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Explore stories in Northwest history through highlights from MOHAI’s collections. Search by keyword below or browse the entire online collection by entering the asterisk symbol (*). Filter your search by type of materials.

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35 results for: Lumber and Logging

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Image of Wooden trunk belonging to Henry Yesler, ca. 1855

Wooden trunk belonging to Henry Yesler, ca. 1855

Henry Yesler (1810-1892) made this trunk and brought it with him on his first trip west to Seattle, arriving in 1852. He soon built the first steam-powered sawmill on Puget Sound, helping to turn a small collection of houses into a thriving town. He also helped establish the Seattle Water Company and was a partner in the gaslight business that…
ID Number:1949.49.1
Date:Circa 1855
Image of Oil landscape painting featuring a Foss tug chugging across Commencement Bay in Tacoma, Washington, ca. 1930-1940

Oil landscape painting featuring a Foss tug chugging across Commencement Bay in Tacoma, Washington, ca. 1930-1940

The tug Justine Foss, named for youngest daughter of Wedell and Edith Foss, leaves Tacoma Harbor. An industrialized shoreline including Hooker Chemicals, the St. Regis pulp mill, St. Paul lumber mill and Dickman Lumber, sprawls beneath the pristine backdrop of Mount Rainier. To the left is a big log dump where enormous “cigar” log rafts arrived from the Olympic Peninsula.…
ID Number:1953.299.a
Date:Circa 1930-1940
Image of Douglas fir cross section cut near Eatonville, Washington, and dated to about 800 years old

Douglas fir cross section cut near Eatonville, Washington, and dated to about 800 years old

The Douglas fir from which this cross section was cut grew for 778 years in the lower Cascades region of Washington State. The lighter coloring at the outer edge indicates the section that is younger and contains less resin. The fir was cut and a section saved for MOHAI by Weyerhaueuser Timber Company. The age was determined by the Institute…
ID Number:1955.1404
Date:Circa 12th century
Image of Miniature saw, souvenir of Labor Day, 1890

Miniature saw, souvenir of Labor Day, 1890

This small saw is inscribed "Labor Day Souvenir // Seattle, September 1, 1890." Saws were used both in logging and shipbuilding, two of Seattle’s most important 19th-century industries. The idea of “a general holiday for the laboring classes” was first proposed in the early 1880s and quickly gained steam across the country. It became an official federal holiday in 1894.
ID Number:1958.1521.3
Date:1890
Image of

"Lumberman's Day, July 3rd" pin from the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (AYPE), 1909

The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (AYPE) was a world's fair held in Seattle in 1909. It publicized the development of the Pacific Northwest and positioned Seattle as a gateway to Alaska and the Pacific Rim. Each day of the fair was dedicated to a special individual or group. This pin is from “Lumberman’s Day” on July 3rd.
ID Number:1960.1818.2
Date:1909
Image of Oil portrait of Henry Yesler by unknown artist, ca. 1850-1890

Oil portrait of Henry Yesler by unknown artist, ca. 1850-1890

On July 8, 1885, voters elected Henry Yesler (1810-1892) as mayor of the City of Seattle. Yesler had served a previous one-year term beginning in 1874. His total education consisted of a few years in a log-cabin school, but when he arrived in Seattle in 1852, he turned the place into a real town instead of a collection of a…
ID Number:1960.1924
Date:Circa 1850-1890
Image of Oil portrait of Joshua Green and Dwight Merrill by Charles J. Fox, ca. 1950

Oil portrait of Joshua Green and Dwight Merrill by Charles J. Fox, ca. 1950

Joshua Green (1869–1975) was a sternwheeler captain, businessman, and eventually an established banker, purchasing the Peoples Savings Bank in Seattle in 1925. He changed the name to Peoples Bank and Trust Co. two years later. Richard Dwight (R.D.) Merrill (1869-1964), came to the Pacific Northwest in the 1890's to establish timber holdings. His father had formed the Merrill and Ring…
ID Number:1960.1963
Date:Circa 1950
Image of Bedstead brought to Seattle by Captain Renton ca. 1850s

Bedstead brought to Seattle by Captain Renton ca. 1850s

Captain William Renton and his family sailed from the East Coast, around Cape Horn, and up to San Francisco in 1850. The family then moved to the Puget Sound where he owned a sawmill until 1863, when he relocated to Blakely harbor on Bainbridge Island and established the Port Blakely Mill Company. He was a major investor in the coal…
ID Number:1960.2014.4
Date:Circa 1850
Image of Pair of brown leather logging boots, 1950

Pair of brown leather logging boots, 1950

These logging "cork" boots were handmade by Currin-Greene Shoe Co. in Seattle.
ID Number:1962.2545
Date:Circa 1950
Image of Box made from wood from Yesler's Mill, ca. 1909

Box made from wood from Yesler's Mill, ca. 1909

Henry Yesler built the first steam-powered sawmill in Seattle in 1852. It was instrumental in developing this small white settler town into a thriving city. The mill burned down in the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, but wood from the mill was found during the excavation of the public comfort station at Pioneer Place in 1909. This box was made…
ID Number:1963.3093.1
Date:Circa 1909
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MOHAI stands on the historic and contemporary lands and shores of the Duwamish, Suquamish, Muckleshoot, and other Coast Salish Nations. We acknowledge the forced displacement of Native Communities from this land while honoring the endurance of the Duwamish people who still live here.
Address: 860 Terry Ave N, Seattle WA, 98109
Phone: 206 324 1126
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