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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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406 results for: Construction and Urban Planning

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Image of Boring machine at Metro tunnel portal, Seattle, May 18, 1987
Photograph

Boring machine at Metro tunnel portal, Seattle, May 18, 1987

In this image taken at the Metro Bus Tunnel portal between Jackson Street and Main Street near Fourth Avenue, workers from Shaughnessy Moving Engineers and Atkinson and Dillingham Construction Company remove the last of two iron support beams that held up the huge new Robbins boring machine, nicknamed the "Mole," during transportation. At its starting place in this photo, the…
ID Number:2000.107.124.37.04
Date:1987
Image of Excavation for Metro bus tunnel at 6th and Pine, Seattle, January 4, 1988
Photograph

Excavation for Metro bus tunnel at 6th and Pine, Seattle, January 4, 1988

The Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (Metro Bus Tunnel) is a 1.3-mile-long public transit tunnel that runs underneath downtown Seattle. Constructed between 1987-1990, the $455 million tunnel originally built for buses was updated in 2009 to include light rail access.In this image, Pine Street at Sixth Avenue is shown being excavated once again for tunnel construction after it had been temporarily…
ID Number:2000.107.124.37.05
Date:1988
Image of Carpenters renovating bathrooms at Centro de la Raza, August 2, 1973
Photograph

Carpenters renovating bathrooms at Centro de la Raza, August 2, 1973

Seattle had a growing Latino population in the late 1960s, and activists had been pressing the city for a building in which to establish a Chicano community center. Tired of having their requests ignored, in October 1972 they took over the abandoned Beacon Hill School on 16th Avenue South and renamed it El Centro de la Raza. After a 75-day…
ID Number:2000.107.124.39.10
Date:1973
Image of Skid-steer loader clearing grounds for new Microsoft plant, Bothell, December 30, 1987
Photograph

Skid-steer loader clearing grounds for new Microsoft plant, Bothell, December 30, 1987

Microsoft, a multinational technology company with headquarters in Redmond, Washington, was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The company moved to Bellevue, Washington in 1979 and incorporated in 1981. The company has grown to become the world's largest software maker and a leader in cloud enterprise technology. This photo shows construction of a…
ID Number:2000.107.125.10.01
Date:1987
Image of Workers picketing for better jobs, Seattle, August 29, 1969
Photograph

Workers picketing for better jobs, Seattle, August 29, 1969

This image was taken as African American contractors and workers picketed at the building site of a research facility at the Harborview Medical Center, one of three major projects shut down for two days of non-violent demonstrations. Representatives of the Central Contractors Association, the Black contractors' union, spearheaded the drive for more and better employment opportunities in the construction industry.…
ID Number:2000.107.131.21.10
Date:1969
Image of Picketers protesting discriminatory loan practices at Liberty Bank, Seattle, February 15, 1972
Photograph

Picketers protesting discriminatory loan practices at Liberty Bank, Seattle, February 15, 1972

In response to urban problems of poverty and race in the United States, in November 1966 Congress initiated the Model Cities Program. The program's objectives were to reduce social and economic disadvantages in designated neighborhoods, provide training and employment opportunities, and establish health services for residents. Financial and technical assistance was made available to cities through the Department of Housing…
ID Number:2000.107.141.14.01
Date:1972
Image of Norm Rice and others touring the proposed Seattle Commons site, August 10, 1993
Photograph

Norm Rice and others touring the proposed Seattle Commons site, August 10, 1993

Seattle politician Norman Blann Rice (1943-) was first elected to the Seattle City Council in 1978. Rice served eleven years, participating as chairs of the Energy, Finance, and Budget committees, and was Council President for one term. From 1989 to 1997 Rice served two terms as the 49th mayor, becoming Seattle's first African-American mayor. Rice has remained a civic leader…
ID Number:2000.107.152.12.04
Date:1993
Image of Federal Reserve Bank branch under construction, Seattle, July 21, 1949
Photograph

Federal Reserve Bank branch under construction, Seattle, July 21, 1949

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco opened a branch in Seattle in 1917. After some years in leased space, the Seattle Branch moved into its own, purpose-built building on Second Avenue and Madison Street in 1951. The new bank had a two-story vault with 30-inch steel-reinforced concrete walls and an inner steel shell. This 1949 image shows the bank…
ID Number:2000.107.165.11.04
Date:1949
Photograph

City councilman and boy in cab of bulldozer, Seattle, December 2, 1950

In this photo, Seattle City Councilman Clarence F. Massart and eleven-year-old Jerry Abrams sit in the cab of a bulldozer during the ground-breaking ceremonies for Wallingford's new Boys' Club building at 1310 North 45th Street. The organization still occupies the same site. The Boys Clubs, now Boys & Girls Clubs of King County, was founded in 1943 and continues to…
ID Number:2000.107.171.09.07
Date:1950
Image of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center under construction, Seattle, August 15, 1991
Photograph

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center under construction, Seattle, August 15, 1991

Seattle's world-renowned research facility, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, was named for baseball great and hometown hero Frederick Charles "Hutch" Hutchinson (1919-1964). Begun as the Pacific Northwest Research Foundation in 1956 by Dr. William B. "Bill" Hutchinson (1909–1997), Hutch's brother, the Foundation was dedicated to the study of heart surgery, cancer, and diseases of the endocrine system. The center…
ID Number:2000.107.175.09.01
Date:1991
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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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