• 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

204 results for: Railroads

Share:
Image of Terminus of White Pass and Yukon Railroad at Bennett, British Columbia, August 5, 1899
Photograph

Terminus of White Pass and Yukon Railroad at Bennett, British Columbia, August 5, 1899

The White Pass & Yukon Route railroad reached the shores of Lake Bennett on July 6, 1899. For a short time, freight and passengers transferred to steamboats at Bennett which carried them to Carcross. There, they boarded the train again for Whitehorse, and transferred to steamboats again to get to Dawson, the closest port to the Yukon gold fields. Eventually…
ID Number:SHS41
Date:1899
Image of Icy tracks on the White Pass & Yukon Route, circa 1899
Photograph

Icy tracks on the White Pass & Yukon Route, circa 1899

Winter snow in the coastal mountains was a constant problem for the White Pass and Yukon Route railway. Subzero temperatures, icy conditions, and snowfalls of several feet were common. The railroad's snowplows couldn't always get through, and sometimes passengers had to help clear the tracks.This photo by Eric Hegg shows workers clearing ice from the tracks of the White Pass…
ID Number:SHS42
Date:Circa 1899
Image of Arrival of the first log shipment via the Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad, Seattle, 1880
Photograph

Arrival of the first log shipment via the Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad, Seattle, 1880

As Seattle grew, the trees on the hills above the city were gradually cut down, and logs needed to be hauled a longer distance to the sawmills along the waterfront. In this 1880 image, dignitaries pose by part of the first shipment of logs carried into the city by the Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad. Original photo copied by Webster…
ID Number:SHS330
Date:1880
Image of Waterfront from Beacon Hill, Seattle, circa 1898
Photograph

Waterfront from Beacon Hill, Seattle, circa 1898

The area south of downtown Seattle was originally made up of tidal flats; soil dredged from the Duwamish River and sluiced from the Denny triangle and Beacon Hill regrades was used to create this industrial area needed by area businesses and railroads. This image, taken between 1890-1900, shows what much of Seattle's waterfront looked like before the tidal flats were…
ID Number:SHS462
Date:Circa 1898
Image of Puget Sound tribal members at the Railroad Jubilee barbecue, Seattle, September 1883
Photograph

Puget Sound tribal members at the Railroad Jubilee barbecue, Seattle, September 1883

Northern Pacific Railroad Company President Henry Villard (1835-1900) visited Seattle shortly after he and U. S. President Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) drove the "golden spike" on September 8, 1883, near Independence Creek, Montana, symbolizing the completion of the of Northern Pacific Railroad. A celebration honoring the transcontinental railroad was held on the grounds of the Territorial University (now University of…
ID Number:SHS468
Date:1883
Image of Jackson Street looking east from waterfront, Seattle, circa 1892
Photograph

Jackson Street looking east from waterfront, Seattle, circa 1892

The topography of Seattle neighborhood now called the Chinatown - International District (CID) was altered drastically during the Jackson Street regrade from 1907 to 1909. About fifty-six city blocks were reshaped by the regrade, twenty-nine of them excavated and twenty-seven raised above the tide flats. On Jackson, dirt was mostly removed to lower the street nearly 90 feet at 9th…
ID Number:SHS469
Date:Circa 1892
Image of Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railroad locomotive
Photograph

Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railroad locomotive "D.H. Gilman," circa 1887

The Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern RailwayCompany 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 connecting…
ID Number:SHS1143
Date:Circa 1887
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 Waterfront and downtown, Seattle, circa 1887
Photograph

Waterfront and downtown, Seattle, circa 1887

Label on verso: Warner & Davis, Landscape Photographers, Front & Cherry Sts., Seattle, Wash. Ter.Typed on verso: Seattle looking south showing waterfront and railroad tracks before the fire 1889.SHS category: Views
ID Number:SHS1376
Date:Circa 1887
Image of Northern Pacific depot, Seattle, circa 1899
Photograph

Northern Pacific depot, Seattle, circa 1899

Between 1892 and 1906, the Northern Pacific Railroad had a depot on Railroad Avenue at Columbia Street. Many people who were headed to the northern gold fields arrived by train at this Seattle railroad station. In 1906, the railroad moved its operations to the new King Street Station. Typed on sleeve: Railroad station on Railroad Ave. and Columbia St.
ID Number:SHS2546
Date:Circa 1899
Previous 1 … 18 19 20 21 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