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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.

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154 results for: American House

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Image of Friends at a house party, Seattle, circa 1943
Photograph

Friends at a house party, Seattle, circa 1943

In addition to his Seattle jazz club images, photographer Al Smith took many photos of family and friends in the city's Black community. Here, Smith photographs a group of friends enjoying themselves at a house party.MOHAI’s 2022 Curator’s Fellow Brittney Frantece explored the photographs in the Al Smith Collection for how they demonstrate Black worldbuilding in Seattle. Looking at this…
ID Number:2014.49.051.111.02
Date:Circa 1943
Image of Guests at a house party, Seattle, circa 1940
Photograph

Guests at a house party, Seattle, circa 1940

This image of a group of people at house party was taken by Seattle photographer Albert J. "Al" Smith, Sr. (1916-2008). A postal carrier during the week, Al Smith spent weekends taking pictures for his photography business "On The Spot." His photographs tell the stories of everyday people who shaped the dynamic character of Seattle, offering rare views into the…
ID Number:2014.49.051.119.02
Date:Circa 1940
Image of Woman standing on step in Japan, circa 1938
Photograph

Woman standing on step in Japan, circa 1938

Albert Joseph "Al" Smith, Sr. (1916-2008) was a photographer and prolific chronicler of life in Seattle's Central Area during the mid- to late-20th century. From a hobby begun as a preteen, Mr. Smith began his "weekend job" and photography business, On the Spot, in the 1940s, capturing life in the city’s African American community, the Central Area neighborhood, and the…
ID Number:2014.49.094.008.01
Date:Circa 1938
Image of Swedish-American family on porch of house, circa 1925
Photograph

Swedish-American family on porch of house, circa 1925

Between 1890 and 1910, large numbers of Swedes immigrated to the greater Seattle area. Swedes worked in the woods around Preston and High Point, in the Ballard mills, on the railroads building tunnels and laying tracks, in construction (contributing both labor and architectural skills), in the mines at Coal Creek, on the docks on Seattle's waterfront, and as farmers around…
ID Number:2016.59.66
Date:Circa 1925
Image of American House business card, circa 1877
Ephemera

American House business card, circa 1877

John Harte McGraw (1850-1910) moved to Seattle from Maine in 1876 and got a job as a clerk in the Occidental Hotel. According to his obituary, he became an owner of American House boarding house in 1877, though the hotel was destroyed in a fire in 1878. That year he joined Seattle's tiny police force and began a successful career…
ID Number:2018.3.3.57
Date:Circa 1877
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 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 Corner of S. King St. and 5th Ave S., Seattle, circa 1925
Photograph

Corner of S. King St. and 5th Ave S., Seattle, circa 1925

The Rainier Heat & Power Company was founded in 1912 by William M. Chappell (1867-1921). A successful businessman and gold prospector, he came to Seattle in 1900 to invest in real estate. The Rainier Heat & Power Co. maintained a heating plant and developed buildings in Seattle's Chinatown - International District. Rainier Heat & Power Co. is listed in city…
ID Number:Lib1990.21.12
Date:Circa 1925
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