• 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

253 results for: Washington Hotel

Share:
Image of Seattle Town
Music, notated

Seattle Town

The popularity of songs about cities prompted the Young Men's Business Club of Seattle to commission local composer Harold Taylor Weeks to write a song for Seattle. Weeks had already gained a national reputation for a number of hits, including his popular 1918 jazz song "Hindustan," which he wrote with Oliver G. Wallace. The Seattle Times reported that the composer…
ID Number:Lib1996.28.16
Date:1923
Image of The Bachelors' Club invitation, circa 1885
Ephemera

The Bachelors' Club invitation, circa 1885

The Bachelors' Club of Seattle, likely a social club for unmarried men, held its second “Social Party” at the city’s Arlington Hotel on February 16th; the day of the week would place it in either 1882 or 1888 as Washington Territory became Washington State in 1889. The evening featured dancing, card games, and a late meal for $2.50. The members…
ID Number:MS.COLL.148
Date:Circa 1885
Image of Seattle's Automobile Show advertisement, April 1916
Ephemera

Seattle's Automobile Show advertisement, April 1916

In 1916 the third annual Seattle Automobile Show was held downtown, hosted by the Seattle Auditorium Company, and featured thirty-three passenger models of twenty different makes, and eight motor trucks produced by six different manufacturers. Some of the standouts included a white six-cylinder Paige, a maroon eight-cylinder Oakland, and a Marmon with an aluminum engine. Also on display were the…
ID Number:MS.COLL.872
Date:1916
Image of Japanese Chamber of Commerce float in Potlatch parade on Second Avenue, Seattle, 1939
Photograph

Japanese Chamber of Commerce float in Potlatch parade on Second Avenue, Seattle, 1939

Seattle's 1939 Potlatch Festival opened July 25 and ran for five days. Its Golden Jubilee theme celebrated Washington's 50 years of statehood. Events included a Western horse show, an original play on the history of Seattle, visiting warships, a beauty contest and three parades. On the last day of the festival, an estimated 300,000 people lined the streets and watched…
ID Number:PI22619
Date:1939
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 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
Image of City Hall at 3rd and Jefferson, Seattle, circa 1900
Photograph

City Hall at 3rd and Jefferson, Seattle, circa 1900

In 1876, King County purchased a lot from Henry Yesler for the price of $3,500 and built the first King County building on county owned property. The two-story wood, stone and brick structure occupied the corner of Third Avenue and Jefferson Street (the present site of City Hall Park) and cost $17,000 to build. It housed the jail in the…
ID Number:SHS250
Date:Circa 1900
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 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's downtown before the Great Fire, Seattle, 1883
Photograph

Seattle's downtown before the Great Fire, Seattle, 1883

n the 1880s, Seattle's business district was near Pioneer Square. Loggers, miners, and others came to this part of the city to find work, supplies, and entertainment. Others came to Seattle to attend the Territorial University, which stood on a hill above the city.This photo, taken around 1884, shows the intersection of Commercial Street (now First Avenue South) and Main…
ID Number:SHS470
Date:1880
Previous 1 … 21 22 23 24 25 26 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