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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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768 results for: Businesses and Corporations

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Image of Master control room, Totem Broadcasters, Seattle, circa 1925
Photograph

Master control room, Totem Broadcasters, Seattle, circa 1925

KJR in Seattle, begun by amateur radio operator Vincent I. Kraft in 1921, was the first radio station to be licensed in the Pacific Northwest. Shortly thereafter, radio station KOMO began as KFQX in 1924, operated by the American Radio and Telephone Company, under the ownership of Roy Olmstead (1886-1966) and Alfred M. Hubbard. In 1926 KOMO was relaunched under Birt F.…
ID Number:1954.745.9.15
Date:Circa 1925
Image of Dexter Horton building during construction, Seattle, October 17, 1923
Photograph

Dexter Horton building during construction, Seattle, October 17, 1923

This image of the Dexter Horton Building in Seattle was taken during construction on October 17, 1923. When it opened the following year, the 15-story building at Second Avenue and Cherry Street was one of the largest office buildings in the country at 328,000 square feet. A protected historic landmark since 1993, the building was named for Seattle pioneer Dexter…
ID Number:1955.970.500.33.2
Date:1923
Image of Wilsonian Apartment Hotel lobby, Seattle, December 1923
Photograph

Wilsonian Apartment Hotel lobby, Seattle, December 1923

This image of the lobby of the Wilsonian Apartment Hotel in Seattle was likely taken just after the opening on November 26, 1923, in December 1923. The Wilsonian, located in Seattle's University District on the northeast corner of University Way NE and NE 47th Street, was the crowning achievement of real-estate developers Corinne Simpson Wilson (1867-1929) and her husband and…
ID Number:1955.970.500.36.1
Date:1923
Image of Birds Eye View of Seattle, 1889
Cartographic material

Birds Eye View of Seattle, 1889

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:1957.1280.7
Date:1889
Image of Bird's-eye view of Seattle, 1879
Cartographic material

Bird's-eye view of Seattle, 1879

Eli Sheldon Glover (1845-1909) was an inventor and artist who was active in San Francisco, Chicago and Tacoma. Many of his works are perspective maps, and he traveled throughout the west drawing "birds-eye" views of newly developed cities. This image of Seattle was drawn by Mr. Glover in 1879, and is the second-earliest overview map of the city known to…
ID Number:1957.1281.10
Date:1879
Image of Dexter Horton & Co. 10-year perpetual calendar, Seattle, 1903
Ephemera

Dexter Horton & Co. 10-year perpetual calendar, Seattle, 1903

Seattle settler Dexter Horton (1825-1904) arrived in Washington Territory in 1853, and after working at his uncle Henry Yesler's mill, opened a general store in Seattle. He also served as an informal banker, making loans and accepting deposits from loggers, trappers, and others. In 1870, Horton opened the city's first official bank, and in 1876, he built the city's first…
ID Number:1959.1788.6a
Date:1903
Image of Discharge centrifugal pump built by Moran Brothers Co. for U.S. Naval Drydock, 1895
Photograph

Discharge centrifugal pump built by Moran Brothers Co. for U.S. Naval Drydock, 1895

In 1882, Robert Moran and his brothers started a marine repair business at Seattle's Yesler's Wharf. By 1895, the company was large enough to do work for the U.S. Navy. In 1891, the Navy had opened a station, with drydock, in Bremerton, across Puget Sound from Seattle.Here, three men stand near a 42-inch centrifugal pump that the Moran firm built…
ID Number:1961.2439.1
Date:1895
Image of Orion Denny and John Pritchard outside Denny Clay Mine, Taylor, circa 1895
Photograph

Orion Denny and John Pritchard outside Denny Clay Mine, Taylor, circa 1895

The Denny-Renton Clay and Coal Company was founded in 1892 by Arthur A. Denny (1822-1899) when he bought out predecessor company Puget Sound Fire Clay Company. Clay's popularity over wood as a building material grew substantially after the Great Seattle Fire in 1889. Raw material was extracted with hydraulic mining equipment from heavy glacial clay deposits in Taylor, Washington (near…
ID Number:1962.2540.5
Date:Circa 1895
Image of World of Commerce and Industry at Boulevard 21, Seattle World's Fair, 1962
Photograph

World of Commerce and Industry at Boulevard 21, Seattle World's Fair, 1962

The Century 21 Exposition (also known as the Seattle World's Fair) ran from April 21, 1962, to October 21, 1962. Nearly 10 million people attended the fair. As planned, the exposition left behind a fairground and numerous public buildings and public works; some credit it with revitalizing Seattle's economic and cultural life. The site, slightly expanded since the fair, is…
ID Number:1963.3119.65ee
Date:1962
Image of Snoqualmie Falls Lumber Co., circa 1917
Photograph

Snoqualmie Falls Lumber Co., circa 1917

Lumber was one of the Puget Sound's main exports in the 1890s. In 1899, 200,000 board feet of milled lumber left Seattle every day by rail or ship for the eastern United States and various Pacific ports. Snoqualmie Falls Lumber Company began operations in 1917. The company, starting with some houses and a mill store, built a small community atop…
ID Number:1966.3827.2
Date:Circa 1917
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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.
Address: 860 Terry Ave N, Seattle WA, 98109
Phone: 206 324 1126
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