In September 1888, Seattle's second street railway line was built by Pacific Cable Construction Company as a single-track cable car line, running in a loop from Pioneer Square to Leschi Park. This line, the Yesler Way line, effectively linked the steamers docking at Elliott Bay with the ferries crossing Lake Washington. When the line was built the residential and recreational areas on Lake Washington did not yet exist and the line was promoted by real estate developer Seattle Construction Company, which also operated the line until 1889 when it was purchased by the Lake Washington Cable Railroad (later Seattle City Railway). In 1919 the City of Seattle took over all of the city's transit lines and formed the Seattle Municipal Street Railway (today's METRO). Because of its steep hills, Seattle kept its cable car lines longer than any American city except San Francisco, not replacing them until 1940 when buses that could handle the grades became available. One of the pedestrian waiting shelters for the Yesler Way line, known as the Iron Pergola, still stands in Pioneer Square and is a National Historic Landmark.
The card pictured here was sent by the Seattle Construction Company to guest John Collins, inviting him to the inaugural run of the Yesler Way line, which was to leave from the Occidental Hotel at James Street and Yesler Way. The owner of the Occidental Hotel, John Collins (1835-1903) had immigrated from Ireland and moved to Seattle in 1867, quickly becoming a prominent investor, businessman, and serving as Mayor of Seattle from 1873-1874.
The President of the Seattle Construction Company, physician and businessman Thomas Taylor Minor (1844-1889), had just finished serving his own one-year term as Mayor of Seattle when he sent this invitation. After Dr. Minor's death his widow, Sarah (Montgomery) Minor (1840-1931), sold their First Hill mansion to Mr. Collins and his wife, Angela Burdett-Coutts (Jackling) Collins (1859-1947).
Caption information source: "Early-Day Mansions," The Seattle Sunday Times, November 12, 1944, p. 39. Caption information source: METRO: Seattle's Cable-Car Past, History of the Yesler Line at http://www.cable-car-guy.com/html/ccsea.html#scry Caption information source: "Street Railways in Seattle," by Walt Crowley, HistoryLink.org Essay 2707.
Physical Description: 1 folded invitation ; 4 x 5.5 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.
