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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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3379 results for: Seattle Photographic Co.

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Image of West Seattle grain elevator, circa 1895
Photograph

West Seattle grain elevator, circa 1895

Colonel Thomas Ewing, the major developer of West Seattle, foresaw a great industrial center on the peninsula. In 1890, Ewing built a grain elevator and hailed it as the key to Seattle's future as a worldwide grain exporter. Ewing convinced the Northern Pacific Railroad to build a trestle across the tide flats to reach his grain elevator. The railroad carried…
ID Number:SHS1053
Date:Circa 1895
Image of Steamboat
Photograph

Steamboat "Bailey Gatzert" at yard, circa 1890

The "Bailey Gatzert," named for an early Seattle businessman and mayor, was launched in Ballard in 1890. The luxury sternwheeler carried passengers on the Columbia River and Puget Sound and was one of the fastest vessels of its day. In 1920, the "Bailey Gatzert" became the first vessel to be rebuilt specifically for ferrying automobiles on Puget Sound. The ferry…
ID Number:SHS1076
Date:Circa 1890
Image of Grand Opera House, Seattle, circa 1910
Photograph

Grand Opera House, Seattle, circa 1910

Seattle’s Grand Opera House, at 213-217 Cherry Street, was designed by Edwin H. Houghton, a prominent Pacific Northwest theater designer. Owned by John Cort, the theater stood at the northern end of Seattle’s entertainment district. It was the city’s most important live theater when built, but its popularity declined as the city expanded northwards. It became a movie theater, and…
ID Number:SHS1107
Date:Circa 1910
Image of Yesler Way and Yesler's Mill, Seattle, 1873
Photograph

Yesler Way and Yesler's Mill, Seattle, 1873

Henry Yesler arrived in Seattle in 1852 and soon built the first steam-powered sawmill on Puget Sound. It was located on the waterfront at the foot of Mill Street, now called Yesler Way.This 1873 image also shows the Pioneer Drug Store and the Seattle Bakery. Yesler's Wharf, where lumber schooners docked, would be beyond the mill's tall smokestack. Title from…
ID Number:SHS1108
Date:1873
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 Laying the cornerstone of the Children's Orthopedic Hospital, Seattle, March 15, 1911
Photograph

Laying the cornerstone of the Children's Orthopedic Hospital, Seattle, March 15, 1911

In this image Anna Herr Clise, founder of the Children's Orthopedic Hospital Association, holds a trowel over the cornerstone of Children's Orthopedic Hospital's new 40-bed facility at Warren Avenue and Crockett Street on Queen Anne Hill. The man closest to the building is Rev. Dr. Samuel Koch, with Rev. H. H. Gowen to his right, and at the far right,…
ID Number:SHS1226
Date:1911
Image of Office area and laboratory in U.S. Assay Office, circa 1903
Photograph

Office area and laboratory in U.S. Assay Office, circa 1903

Gold must be assayed in order to determine its purity, and therefore its value. After extensive lobbying by Seattle businessmen, the United States government opened an assay office in Seattle in July 1898. Many miners sold their gold to the government at the assay office which sent it to the Philadelphia mint for making gold coins.This photo shows the interior…
ID Number:SHS1230
Date:Circa 1903
Image of Shorey's Books at 3rd Ave. and Cherry St., Seattle, circa 1895
Photograph

Shorey's Books at 3rd Ave. and Cherry St., Seattle, circa 1895

Legendary Seattle bookstore Shorey's was founded by newspaperman Samuel Fernald Shorey (1851-1932) in 1890 as a small magazine and cigar store at Third and James. Sam's great-nephew John W. "Bill" Todd Jr.(1914-2007) bought the store in 1939, and it was later run by his son, Jim Todd. Shorey's maintained its huge inventory even though the store had to move several…
ID Number:SHS1317
Date:Circa 1895
Image of Men posing in front of tent near Jacob Furth home, 1889
Photograph

Men posing in front of tent near Jacob Furth home, 1889

The Great Fire of June 6, 1889 was a significant turning point in Seattle's history and changed both the physical and political landscapes of the City. In this image men pose in front of a tent set up after the fire during regrading operations, in which streets were raised up to 22 feet in places, helping to level the hilly…
ID Number:SHS1359
Date:1889
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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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