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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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141 results for: Great Seattle Fire (1889)

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Image of French gown shop at Frederick & Nelson store, Seattle, circa 1920
Photograph

French gown shop at Frederick & Nelson store, Seattle, circa 1920

The first Frederick & Nelson retail store opened in 1889, right after Seattle's great fire. By 1916, the company was doing so well that it built a large new store at Fifth Avenue and Pike Street, which many people thought was too far out of town. Frederick & Nelson was one of Seattle's landmark companies for over a century before…
ID Number:1993.43.22.67.1
Date:Circa 1920
Photograph

Colman clock tower in water, Seattle, December 21, 1936

The Colman Dock has held a prominent place on Seattle's waterfront since it was built by Scottish engineer James Colman in 1882. It was rebuilt in 1889 after the Great Seattle Fire, then expanded in 1908 to include a domed waiting room and a 72-foot clock tower. Struck by the steamship Alameda in 1912, the clock tower fell into Puget…
ID Number:2000.107.171.30.02
Date:1936
Image of G.O.Guy drugstore interior, Seattle, February 7, 1975
Photograph

G.O.Guy drugstore interior, Seattle, February 7, 1975

George Omar (G.O.) Guy brought his family to Seattle in 1888 and opened his first pharmacy at Occidental Avenue and James Street that same year. In June 1889, Guy was able to rescue some of his stock from Seattle’s Great Fire, and quickly set up business in a tent. Over the following ninety-nine years, the family expanded the business to…
ID Number:2000.107.172.02.01
Date:1975
Image of Map of Seattle, 1889, with Great Fire area drawn on top, circa 1990s
Cartographic material

Map of Seattle, 1889, with Great Fire area drawn on top, circa 1990s

This map of Seattle, prepared by Llewellyn, Dodge and Co. om 1889, presents a bird's-eye view of the city before the June 6, 1889 fire, facing northeast from Elliott Bay towards the Cascade Mountain Range. Here, a photograph of the map was created by Seattle Post-Intelligencer staff, and the area of the city affected by the fire indicated with an…
ID Number:2000.107.273.03.01
Date:Circa 1990s
Image of Frederick & Nelson, Seattle, circa 1918
Postcard

Frederick & Nelson, Seattle, circa 1918

The first Frederick & Nelson retail store opened in 1889, right after Seattle's great fire. By 1916, the company was doing so well that it built a large new store at Fifth Avenue and Pike Street, which many people thought was too far out of town. Frederick & Nelson was one of Seattle's landmark companies for over a century. It…
ID Number:2002.48.656
Date:Circa 1918
Image of Seattle and Environs, Eighteen Months after the Great Fire, 1891
Cartographic material

Seattle and Environs, Eighteen Months after the Great Fire, 1891

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. This color map of…
ID Number:2005.25.1
Date:1891
Image of Frye's Opera House ledger, Seattle, 1887-1888
Ephemera

Frye's Opera House ledger, Seattle, 1887-1888

In 1883, Seattle businessman George F. Frye and his wife Louisa Denny Frye commissioned the building of a first-class opera house for the growing city. Located at the corner of First Avenue and Marion Streets, the elegant 1300-seat hall opened in 1884. Frye managed the house himself. It featured performances by national and international touring groups and provided a gathering…
ID Number:2005.38.4
Date:1887-1888
Image of View from First Hill toward Elliott Bay, Seattle, circa 1885
Photograph

View from First Hill toward Elliott Bay, Seattle, circa 1885

This view from First Hill looking west and north toward Elliott Bay was taken before the Great Seattle Fire in 1889. The large white building in the center of the frame is the Central School, built in 1883 at Sixth Avenue and Madison Street, and destroyed in an 1888 fire; just behind and to the right of Central School is…
ID Number:2008.54.16
Date:Circa 1885
Image of View looking north toward Queen Anne Hill, Seattle, circa 1885
Photograph

View looking north toward Queen Anne Hill, Seattle, circa 1885

This image of the city was taken from the roof of Central School, and is facing north, with Seventh Avenue on the right, and Queen Anne Hill straight ahead. Smoke can be seen rising from Western Mill on Lake Union in the distance. On June 6, 1889, the Great Seattle Fire destroyed 25 city blocks, including much of what is…
ID Number:2008.54.17
Date:Circa 1885
Image of King Street Coal Works dock on Elliott Bay, Seattle, circa 1885
Photograph

King Street Coal Works dock on Elliott Bay, Seattle, circa 1885

This view of Elliott Bay is facing north and west. Seen here are two full-rigged-ships sitting in Elliott Bay; the King Street Coal Works at Second Avenue and Columbia Street, with the C&PSRR Co. (Columbia & Puget Sound Rail Road) Ocean Dock and Norther Pacific rail cars; and the edges of Ballast Island at the foot of Washington Street and…
ID Number:2008.54.23
Date:Circa 1885
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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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