60 results for: A.J.R.
Poster
First Grand Lottery of Washington Territory broadside, Seattle, 1876
Twenty-three years after settling in Seattle, pioneer lumberman Henry Leiter Yesler (1810-1892) was property-rich but cash-poor, so he came up with a plan to liquidate much of his property by holding a lottery. The lottery was authorized by the Washington Territorial Assembly in 1875 in an act that stipulated 10 percent of the proceeds should be used to finance construction…
ID Number:2016.84.1.3
Date:1876
Photograph
Office personnel at Pacific Coast Cement Company, Seattle, May 19, 1955
The Pacific Coast Cement Company was located on a 20-acre site along the East Duwamish waterway near Charleston Street from 1928-1947. The plant was designed to be easily accessible by highway, railroad, and ship along a private 460-foot wharf. At its peak, the Pacific Coast Cement Company was capable of producing 3,400 barrels of cement a day. Cement is mixed…
ID Number:2016.92.42
Date:1955
Cartographic material
Port of Seattle General Map Seattle Harbor, May 1915
The Port of Seattle commission was created by election on September 5, 1911, voted in by a wide margin. One week later on September 12, 1911, the new commissioners met for the first time and began planning and developing Seattle's first public harbor facilities, and later, a container terminal, the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and may other facilities that continue operating…
ID Number:2019.3.6
Date:1915
Photograph
Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company employees, May 9, 1949
The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company was a subsidiary of AT&T that provided communications services to most of the US West. It was founded in San Francisco in 1906. The first AT&T subsidiary in Seattle had been the Sunset Telephone and Telegraph Company, which began operating in 1883. Sunset quickly expanded and provided service throughout Washington, but AT&T decided to…
ID Number:2021.14.1
Date:1949
Ephemera
Territorial anniversary ball invitation, February 20, 1863
In 1853, the Territory of Washington was created from a portion of the Oregon Territory, and in 1863, right about the time the Territory attained its final boundaries, the residents of Seattle threw a tenth anniversary party to celebrate. Although not incorporated as a town until 1865, Seattle in 1863 was a growing community of about 300 white settlers (not…
ID Number:MS.COLL.556
Date:1863
Photograph
Members of Seattle Volunteer Fire Company No. 1, 2nd and Columbia, Seattle, 1883
The creation of the Seattle Fire Department (SFD) can be traced back to July 6th, 1876, when the all-volunteer Seattle Engine Company No.1 was organized. In 1883, the City Charter was amended to create and fund equipment, but not staff, for a centralized municipal fire department. The volunteer-based system persisted until pressure from the insurance industry and citizens after the…
ID Number:SHS323
Date:1883
Photograph
Photo of map of Seattle before fire, 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:SHS483B
Date:1889
Photograph
National Guard of Washington officers posing after the fire, Seattle, June 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. 100 acres of Seattle's business district and waterfront were destroyed. The burned areas were guarded and patrolled by members of the Washington National Guard from Seattle, Tacoma, and Port Townsend until June 11, 1889.…
ID Number:SHS685
Date:1889
Photograph
Firemen posing outside Seattle Fire Department, November 1889
The creation of the Seattle Fire Department (SFD) can be traced back to July 6th, 1876, when the all-volunteer Seattle Engine Company No.1 was organized. In 1883, the City Charter was amended to create and fund equipment, but not staff, for a centralized municipal fire department. The volunteer-based system persisted until pressure from the insurance industry and citizens after the…
ID Number:SHS700
Date:1889
Photograph
White Pass & Yukon Route train, trestle, and tunnel, circa 1899
The first leg of the White Pass & Yukon Route railroad line was the most difficult to build. Between Skagway and White Pass, the tracks climbed 2,885 feet in just 21 miles. This required several switchbacks and careful tracklaying in order to make the route safe and passable. A 250 foot tunnel had to be blasted through solid rock. This…
ID Number:SHS10117
Date:Circa 1899