This image of the Coliseum Theatre on Pike Street and 5th Avenue was taken shortly after the building's opening on January 8, 1916, during the second-deepest blizzard in Seattle's history. The Big Snow of 1916 came after an exceptionally cold January during which about 2 feet of snow had already accumulated. In early February a storm hit which added an additional 21.5 inches of snow in one 24-hour period. The new and heavy snow added ice, trapping trolleys and cars, freezing railroads, halting classroom education and businesses, and collapsing roofs all over town, including the St. James cathedral dome, which caved into its narthex.
Caption information source: Seattle’s Big Snow of 1916 dumped 38 inches in two days, Paul Dorpat, Seattle Times, February 18, 2016
ID Number: 1991.64.1
Date: 1916
Physical Description: 1 photographic print mounted on cardboard : 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. View the finding aid for this collection at https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv64650
Credit: MOHAI, Ben Paris Photographs and Other Material, 1991.64.1
