• 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

393 results for: Central Area

Share:
Image of Mark Heilbrun skiing at Snoqualmie Pass, 1980
Photograph

Mark Heilbrun skiing at Snoqualmie Pass, 1980

In the winter of 1934, Seattle made national news by opening one of the first municipal ski areas in the country at Snoqualmie summit, championed by Mayor John F. Dore, a skier who envisioned the project as one that could lift his city's spirits during the midst of the Great Depression. The Ski Park grew, installing a rope tow in…
ID Number:Lib1993.20.168
Date:1980
Image of Skiers at Snoqualmie Summit, 1954
Photograph

Skiers at Snoqualmie Summit, 1954

In the winter of 1934, Seattle made national news by opening one of the first municipal ski areas in the country at Snoqualmie summit, championed by Mayor John F. Dore, a skier who envisioned the project as one that could lift his city's spirits during the midst of the Great Depression. The Ski Park grew, installing a rope tow in…
ID Number:Lib1993.20.262
Date:1954
Image of Bailey Gatzert School classroom after incarceration of Japanese Americans, Seattle, 1942
Photograph

Bailey Gatzert School classroom after incarceration of Japanese Americans, Seattle, 1942

Many of the students who attended Bailey Gatzert School in the 1920s and 1930s came from either Chinatown or Niponmachi (Japan Town). The school lost about 45 percent of its student body when Japanese Americans were incarcerated in camps in 1942. Handwritten on negative: Bailey Gatzert school. Handwritten on sleeve: Seattle - schools - Gatzert, Bailey (students).Date photograph was filed…
ID Number:PI25525
Date:1942
Image of Bailey Gatzert School PTA officers, Seattle, 1946
Photograph

Bailey Gatzert School PTA officers, Seattle, 1946

The leaders of the Parent Teacher Association at Bailey Gatzert School reflected the diverse backgrounds of the student body. In the late 1940s, the school children were 10 percent Chinese American, 20 percent African American, 5 percent Filipino American, 27 percent Japanese American, and 35 percent European American, with 3 percent Native American. Caption slip identified officers as Minnie Beach,…
ID Number:PI25782
Date:1946
Image of Aerial view of Alaskan Way Viaduct under construction from south, Seattle, 1957
Photograph

Aerial view of Alaskan Way Viaduct under construction from south, Seattle, 1957

Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct carried traffic over the waterfront area, linking the northern part of the city to the industrial area south of the central business district. The first unit of the elevated roadway, from Battery Street to Dearborn Street, was completed in 1953 and a southern extension in 1959. The Viaduct closed in January 2019 after being replaced by…
ID Number:PI27481
Date:1957
Image of Aerial view of the Central Area after snowstorm, November 22, 1946
Photograph

Aerial view of the Central Area after snowstorm, November 22, 1946

This aerial view of the Seattle's Central Area was taken after two days of snow blanketed the city in late November 1946. The view looks west across the Central District, toward Elliiott Bay. At the time, most of Seattle's Black population was concentrated in the Central Area because of housing and job discrimination, and restrictive covenants that prohibited the rental…
ID Number:PI27592
Date:1948
Image of Aerial view of the Rainier Valley after snowstorm, November 22, 1946
Photograph

Aerial view of the Rainier Valley after snowstorm, November 22, 1946

This aerial view of the Seattle's Rainier Valley was taken after two days of snow blanketed the city in late November 1946. The view looks southeast towards Mount Rainier, with Rainier Avenue South running upward from the bottom of the frame. Sick's Stadium is visible to the left of Rainier Avenue, in the lower third of the photo.At the time…
ID Number:PI27593
Date:1946
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 Soda fountain at Weed's Pharmacy, circa 1910
Photograph

Soda fountain at Weed's Pharmacy, circa 1910

Melvin Albert (Bert) Weed (1882-1964) began in the pharmacy business in 1898 as a clerk at the Bartell Drug Company. After college he partnered with Albert G. Keene and worked as a pharmacist at Lake Washington Pharmacy. Lake Washington Pharmacy became Weed's Pharmacy in 1910, operating in the same Central District location until Bert's retirement in 1958.This photograph shows the…
ID Number:SHS798
Date:Circa 1910
Image of Columbia St., looking east from 3rd Ave., Seattle, circa 1890
Photograph

Columbia St., looking east from 3rd Ave., Seattle, circa 1890

Seattle in the early 1890s was a rapidly growing city. The Seattle City Census of 1888 records population at 19,116, and although 1889's Great Fire leveled 116 acres in the heart of the city's business district, by 1890 the city's population actually grew to 40,000 inhabitants from the influx of people helping to recreate the city. Lumber and coal were…
ID Number:SHS1546
Date:Circa 1890
Previous 1 … 37 38 39 40 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