Forgotten history of Seattle’s longtime fireworks factory
Jul 4, 2019, 11:40 AM
Born in England, T.G. Hitt came to the Seattle area in 1905 and founded the Hitt Fireworks Company. The operation was based on a hill just outside Columbia City. Hitt became one of the foremost fireworks manufacturers in the country, known for elaborate public spectacles as well as small novelties such as "Flashcrackas." Hitt also produced special effects for Hollywood, including the burning of Atlanta scene in "Gone With the Wind." Hitt put on Seattle's July 4th fireworks shows from 1918 until 1974. (MOHAI, Webster & Stevens)
(MOHAI, Webster & Stevens)
Seattle Hitt’s Fireworks Company was a fixture in the Rainier Valley near Columbia City for much of the 20th century. KIRO Radio resident historian Feliks Banel spoke with Gloria Hitt Cauble, granddaughter of company founder T.G. Hitt, about her family’s decades of local history as providers of Fourth of July spectacles and other pyrotechnic pleasures for Americans.
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