135 results for: Government and Public Services
Tin destination sign from Seattle street car, ca. 1910, "Summit 13 / 9 26th South"
Seattle had its first cable car line in 1887 that went from Pioneer Square to Leschi Park via Yesler Way and Jackson Street. More lines were built around the city and, by 1892, there were 48 miles of streetcar track and 22 miles of cable railways. Most of the early lines were independent and privately-owned. In 1918, voters approved of…
ID Number:1956.1114.u
Date:Circa 1910
Loving cup presented to John E. Chilberg, president of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (AYPE) in 1909
This cup was presented to John E. Chilberg, President of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (AYPE), in 1909. Chilberg, along with the other seven members of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, were instrumental in the planning and construction of the AYPE buildings and programs. The exposition was held on what are now the grounds of the University of Washington. It was a…
ID Number:1957.1208
Date:1909
Picnic basket with tea set, late 1800s
This tea set belonged to Kate Stevens Bates, daughter of the first Washington Territorial Governor, Isaac Stevens, and supporter of history in Washington's capital city of Olympia.
ID Number:1957.1219.1
Date:Circa 1880-1900
Bronze medallion for street lamp base, ca. 1928
Seattle sculptor James A. Wehn (1882-1973) designed this medallion which graced many of the city's streetlights starting in 1928. The year 1869 commemorates the incorporation of the city of Seattle. Wehn also designed the 1912 Chief Si'ahl (Chief Seattle) statue at the corner of 5th Avenue and Denny Way.
ID Number:1957.1228.11
Date:Circa 1928
Oil portrait of John Leary, ca. 1900
John Leary (1837-1905) was involved with virtually every major civic and commercial undertaking in Seattle in the 1870s and 1880s, including a law practice, real estate, railroads, banking, and publishing. In 1884, he was elected Mayor of the City of Seattle. Herbert Gobble "Harry" Shriner (1871-1941) studied art in Paris in 1891 and later worked in California. He was known…
ID Number:1957.1284.3
Date:Circa 1900
Bedstead, ca. 1865
This bedstead was brought to the new city of Tacoma in 1874 by George Neal Alexander when he traveled north with the railroad from Oregon. His house, one of the first built in Tacoma, was located where the Hotel Donnelly stands today. Later, Alexander came to Seattle and was the Street Commissioner from 1885-1888 and from 1894-1896.
ID Number:1957.1298.1
Date:1865-1885
Soda fountain chair from Seattle's main Post Office once located at 3rd and Union, ca. 1892-1910
Seattle's first post office was located in early settler Arthur Denny's cabin home with Denny as the first official Postmaster. Move forward fifty years to 1890, and the post office, having moved to various places, was then located in a building on Columbia Street that was constructed after the Great Seattle Fire of 1889. The first permanent home for the…
ID Number:1958.1449.7
Date:1892-1910
Straight air brake valve from Seattle cable car, 1912-1940
This type of air brake valve, made by the National Brake and Electric Company in Milwaukee, was used by Seattle cable cars run from 1912-1940 by the Seattle Municipal Street Railway, a city-owned transit network.
ID Number:1959.1618.44
Date:1912-1940
Ballot box with 29 white marbles and 8 black marbles, ca. 1880
This ballot box was used prior to the 1889 Great Seattle Fire by members of the Seattle Fire Department in order to elect volunteer firefighters. The box comes with 29 white marbles and 8 black marbles.
ID Number:1959.2208
Date:Circa 1880
Electric light globe, one of the first in Seattle and encased in crocheted "cozy", ca. 1880
This electric light globe is thought to be a part of one of the first string of lights to be turned on in Seattle. It is currently encased in a red crocheted cozy possibly done as a craft project or to protect the bulb from breakage.
ID Number:1960.2102.3
Date:Circa 1880