This aerial photograph of the Seattle waterfront features the Polynesian Restaurant, built at the end of Pier 51 (third from right in this photo). The restaurant was completed in June 1961, in time for the following year’s infusion of tourists for the Century 21 World’s Fair. The Polynesian was Seattle’s grandest example of Tiki décor, but was torn down in 1981 along with Piers 50 and 51 for the expansion of the ferry terminal, Colman Dock.

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: "Seattle Now & Then: Lost Landmarks at Pier 51," by J. R. Sherrard, https://pauldorpat.com/2010/06/05/seattle-now-then-lost-landmarks-at-pier-51/
Caption information source: "John F. Vallentyne, photographer, dies at 74," by D. Parvaz, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 1, 2002