An estimated 100,000 prospectors migrated to the Klondike region of the Yukon in north-western Canada between 1896 and 1899. Most of them stopped in Seattle to purchase supplies, greatly contributing to the city's economic success. Ohio-born Charles Theodore Wernecke (1852-1922) came to Seattle around 1897 and operated at least one store catering to miners headed to Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush. The 1897-1900 Seattle City directories list C. T. Wernecke, furrier, on the waterfront at Railroad Avenue (now Alaskan Way) and Columbia Street, near the Colman Dock.
In this image taken in the interior of Wernecke's store, Wernecke stands behind four of his employees. From left are Jesse Haggarty and Alice Lucinda (Pardo) Esson Throckmorton (1867-1944); the other two women are unidentified. Visible in the store are many patterns for fur clothing made to order at the store.
Typed on verso: Werneke fur store interior (see #2525 exterior); taken during the Alaska gold rush; interior of C. T. Werneke fur store on Front Street, our waterfront, at about Columbia St. Left Jesse Haggarty; my mother, Alice L Esson; Mr. Werneke in rear; I can't remember the names of the other two women. Lulu E. Esson Gillis (Mrs. Harry T. Gillis).
Caption information source: The Seattle Daily Times, February 7, 1922, page 11
ID Number: SHS2508
Date: Circa 1898
Physical Description: 1 photographic print mounted on cardboard: b&w ; 3.75 x 4.25 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.
