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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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736 results for: Transportation

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Image of Front Street Cable Railway Company power house and cable cars, Seattle, circa 1890
Photograph

Front Street Cable Railway Company power house and cable cars, Seattle, circa 1890

In 1888, J. M. Thompson, a developer of San Francisco’s cable car lines, joined with Seattle developer Fred Sander to build the Front Street Cable Railway. The line ran along what is now First Avenue from Pioneer Square to Pike Street, and south along Second Avenue. Thompson and Sander later extended service to the north, up steep Queen Anne Hill.In…
ID Number:1980.6923.47
Date:Circa 1890
Image of View of 3rd Ave. and Pine St., Seattle, 1908
Photograph

View of 3rd Ave. and Pine St., Seattle, 1908

This image of the intersection of Third Avenue and Pine Street was taken facing southeast. Visible in the distance are the two towers of St. James Cathedral (completed in 1907) at 804 Ninth Avenue in the First Hill neighborhood. A transitional period in transportation is illustrated here, with a streetcar, several automobiles, and horse-drawn vehicles in evidence. Signs in image:…
ID Number:1980.6923.48
Date:1908
Image of Seattle waterfront from Elliott Bay, circa 1910
Photograph

Seattle waterfront from Elliott Bay, circa 1910

This image, looking east from Elliott Bay, features the working docks of Seattle's waterfront. Prior to the Great Fire in 1889 the piers had generally been constructed perpendicular to the waterfront. They were rebuilt according to the northeast-southwest angle, prescribed by City Engineer Reginald Thomson and Assistant City Engineer George Cotterill in the 1897 tidelands replat, which allowed more ships…
ID Number:1980.6923.96
Date:Circa 1910
Image of Columbia St. from Yesler's wharf, Seattle, circa 1875
Photograph

Columbia St. from Yesler's wharf, Seattle, circa 1875

Predating the settlement that became the city of Seattle, the Duwamish had a winter village of approximately 8 longhouses situated along the central waterfront, roughly at the intersection of present-day First Avenue South and Yesler Way. Henry Yesler established his steam-powered sawmill at the foot of Mill Road (now Yesler Way) in October 1852, and by around the 1860s, the…
ID Number:1980.6923.106
Date:Circa 1875
Image of Steamship Indianapolis ticket, circa 1906
Ephemera

Steamship Indianapolis ticket, circa 1906

The steamship Indianapolis was one of two ships used in the Seattle to Tacoma steamship passenger service. After a year working on the Great Lakes, the ship was sold to the Puget Sound Navigation Company in October 1905 and began running as part of the mosquito fleet in April 1906. The Indianapolis was a passenger transport from 1906 to 1938,…
ID Number:1980.6924.6
Date:Circa 1906
Image of Transit News, May, 1959
Serial

Transit News, May, 1959

The Seattle Transit System was created in 1940 to run the all-bus transit system for the City of Seattle. This department became part of Metro Transit in 1973, serving all of King County. This edition of the newsletter "Transit News" (Volume 2, number 9) covers funding and planning for the monorail, an appearance of bus operator James Wesselius on local…
ID Number:1980.6969.2.1
Date:1959
Image of Lake Washington floating bridge, Seattle, circa 1945
Postcard

Lake Washington floating bridge, Seattle, circa 1945

The world's first large-scale floating bridge opened for traffic on July 2, 1940. The concrete roadway from Seattle to the eastern shore of Lake Washington floats on pontoons which are anchored to the lake bottom. The bridge helped the World War II war effort by shortening the commute between Seattle's eastern suburbs and the downtown industrial area. It also helped…
ID Number:1980.7054.7
Date:Circa 1945
Image of Buses in front of Pay 'n Save and Woolworth's, on Fourth Avenue, Seattle, 1967
Photograph

Buses in front of Pay 'n Save and Woolworth's, on Fourth Avenue, Seattle, 1967

This image shows two green and white Seattle city buses in front of a Pay 'n Save drugstore at the intersection of Pike Street and 4th Avenue, in the Joshua Green Building. An F.W. Woolworth five-and-dime store is partly visible at right. The buses are the number 2 to Madrona, and the number 14 to Summit Avenue.
ID Number:1980.7067.1.1.1
Date:1967
Image of Sinking Ship parking garage, Seattle, circa 1967
Photograph

Sinking Ship parking garage, Seattle, circa 1967

For many years, the triangular Hotel Seattle stood in Pioneer Square at the intersection of Yesler Way and James Street, between First and Second Avenues. The hotel was torn down in 1962 to make room for the parking garage shown here. Built on a hillside, the garage’s slanted architecture gave rise to its nickname – “The Sinking Ship”. This image,…
ID Number:1980.7067.1.4.2
Date:Circa 1967
Image of View towards Pike Place market, Seattle, circa 1967
Photograph

View towards Pike Place market, Seattle, circa 1967

This image looks west along Pike Street across 1st Avenue toward the Pike Place Market, with cars stopped at a traffic light while a woman crosses the street. The Public Market Center clock and sign in the center of the image has been an icon of the Market since its installation in 1937. In the late 1960s there was a…
ID Number:1980.7067.1.21.1
Date:Circa 1967
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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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