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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 Spelger & Hurlbut Hardware delivery wagon, Seattle, circa 1900
Photograph

Spelger & Hurlbut Hardware delivery wagon, Seattle, circa 1900

Spelger & Hurlbut was a hardware firm run by business partners Frank P. Spelger (1864-1942) and Frederick Ward Hurlbut (1863-1936). The two men first formed their partnership in Louisville, Kentucky, and brought their business to Seattle in 1890, opening their first store at Fifth Avenue and Pike Street. In 1930 the partners retired and sold their firm to Ernst Hardware…
ID Number:SHS15944
Date:Circa 1900
Image of Heckmann & Hanson Ship Architects & Builders advertisement, circa 1895
Ephemera

Heckmann & Hanson Ship Architects & Builders advertisement, circa 1895

Ship architects and builders Heckmann & Hanson was established in 1893 by Norwegian immigrants C. Andrew Heckmann and Martin E. Hanson. The company grew quickly, with Mr. Hanson overseeing the shipyard and Mr. Heckmann overseeing the business. The company soon became involved in real estate at the recommendation of their lawyer Richard A. Ballinger, but by 1901 the company declared…
ID Number:SHS15988
Date:Ccirca 1895
Image of Shell Company gas station, Seattle, 1915
Photograph

Shell Company gas station, Seattle, 1915

This exterior image of Shell Oil Company's "Show Place" gas station was taken at Eastlake Avenue East and East Hamlin Street, looking West over Lake Union towards Queen Anne Hill. At the time gasoline sold for 12 cents per gallon. Caption information source: http://www.nacsonline.com/yourbusiness/fuelsreports/gasprices_2013/pages/100plusyearsgasolineretailing.aspx
ID Number:SHS17057
Date:1915
Image of PT&T operators working at Garfield Exchange, Seattle, circa 1921
Photograph

PT&T operators working at Garfield Exchange, Seattle, circa 1921

Telephone service in Seattle began with 90 customers in 1883. One of Seattle's original service providers, Sunset Telephone-Telegraph Company (later Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Company, then AT&T) built a new exchange building in 1921 to help handle what was by then 83,347 customers, making half-a-million local telephone calls every day. The Garfield Exchange was built on Queen Anne Hill at…
ID Number:SHS17731
Date:Circa 1921
Image of Ice cream delivery wagon, circa 1880
Photograph

Ice cream delivery wagon, circa 1880

Ice cream was a popular summer dessert even before electric refrigeration. Recipes for flavored sweet cream and iced creams appeared in many 18th century English and American cookbooks. Fruit such as lemon, raspberry, and orange were popular flavorings, as well as vanilla, honey, pistachio, and chocolate. The first commercial production of ice cream in the Pacific Northwest was begun in…
ID Number:SHS17804
Date:Circa 1880
Image of Diving support vessel and equipment, Seattle, January 29, 1924
Photograph

Diving support vessel and equipment, Seattle, January 29, 1924

In January 1924, divers from the Seattle firm Henry Finch & Son were called in to repair a broken six-inch water main running beneath the Duwamish Waterway. This image, from an album of photographs taken for the Finches, shows the firm’s support vessel and other equipment in the Duwamish Waterway at Front Street. Handwritten underneath image: Diver repairing broken 6”…
ID Number:SHS18659
Date:1924
Image of Diver holding a water main joint, Seattle, January 29, 1924
Photograph

Diver holding a water main joint, Seattle, January 29, 1924

In January 1924, divers from the Seattle firm Henry Finch & Son were called in to repair a broken six-inch water main running beneath the Duwamish Waterway. This image, from an album of photographs taken for the Finches, shows an unidentified diver on board the firm’s support vessel. He is wearing his helmet and holding a broken flexible joint from…
ID Number:SHS18660
Date:1924
Image of Butterworth & Sons funeral wagon, Seattle, circa 1905
Photograph

Butterworth & Sons funeral wagon, Seattle, circa 1905

After moving to Seattle in 1892, furniture maker Edgar Ray Butterworth (1847-1921) went full time into the undertaking business, motivated by the $50 paid to take each dead body off the street. A pioneer of the modern approach to the business of undertaking, he built the city's first custom-built modern mortuary in 1903, the Butterworth Block at 1921 First Avenue.…
ID Number:SHS18953
Date:Circa 1905
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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
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