On December 2, 1869, the Washington Territorial Legislature reincorporates the Town of Seattle. Seattle was incorporated once before, in 1865, and was governed for two years by a five-man Board of Trustees. The Territorial Legislature disincorporated the town in 1867 after most of the town's leading citizens filed a petition for dissolution. At that time, Seattle once again became a precinct of King County.

In the latter part of 1869, the citizens asked the Legislature for another municipal government, with a mayor and town council instead of a board of trustees. The Legislature reincorporated Seattle on December 2, 1869, issuing a new town charter that provided for a "more pretentious" system of government (Bagley, 546).