Each year, the Fremont Old Timers' Association elected an honorary "Mayor" of their Seattle neighborhood. In 1954, Albert Paul "Bert" Williams (1876-1955), who had come to Seattle in 1888, accepted the honor. He remembered the Great Seattle Fire and also went to Alaska during the Gold Rush. The retired machinist recalled that when he moved to Fremont in 1901, it wasn't yet part of Seattle. Forests covered much of the area, and some people still hunted deer and bear in the woods around Green Lake.

Here, June Smith, president of the Fremont Old Timers' Association, presents the key to Fremont to Honorary Mayor Bert Williams.

Caption information source: The Seattle Daily Times, March 15, 1954.
Caption information source: http://fremocentrist.com/archives/135_07-16-10.html
Caption information also derived from captions written by Post-Intelligencer staff and attached to the back of the photograph.