rest of the country, and for a time, it possessed a large shipbuilding industry. The region around eastern Puget Sound developed heavy industry during the period including World War I and World War II, and the Boeing company became an established icon in the area.^[59]
During the Great Depression, a series of hydroelectric dams were constructed along the Columbia River as part of a project to increase the production of electricity. This culminated in 1941 with the completion of the Grand Coulee Dam, the largest concrete structure in the United States and largest dam in the world at its construction.^[60]
During World War II, the state became a focus for war industries. While the Boeing company produced many heavy bombers, ports in Seattle, Bremerton, Vancouver, and Tacoma were available for the manufacture of warships. Seattle was the point of departure for many soldiers in the Pacific, a number of whom were quartered at Discovery Park.^[61] In Eastern Washington, the Hanford Works atomic energy plant was opened in 1943, and played a major role in the construction of atomic bombs.^[62]
After the end of World War II, and with the beginning of the civil rights movement, the state's growing Black or African American population's wages were 53% above the national average. The early diversification of Washington through the Great Migration led to successful efforts at reducing discrimination in the workplace.^[63][64] In 1950, Seattle's first black representative for the state's legislature was elected. At the 1970 U.S. census, the black population grew to 7.13% of the total population.^[65]
In 1970, the state was one of only four U.S. states to have been providing legal abortions before the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade which loosened abortion laws nationwide.^[17][66]
On May 18, 1980, following a period of heavy tremors and small eruptions, the north face of Mount St. Helens slid off in the largest landslide in recorded history before erupting violently, destroying a large part of the top of the volcano. The eruption flattened the forest up to 20 km north of the volcano, killed 57 people, flooded the Columbia River and its tributaries with ash and mud, and blanketed large parts of Washington eastward and other surrounding states in ash, making day look like night.^[67][68]