• Visit
    • Museum Accessibility
    • Community Access
    • Group Visits and Tours
    • Programs
      • History Café
      • MOHAI Mercantile Literary Series
      • First Thursday
      • Denny Lecture
      • Al Young Educator of the Year
      • Everyday Heroes
    • MOHAI Mercantile
    • Gourmondo at MOHAI
  • Exhibits
  • Events
  • Collections and Research
    • Collections Search
    • Themed Collections
    • Research Library
    • Image Ordering
    • Donate an Artifact
    • Curator’s Fellowship
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Membership at MOHAI
    • Gift Memberships
    • Corporate Support
  • Education
    • Field Trips
      • Self-Guided School Year Explorations
      • Creating Our Community
      • Cracking the History Code: Salish Stories
      • Cracking the History Code: Settling Around the Sound
      • Hands on History
      • Self-Guided Summer Field Trips
      • Homeschool Group
    • Portable Museum Program
    • Scholarships
    • Education FAQ
    • Primary Source Analysis
    • Online Curricula
    • Teen Programs
    • Idea Lab
    • Discovery Packs
    • Summer Camps
  • About
    • Annual Reports
    • The MOHAI Blog
    • Contact MOHAI
    • Opportunities
    • Leadership
    • Private Events
  • Donate
  • Tickets
  • Membership
HomeCollections and ResearchCollections Search

Collections Search

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.

Download lower resolution images directly from an item page. MOHAI offers high-resolution digital reproductions of photographs and other materials from our collections for personal and professional use.

We have many more items in our collections and not everything you see online is on view at the museum. We have additional materials online at the University of Washington’s Digital Collections.

MOHAI Statement on Harmful Content

Search by Collection

Not finding what you are looking for?
Ask the MOHAI Collections Staff

7 results for: City of Seattle, Harbor Department

Share:
Image of Ames Log, Issue 21, November 24, 1919
Ephemera

Ames Log, Issue 21, November 24, 1919

St. Louis native Edgar Ames (1868-1944) moved to Seattle from Chicago in 1895 and in 1916 founded the Ames Shipbuilding & Drydock Company in Seattle. The modern plant he built on Harbor Island covered 20 acres and included a floating drydock. During World War I the yard produced 25 steel tankers and cargo steamships for the U.S. Shipping Board, and…
ID Number:1981.7373.1
Date:1919
Image of View along Ballard Avenue with City Hall building, Seattle, October 19, 1925
Photograph

View along Ballard Avenue with City Hall building, Seattle, October 19, 1925

The cornerstone for Ballard's city hall was laid in May 1899, and the building was completed about nine years later, about the same time that Ballard was incorporated as part of Seattle. The building housed a jail, city offices, the fire department, community meeting rooms, a ballroom, and later, a police precinct. This view shows automobiles parked in front of…
ID Number:1983.10.12223.1
Date:1925
Image of South side of US Naval Reserve Armory, Lake Union, August 22, 1942
Photograph

South side of US Naval Reserve Armory, Lake Union, August 22, 1942

Built on the former site of a Duwamish village, the Naval Reserve Armory was announced in 1937 but trouble with funding delayed completion of the project for several years. The Armory was designed by well-known theater architect B. Marcus Priteca and William R. Grant. The Works Progress Administration, one of the New Deal agencies, constructed the building. Groundbreaking occurred in…
ID Number:1983.10.17273.3
Date:1942
Audio recording

Oral history interview with Edith Robertson, January 6, 1985

Edith Robertson was born in Kansas City. She moved to Spokane in the early 1930s and Seattle in 1933. She worked as a waitress and a beautician before going to work in the shipyards during World War II. In this interview conducted by Lorraine McConaghy for the Life on the Homefront Oral History Project on January 6, 1985, Robertson recalls…
ID Number:1985.134.20
Date:1985
Image of The City of Seattle Harbor Department Map of Central Waterfront District, February 1918
Cartographic material

The City of Seattle Harbor Department Map of Central Waterfront District, February 1918

Maritime trade was crucial to the city's economic development, and Seattle continues to be defined and supported by the harbor that has become one of the busiest ports in the U. S. This 1918 map of Elliott Bay depicts wharves and businesses along the waterfront, as well as and water depths (soundings) along piers and in Elliott Bay. Each street,…
ID Number:2000.87.34
Date:1918
Image of City of Seattle Harbor Department Map of Central Waterfront District, August 1916
Cartographic material

City of Seattle Harbor Department Map of Central Waterfront District, August 1916

Maritime trade was crucial to the city's economic development, and Seattle continues to be defined and supported by the harbor that has become one of the busiest ports in the U. S. This 1916 map of Elliott Bay depicts wharves and businesses along the waterfront, as well as and water depths (soundings) along piers and in Elliott Bay. Each street,…
ID Number:2019.3.17
Date:1916
Image of Seattle Tide Lands, Volume Two, index, 1894-1896
Cartographic material

Seattle Tide Lands, Volume Two, index, 1894-1896

Seattle in the late nineteenth century was a rapidly growing city, aided in no small part by the 1883 connection to the rest of the country by the Northern Pacific Railway Company (NPRR). Additionally, the city's population doubled in 1890 from the previous year to 40,000, boosted by the influx of people who saw opportunity in rebuilding after Seattle's Great…
ID Number:2019.3.23.1
Date:1894-1895

Land Acknowledgement

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
  • Plan a Visit
  • Directions and Parking
  • Accessibility
  • Group Tours
  • About

Sign up to Receive our Newsletter

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright 2026, Museum of History & Industry. All Rights Reserved