Seattle’s Beacon Hill blocked easy access for people and goods between the downtown commercial area of Seattle and the more agricultural Rainier Valley. Starting in 1906, a series of regrades cut through Beacon Hill, first at Jackson Street and a few years later at Dearborn Street.
Here, standing on Beacon Hill, the photographer looks northwest over Chinatown (now the Chinatown - International District) towards the Smith Tower, completed in 1914. In the foreground, dirt is still piled along the unfinished Dearborn Street. To the left of the Smith Tower, the towers of Colman Dock, King Street Station, and the Grand Trunk Pacific Dock, as well as the smokestack of Seattle Steam can be seen in the distance. The Grand Trunk Pacific Dock burned in July 1914, destroying the tower.
Physical Description: 1 photographic print mounted on cardboard: b&w ; 13.75 x 10.5 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.
