Preview up to 100 items from this collection below. More than 2,000 images reveal Seattle’s evolution. Early photos capture Seattle’s pioneers, the Great Fire of 1889 and the Denny Regrade along with historical buildings, streets and landmarks.
Charles Plummer's House, 1885
Transcribed from photograph: "Houses. Plummer, Charles. House at Northeast corner of Jackson St. and Occidental St. Built 1854; additions made 1859; demolished by fire June 6, 1889. 1885."
Identifier: spl_shp_15007
Date: 1885
View this itemLouisa Denny, ca. 1910
Transcribed from photograph: "Portrait, looking to the right (three quarters view)."
Identifier: spl_shp_40009
Date: 1900?
View this itemGrand Trunk Pacific dock on fire, July 30, 1914
Transcribed from photograph: "Seattle Fire. July 30, 1914. Grand Trunk Pacific dock on fire."
Identifier: spl_shp_21700
Date: 1914-07-30
View this itemForward deck of Battleship New Mexico, September 12, 1919
Transcribed from photograph: "Pacific Fleet. Review, Sept. 12-14, 1919. Battleship new Mexico. Forward deck showing 14 inch guns. Flagship of Admiral Rodman."
Identifier: spl_shp_14585
Date: 1919-09-12
View this itemRiverside School., ca. 1920
Transcribed from photograph: "Seattle Schools. Riverside School. Detroit and Juneau. Built 1888; annexed 1908; closed 1926. Exterior. Frame. Three-quarter view of front and right side."
Identifier: spl_shp_22896
Date: 1920?
View this itemView north from 1st Ave. and Cherry, 1870
Transcribed from front of photograph: "Streets. Front Street [1st Ave.]. 1870. Looking North from Cherry Street. 1. Intelligencer building. 2. L. A. Treen shoe store. 3. S. L. Benjamin book store." Transcribed from back of photo: "F. W. Wald, hardware. Reinig store (agent for Singer sewing machines). Over Reinig's, Puget Sound Business College. Left side: Intelligencer building. Treen & Co. shoe store. S.L. Benjamin book store."
Identifier: spl_shp_5174
Date: 1870
View this itemBaseball team on the stairs of the Emerson Building in Ballard, ca. 1900
Transcribed from photograph: "Ballard Baseball Team." Team appears to be on the stairs of the same building that appears in spl_shp_40020 where it is identified as the Emerson Building in Ballard.
Identifier: spl_shp_40023
Date: 1910
View this itemUniversity Branch, Seattle Public Library, ca. 1922
Transcribed from photograph: "University Branch opened in 1910."
Identifier: spl_shp_40002
Date: 1922
View this itemView west from 2nd Ave., 1915
Transcribed from photograph: "Seattle Views. From 2nd Ave. (Aerial view). 1915. Looking southwest toward Elliott Bay."
Identifier: spl_shp_21691
Date: 1915
View this itemCatherine Maynard at tomb of David Maynard in Lakeview Cemetery, 1903
Transcribed from photograph: "Portraits. Maynard, Catherine, Troutman (Mrs. David S. Maynard) 1816-1906. At the tomb of her husband, Lakeview Cemetery. 1903. First nurse in Seattle."
Identifier: spl_shp_5208
Date: 1903
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