From his planter overlooking Stevens Way, his dour countenance glares out over passers-by, and does not seem to approve of what he sees. Who is this person, whose oversized likeness looms over the sidewalk?

James J. Hill: Mogul

James J. Hill, railroad magnate, seems to have only a tenuous connection to the Pacific Northwest, though his impact on the region was widespread. His home, and the home of his most influential corporation, the Great Northern Railroad, was in Saint Paul, Minnesota. However, Hill’s railroads and businesses helped connect the natural resources of the West to markets in the East. Known as “the Empire Builder,” Hill was noted for building a railroad without taking money from the federal government, making him unique among his peers. He would finance the building of towns along his rail lines, ensuring that his lines had markets at both ends. Hill also had a reputation for slashing his workers’ wages and was the target of several strikes.

While Hill displayed many of the quirks of character railroad barons were prone to, many of the people living in the Northern Plains and Pacific Northwest owed their livelihoods to him. Hillsboro, North Dakota, Hill County, Montana, and the Hillyard neighborhood of Spokane are all named for him. Hill himself only visited Seattle once, in 1909, to be the keynote speaker at the opening of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition and to witness the unveiling of the statue bearing his likeness.

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