• 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

200 results for: European American Settlement

Share:
Image of Dexter Horton National Bank Christmas card, 1920
Correspondence

Dexter Horton National Bank Christmas card, 1920

Seattle pioneer Dexter Horton (1825-1904) arrived in Washington Territory in 1853, and after working at his uncle Henry Yesler's mill, opened a general store in Seattle. He also served as an informal banker, making loans and accepting deposits from loggers, trappers, and others. In 1870, Horton opened the city's first official bank, and in 1876, he built the city's first…
ID Number:2018.3.3.60
Date:1920
Image of D.T. Denny & Sons receipt, 1890
Ephemera

D.T. Denny & Sons receipt, 1890

Seattle pioneer David Thomas Denny (1832-1903) came to the area in 1851 and with his wife, Louisa (Boren) Denny (1827-1916), staked a claim to the future site of Seattle Center. Mr. Denny pursued a diverse career as a farmer, capitalist, streetcar operator, and developer. He was also a well-regarded civic leader, serving as probate judge, King County Commissioner, Seattle City…
ID Number:2018.3.3.79
Date:1890
Image of Schwabacher Bros. & Co. receipt, December 31, 1877
Ephemera

Schwabacher Bros. & Co. receipt, December 31, 1877

Schwabacher Brothers & Company, a San Francisco general store and wholesale house, expanded into Washington Territory when they opened a store in Walla Walla in 1860. Within a short time, the firm became Puget Sound's major wholesaler of canned goods, dry goods and other materials to the logging camps, mill towns and farming communities. Their first Seattle store opened in…
ID Number:2018.3.3.95
Date:1877
Image of Marriage certificate of Amos Brown and Annie Peebles, November 5, 1867
Ephemera

Marriage certificate of Amos Brown and Annie Peebles, November 5, 1867

Seattle's population had more than doubled in the decade since the first families founded the city in 1852, however the population largely consisted of young bachelor men who came to work in the timber and fishing industries. In the early 1860s Asa Shinn Mercer (1839-1917), first president of the Territorial University of Washington (now University of Washington) and its only…
ID Number:2018.3.3.106
Date:1867
Image of Handwritten statement by Annie Peebles Brown and Elizabeth Peebles MacKintosh, circa 1900
Ephemera

Handwritten statement by Annie Peebles Brown and Elizabeth Peebles MacKintosh, circa 1900

Seattle's population had more than doubled in the decade since the first families founded the city in 1852, however the population largely consisted of young bachelor men who came to work in the timber and fishing industries. In the early 1860s Asa Shinn Mercer (1839-1917) decided to go to the east coast to find educated, marriageable women of good moral…
ID Number:2018.3.3.133
Date:Circa 1900
Image of Interview with Mrs. David Webster with letter to Mrs. M.J. Carkeek, Seattle, 1914
Correspondence

Interview with Mrs. David Webster with letter to Mrs. M.J. Carkeek, Seattle, 1914

In the 1860s, Asa Mercer, Seattle resident and founder of the University of Washington, traveled to the East Coast twice to recruit women to move to Seattle. The second group of women arrived in Seattle in 1866. Anna Robinson, a member of this group, married fellow shipmate David Webster. In 1914, Mrs. Webster was interviewed, probably by a member of…
ID Number:2018.3.3.134
Date:1914
Image of City of Seattle map, 1874
Cartographic material

City of Seattle map, 1874

Canadian-born Angus Mackintosh (1839-1904) moved to Seattle in 1870, when the population was a modest 900 people. Mr. Mackintosh discovered King County had no registry of property titles, so he began preparing abstracts and built an extensive business doing the same for Pierce, Island, and Whatcom counties. Later he expanded into buying and selling real estate, banking, and the Seattle,…
ID Number:2018.3.8.1
Date:1874
Image of Plan of Seattle in 1855-6, revised 1930
Cartographic material

Plan of Seattle in 1855-6, revised 1930

On the morning of January 26, 1856, the "Battle of Seattle" began when Native Americans raided the white settlement in what is now known as Seattle. Previously warned of the attack, most settlers had barricaded themselves in a blockhouse. The attackers were driven off by artillery fire. The battle was the penultimate event in a series of armed conflicts, known…
ID Number:2018.3.8.4
Date:1930
Image of Map Showing Buildings Along Waterfront Between Marion Street & Yesler Avenue, Seattle, circa 1895
Cartographic material

Map Showing Buildings Along Waterfront Between Marion Street & Yesler Avenue, Seattle, circa 1895

Seattle in the late nineteenth century was a rapidly growing city, aided in no small part by the 1883 connection with the Northern Pacific Railway Company (NPRR). In 1890 the city's population doubled from the previous year to 40,000, boosted by the influx of people who saw opportunity in rebuilding after Seattle's Great Fire. Expansion led to conflicts over the…
ID Number:2019.3.9
Date:Circa 1895
Image of Bell's 5th Addition to the City of Seattle, March 30, 1882
Cartographic material

Bell's 5th Addition to the City of Seattle, March 30, 1882

William Nathaniel Bell (1817-1887) and his wife, Sarah Ann (Peter) Bell (1819-1856), were members of the pioneering Denny Party, arriving in present-day West Seattle in 1851. The Bells helped to establish the settlement that became Seattle, settling north of the future downtown in "Belltown." Virginia and Olive streets are named for two of Bell's daughters, and Stewart Street honors Olive's…
ID Number:2019.3.10
Date:1882
Previous 1 … 9 10 11 12 13 … 20 Next

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