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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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1514 results for: City of Seattle

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Image of Sailors kissing girls on V-J Day, Seattle, August 14, 1945
Photograph

Sailors kissing girls on V-J Day, Seattle, August 14, 1945

Just after midnight on August 14, 1945, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer hit the streets with the news that the Japanese would accept the allied peace terms. Sirens blared, car horns honked, church bells rang and people danced in the streets to celebrate the end of World War II. The day of the victory over Japan came to be known as V-J…
ID Number:PI28300
Date:1945
Image of Sitka, Alaska, June 1897
Photograph

Sitka, Alaska, June 1897

Some of the shipping companies which carried gold seekers to Skagway and Dyea had already been carrying visitors to Sitka and other southeastern Alaskan ports. Sitka was settled by Russians in 1802 and was the center of their American fur trade. The city overlooks a sheltered harbor on the west shore of Baranof Island, nearly 1,000 miles northwest of Seattle.This…
ID Number:SHS29
Date:1897
Image of Chief Si'ahl (Chief Seattle), 1864
Photograph

Chief Si'ahl (Chief Seattle), 1864

Chief Si'ahl, known to settlers as Chief Seattle, became the leader of the Suquamish and Duwamish peoples sometime around 1810. When settlers started moving to the Elliott Bay area in the 1850s, Chief Si'ahl stayed friendly to the newcomers and urged his people to do the same. The city of Seattle was named for him.This 1864 portrait of Chief Si'ahl…
ID Number:SHS67
Date:1864
Image of Elizabeth M. Ordway, circa 1865
Photograph

Elizabeth M. Ordway, circa 1865

A shortage of women in Seattle in the 1860s inspired Asa Mercer to travel to the east coast to find women who might want to resettle in the new city. Elizabeth M. Ordway, nicknamed Lizzie, was a native of Lowell, Massachusetts. She arrived in Seattle in 1864, along with ten other so-called "Mercer Girls." Miss Ordway had a long career…
ID Number:SHS126
Date:Circa 1865
Image of Louisa, Madge, David, and Inez Denny, Seattle, circa 1858
Photograph

Louisa, Madge, David, and Inez Denny, Seattle, circa 1858

David Thomas Denny (1832-1903) and Louisa Boren (1827-1916) were members of the Seattle pioneers known as the Denny Party, 24 white people who settled in Seattle in 1851. The two married in 1853 in city's first wedding of European American settlers, and had eight children together.In this image David and Louisa pose with their children, Emily Inez Denny (1854-1918), and…
ID Number:SHS154
Date:circa 1858
Image of East-facing view of Seattle and the Alaskan, 1888
Photograph

East-facing view of Seattle and the Alaskan, 1888

Seattle in the 1880s was a rapidly growing city, aided in no small part by the 1883 connection with the Northern Pacific Railway Company. Lumber and coal were the primary industries, but the growth of fishing, wholesale trade, shipbuilding, and shipping also contributed to the town's economic expansion and population growth. The Seattle City Census of 1888 records population at…
ID Number:SHS201
Date:1888
Image of King County Courthouse courtroom, circa 1885
Photograph

King County Courthouse courtroom, circa 1885

In 1882, the government of King County occupied a wood frame courthouse at Third Avenue, between Jefferson Street and Yesler Way in downtown Seattle. In 1890, the county moved its offices up the hill to a new courthouse near the present site of Harborview Hospital and sold the old building to the city of Seattle.This photo by J.C. Haines shows…
ID Number:SHS215
Date:Circa 1885
Image of City of Seattle Health Office, Yesler Way, circa 1900
Photograph

City of Seattle Health Office, Yesler Way, circa 1900

The Seattle City Council created the position of City Health Officer in 1877. The Health Officer had the responsibility to abate nuisances affecting the public health and to prevent the spread of contagious disease, especially smallpox. Between 1877 and 1890, ten different local doctors served in the role. An amended City Charter in 1908 replaced the Board of Health with…
ID Number:SHS218
Date:Circa 1900
Image of King County Hospital, Georgetown, circa 1900
Photograph

King County Hospital, Georgetown, circa 1900

The Seattle City Council created the position of City Health Officer in 1877. The Health Officer had the responsibility to abate nuisances affecting the public health and to prevent the spread of contagious disease, especially smallpox. Between 1877 and 1890, ten different local doctors served in the role. An amended City Charter in 1908 replaced the Board of Health with…
ID Number:SHS222
Date:Circa 1900
Image of Commercial Street looking north, Seattle, 1865
Photograph

Commercial Street looking north, Seattle, 1865

Seattle was first incorporated by the Washington Territorial Legislature in 1865 with a population of 350 and an economy based on timber. This image, taken from about Main Street, looking North along Commercial Street (now First Avenue South), shows the Territorial University of Washington in the center distance, built in 1862 at a location now occupied by the Fairmont Olympic…
ID Number:SHS239
Date:1865
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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
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