• 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

257 results for: Washington Territory

Share:
Image of
Photograph

"Seattle in 1865" photo with key to locations, Seattle, 1915

This hand-colored print of an 1865 Curtis & Miller photograph of Seattle was created in 1915 by E. Jenner for the Washington Title Insurance Company. Included in the display is a guide listing some of the landmarks visible in the image. The photograph was taken from about Main Street, looking North along Commercial Street (now First Avenue South). Visible at…
ID Number:1995.50.1
Date:1915
Image of Arrivals from Alaska, Seattle, December 25, 1952
Photograph

Arrivals from Alaska, Seattle, December 25, 1952

The 1952 McCarran Act combined various disparate United States immigration laws into a single statute. One effect of the law required that residents of the Territory of Alaska arriving in the continental U.S. had to prove their identity. Seattle's first test of the new law was the arrival of the S.S. Baranof from Seward, Alaska.Here, District Immigration Director John P.…
ID Number:2000.107.095.22.01
Date:1952
Image of Coast Salish group on beach, circa 1885
Photograph

Coast Salish group on beach, circa 1885

By the late 19th century, most Seattle-area Coast Salish peoples had been moved to reservations and were excluded from living in the city. Sometime before 1895, visiting Native peoples started camping on Ballast Island, at the foot of Washington Street. After 1895, waterfront development forced the encampment further from the central waterfront.In this photo, taken during the 1880s, a Coast…
ID Number:2000.107.096.06.01
Date:Circa 1885
Image of Aerial view of Foreign Trade Zone, Seattle, September 21, 1949
Photograph

Aerial view of Foreign Trade Zone, Seattle, September 21, 1949

Foreign-Trade Zones (FTZs) are duty-free, quota-free, secured areas in a designated customs “port of entry,” considered outside U. S. Customs territory and exempt from customs tariffs. The FTZ program was established in 1934 to stimulate economic growth and development in the United States by lowering the cost of international trade.This image shows two ships docked at Seattle's FTZ: the French…
ID Number:2000.107.173.01.03
Date:1949
Image of C.W. Parker's Military pass during anti-Chinese riots, Seattle, 1886
Photograph

C.W. Parker's Military pass during anti-Chinese riots, Seattle, 1886

During the mid-1880s, a nationwide economic depression led to widespread unemployment. Many white workers accused immigrants of taking their jobs. On the west coast, Chinese laborers were the targets of anger and mob violence.In the fall of 1885, anti-Chinese feelings in Seattle led to four months of riots aimed at driving the Chinese out of the city. Some Seattle citizens…
ID Number:2002.3.156
Date:1886
Image of Anti-Chinese riots, Seattle, 1886
Photograph

Anti-Chinese riots, Seattle, 1886

During the mid-1880s, a nationwide economic depression led to widespread unemployment. Many white workers accused immigrants of taking their jobs. On the west coast, Chinese laborers were the targets of anger and mob violence.In the fall of 1885, anti-Chinese feelings in Seattle led to four months of riots aimed at driving the Chinese out of the city. Some Seattle citizens…
ID Number:2002.3.410
Date:1886
Image of Henry and Sarah Yesler, Seattle, 1883
Photograph

Henry and Sarah Yesler, Seattle, 1883

Henry Yesler arrived in Seattle in 1852 looking for a waterfront sawmill location. Other settlers moved the boundaries of their land claims to accommodate space for the mill, its pier, and a skid road, now Yesler Way. Yesler's sawmill, the first steam-powered mill on Puget Sound, started operation in the spring of 1853. In addition to his mill, Yesler owned…
ID Number:2002.3.488
Date:1883
Image of Opening of Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railway, Seattle, circa 1887
Photograph

Opening of Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railway, Seattle, circa 1887

The Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railroad Company was formed in 1885 by Daniel Gilman, Judge Thomas Burke, and other Seattle businessmen. By 1887, it ran from the Seattle waterfront to Smith Cove, across Salmon Bay, and along the northwest side of Lake Washington. By 1888, the line reached Fall City to the east and Snohomish to the north, eventually…
ID Number:2002.3.936
Date:Circa 1887
Image of George F. Frye Master of Steam Vessels Certificate, 1873
Ephemera

George F. Frye Master of Steam Vessels Certificate, 1873

Born in Germany, George F. Frye arrived in Seattle in 1853 at the age of 20. Frye assisted Henry Yesler with the construction of his steam sawmill. Frye also became close friends with Arthur and Mary Denny, and in 1860 he married their 17-year-old daughter Louisa. Together, George and Louisa Frye ran Seattle's first meat market, opened the Frye Opera…
ID Number:2005.38.2.1
Date:1873
Image of Frye's Opera House ledger, Seattle, 1887-1888
Ephemera

Frye's Opera House ledger, Seattle, 1887-1888

In 1883, Seattle businessman George F. Frye and his wife Louisa Denny Frye commissioned the building of a first-class opera house for the growing city. Located at the corner of First Avenue and Marion Streets, the elegant 1300-seat hall opened in 1884. Frye managed the house himself. It featured performances by national and international touring groups and provided a gathering…
ID Number:2005.38.4
Date:1887-1888
Previous 1 … 9 10 11 12 13 … 26 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