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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.

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.

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154 results for: American House

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Image of Chin Gee Hee, Chinese labor contractor, circa 1904
Photograph

Chin Gee Hee, Chinese labor contractor, circa 1904

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Chinese labor contractors brought thousands of Chinese men to the Pacific Northwest to build railroads and to work in canneries, logging camps and coal mines. Companies depended on labor contractors to recruit workers, to move them where they were needed, to feed and house them, and to keep track of their pay.…
ID Number:SHS1152
Date:1901
Image of George Frederick Frye, Seattle, circa 1888
Photograph

George Frederick Frye, Seattle, circa 1888

Born in Germany, George Frederick Frye came to Seattle in 1853, where he worked with Henry Yesler at his lumber mill. After marrying Louisa Denny in 1860, the couple operated a meat market and bakery, built and invested in real estate, and established the Frye Opera House. They had architects Bebb & Mendel design the 11-story Frye Hotel, which was…
ID Number:SHS2814
Date:Circa 1888
Image of Waterfront and downtown, Seattle, 1888
Photograph

Waterfront and downtown, Seattle, 1888

Signs in image: Our House. Clothiers. Safe Deposit Co. Gordon Hardware Co. Seattle Hardware Co. The Arcade - W.P. Boyd & Co. Drugs - [Asten?] & Co. Columbia House [...]. San Francisco Store - Dry Goods. St. Elmo Hotel. New England Hotel. Live Stable.Caption on mount: Peiser - 817 and 819 Second Street, Seattle, W.T.Caption on verso: First-class Work Guaranteed,…
ID Number:SHS7637
Date:1888
Image of Mayor Bertha Landes breaking ground for the Civic Auditorium, Seattle, November 7, 1927
Photograph

Mayor Bertha Landes breaking ground for the Civic Auditorium, Seattle, November 7, 1927

Seattle Mayor Bertha K. Landes broke ground for the city's new Civic Auditorium and Stadium in November 1927. The complex, at what is now Seattle Center, was completed the following year. Mayor Landes, who served from 1926 to 1928, was the first female mayor of a major American city. The Civic Auditorium later became the Seattle Center Opera House and…
ID Number:SHS8480
Date:1927
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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.
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