• 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

162 results for: Port of Seattle

Share:
Image of Pier 6, Seattle, circa 1915
Photograph

Pier 6, Seattle, circa 1915

Pier 6 (now Pier 57) was built in 1902 by John B. Agen and acquired by the Milwaukee Road railroad company in 1912. Known as Milwaukee Pier, it was used by shipping lines and other companies until the Port of Seattle bought the pier in 1968. Hal Griffith Jr. obtained the pier in 1989 and turned it into the attraction…
ID Number:1983.10.196.1
Date:Circa 1915
Image of Port of Seattle grain terminal, Seattle, circa 1927
Photograph

Port of Seattle grain terminal, Seattle, circa 1927

For many years, Seattle has been a major port for the shipment of grain from eastern Washington and other grain-growing states to the east coast and Pacific ports. In 1915, the Port of Seattle built a large grain elevator and storage facility at its Hanford Street Terminal, in the industrial area south of downtown Seattle. The facility was expanded several…
ID Number:1983.10.812
Date:Circa 1927
Image of Shozo Tsutakawa in front of the Japanese American Commission Company, Seattle, circa 1919
Photograph

Shozo Tsutakawa in front of the Japanese American Commission Company, Seattle, circa 1919

Shozo Tsutakawa (1877-1951) was a successful Japanese businessman who immigrated to the US around 1904 and started the Japanese American Commission Company, importing and exporting food and other goods to and from Japan. He was also president of the Japanese Commercial Club in Seattle. In 1919, Tsutakawa wrote an article in the Seattle Times about the huge growth in trade…
ID Number:1983.10.1617.1
Date:Circa 1919
Image of Shozo Tsutakawa in front of Japanese American Commission Company, circa 1919
Photograph

Shozo Tsutakawa in front of Japanese American Commission Company, circa 1919

Shozo Tsutakawa (1877-1951) was a successful Japanese businessman who immigrated to the US around 1904 and started the Japanese American Commission Company, importing and exporting food and other goods to and from Japan. He was also president of the Japanese Commercial Club in Seattle. In 1919, Tsutakawa wrote an article in the Seattle Times about the huge growth in trade…
ID Number:1983.10.1617.2
Date:Circa 1919
Image of Japanese silk weavers, circa 1920
Photograph

Japanese silk weavers, circa 1920

During the 1920s, millions of dollars of Japanese raw silk came through the port of Seattle on the way to mills in the eastern United States. From time to time, groups of Japanese businessmen and other Japanese citizens visited the city to promote the silk trade. In this photo, taken around 1920, four Japanese silk weavers in kimonos pose for…
ID Number:1983.10.1970.3
Date:Circa 1920
Image of Fall City High School, circa 1920
Photograph

Fall City High School, circa 1920

In 1908, James Stephen, Seattle school architect, was joined in business by his son, Frederick Bennett Stephen. The firm of Stephen & Stephen designed public school buildings from Vancouver and Port Townsend in western Washington to Wenatchee and Ellensburg in the central part of the state.This photo, probably taken in the 1920s, shows Stephen & Stephen's Fall City High School,…
ID Number:1983.10.2254
Date:Circa 1920
Image of Wireless operator at the harbor, September 1921
Photograph

Wireless operator at the harbor, September 1921

The Port of Seattle was very busy during the 1920s. The harbor radio station, call letters KPE, was located on Pier 1 at the end of Yesler Way. Ships leaving or entering the harbor radioed their estimated arrival or leaving times and other messages to KPE. This helped the port control ship traffic. This photo shows a wireless radio operator…
ID Number:1983.10.2280.3
Date:1921
Image of Snow vehicle, circa 1926
Photograph

Snow vehicle, circa 1926

Because Seattle was the closest major American port to Alaska, a number of Arctic explorers came through the city. Some tried out their equipment in the area. This photo, probably taken in 1926, shows a snow vehicle being tested near Snoqualmie Pass. This early snowmobile seems to have been part of the equipment considered by the British air explorer Hubert…
ID Number:1983.10.3112.1
Date:Circa 1926
Image of Steamship
Photograph

Steamship "Princess Kathleen" at the B.C. Steamship Company wharf, August 15, 1930

By the early 1930s, Seattle's waterfront near Lenora Street had roadways and parking areas on wooden trestles. Ships in the Canadian trade docked in this area. This 1930 photo shows the B.C. Coast Steamship Company's "Princess Kathleen" (right) at the Lenora Street Pier. The vessel carried passengers between Victoria, Vancouver, and Seattle. The "Border King" (left) carried general freight between…
ID Number:1983.10.4177.1
Date:1930
Image of Smith Cove terminals, Seattle, February 21, 1931
Photograph

Smith Cove terminals, Seattle, February 21, 1931

Originally home to a village of the Duwamish people, the area that became known as Smith Cove was settled by European Americans in the 1850s. Doctor, farmer, and territorial legislator Henry Smith (1830-1915) received a land claim of 160 acres on the deep water cove on the north side of Elliott Bay in 1853. Smith Cove, just south of what…
ID Number:1983.10.4369.1
Date:1931
Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 7 … 17 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