• 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

376 results for: Manufacturing

Share:
Image of Fisher Flouring Mills on Harbor Island, Seattle, circa 1915
Photograph

Fisher Flouring Mills on Harbor Island, Seattle, circa 1915

In 1911, brothers O. D. Fisher and O. W. Fisher began milling flour at the Fisher Flouring Mills on Seattle's Harbor Island in Elliott Bay. The grain silo and milling complex was one of the first facilities built on the artificial island after the island's completion in 1909. In 2001, Fisher sold the mill to Pendleton Flour Mills, which closed…
ID Number:1983.10.10459
Date:Circa 1915
Image of Building a ship at the National Shipbuilding Company, circa 1918
Photograph

Building a ship at the National Shipbuilding Company, circa 1918

Seattle had a boom in wood and steel shipbuilding during World War I, and employment was high. The city directory listed six shipbuilding companies in 1912, 24 in 1917, and 46 in 1918. This photo, taken around 1918, shows men working on a wooden ship's hull at the National Shipbuilding Company. Webster & Stevens number: 58830
ID Number:1983.10.10545
Date:Circa 1918
Image of Shipyard riveter, September 1917
Photograph

Shipyard riveter, September 1917

Wooden hulled ships had been built in the Puget Sound area for many years. Local shipyards began building steel-hulled ships when the United States entered World War I in 1917.//In this photo, a Seattle shipyard worker prepares to rivet a steel plate on the deck of a large ship. Webster & Stevens number: 59807
ID Number:1983.10.10621
Date:1917
Image of Launching of Alician at Todd Shipyards, Seattle, 1924
Photograph

Launching of Alician at Todd Shipyards, Seattle, 1924

Todd Shipyards (now Vigor Shipyards) was founded in 1916 as the William H. Todd Corporation through the merger of several companies, including the Seattle Construction and Dry Dock Company, the origins of which were established in 1882 when Robert Moran opened a marine repair shop at Yesler's Wharf. This image shows the launch of a new pleasure yacht, the Alician,…
ID Number:1983.10.11658.2
Date:1924
Image of Assembling buses at Pacific Car and Foundry, Renton, Washington, July 13, 1939
Photograph

Assembling buses at Pacific Car and Foundry, Renton, Washington, July 13, 1939

Pacific Car and Foundry Company (later called PACCAR) originally made its name building railroad cars for the logging industry. In 1936, during the Great Depression, the Renton, Washington, firm diversified into buses and trucks. Seattle and many other cities began to replace their trolleys and streetcars with buses powered by electricity or gasoline in the late 1930s, and Pacific Car…
ID Number:1983.10.13326.2
Date:1939
Image of Kenworth Touring Motor Coach, Seattle, circa 1937
Photograph

Kenworth Touring Motor Coach, Seattle, circa 1937

Kenworth Truck Company, now a subsidiary of Paccar, has been manufacturing medium and heavy-duty trucks near Seattle since 1916. The company also made fire trucks, and transit and school buses. In 1937 and 1938 Kenworth built five Kenworth Touring Motor Coaches. As of 2009, three of those are still in existence -- one in Sitka, Alaska; one in Montana; and…
ID Number:1983.10.13738
Date:Circa 1937
Image of Kenworth employees at lunch break, Seattle, June 15, 1944
Photograph

Kenworth employees at lunch break, Seattle, June 15, 1944

The Kenworth Motor Truck Company got its start building heavy-duty trucks for the timber industry. During World War II, the Seattle plant manufactured parts for the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and B-29 Super Fortress. The factory at Yale and Mercer streets was divided by a fence down the middle of the facility to separate the work being done for Boeing…
ID Number:1983.10.14851.10
Date:1944
Image of Worker inside Kenworth plant, Seattle, June 15, 1944
Photograph

Worker inside Kenworth plant, Seattle, June 15, 1944

The Kenworth Motor Truck Company got its start building heavy-duty trucks for the timber industry. During World War II, the company participated in many war-related production contracts. Beginning in 1943, Kenworth began making components for the Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" bomber and the B-29 "Super Fortress" at its Seattle plant. Three shifts of workers carried out subassembly work on the…
ID Number:1983.10.14851.14
Date:1944
Image of Kenworth employees playing table tennis, Seattle, June 15, 1944
Photograph

Kenworth employees playing table tennis, Seattle, June 15, 1944

The Kenworth Motor Truck Company got its start building heavy-duty trucks for the timber industry. During World War II, the Seattle plant manufactured parts for Boeing planes.This 1944 photo shows Kenworth employees playing table tennis, or ping-pong, outside the Seattle factory at Yale and Mercer streets. Note that the employees are predominantly women; during World War II, many industries employed…
ID Number:1983.10.14851.15
Date:1944
Image of Kenworth workers posing with airplane part, Seattle, June 15, 1944
Photograph

Kenworth workers posing with airplane part, Seattle, June 15, 1944

The Kenworth Motor Truck Company got its start building heavy-duty trucks for the timber industry. During World War II, the company participated in many war-related production contracts. Beginning in 1943, Kenworth began making components for the Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" bomber and the B-29 "Super Fortress" at its Seattle plant. Three shifts of workers carried out subassembly work on the…
ID Number:1983.10.14851.16
Date:1944
Previous 1 … 10 11 12 13 14 … 38 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