The Century 21 Exposition (also known as the Seattle World's Fair) ran from April 21, 1962, to October 21, 1962. Nearly 10 million people attended the fair. As planned, the exposition left behind a fairground and numerous public buildings and public works; some credit it with revitalizing Seattle's economic and cultural life. The site, slightly expanded since the fair, is now called Seattle Center.

This aerial photograph was taken during construction of the Monorail, built to transport Fair visitors between downtown Seattle's Westlake Mall and the fairgrounds at Seattle Center. In the center of the frame is the Westlake terminal under construction. Although monorail technologies have been in use for more than a century, in the public imagination they have always been linked to the "future" of transportation. It was appropriate, then, for planners of Seattle's Century 21 Exposition to include a monorail in their plans for the 1962 World's Fair.

John Fraser Vallentyne (1928-2002) was an aerial photographer for The Boeing Co. and a staff photographer for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in the 1950s-1960s.

Caption information source: "Monorail (Seattle)," Walt Crowley with Phil Dougherty, http://www.historylink.org/File/2524
Caption information source: "John F. Vallentyne, photographer, dies at 74," by D. Parvaz, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 1, 2002