This view of downtown Seattle shows the bustling Second Avenue at its James Street crossroad. The police officer in the center of the street has his hands full directing the many different kids of traffic seen here: pedestrians, horse-drawn carriages, horse-drawn delivery wagons, and even early automobiles.
The five story building in the foreground at the left side of the image is the triangular Hotel Seattle (built 1889-1890). Just beyond to the immediate north, across James, is the Butler Hotel. The buildings on the east side of the street are, from the right side of the image, the Crown Building (housing the Canadian Bank of Commerce), the Oriental Block (built 1902-1903), and the Alaska Building (built 1903-1904) on the corner of 2nd and Cherry. Painted on the side of the Oriental Block is an ad for M.J.B. Coffee. The company was founded in San Francisco in the late 1880s by Max James Brandenstein and his brothers. Their “M.J.B. Why?” ad campaign began in 1899. Ghosts of these painted ads can still be seen on older buildings up and down the West Coast. Although the company was sold in 2005, MJB Coffee is still available.
Handwritten on recto: Copyright 1907 by Romans Photo Co., Seattle Photographer's number: 8589
Caption information source: http://pcad.lib.washington.edu/building/5111 Caption information source: http://pcad.lib.washington.edu/building/8040
Physical Description: 1 photographic print mounted on paper : b&w ; 7.5 x 9.5 in.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant. Metadata updated as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.
