Tag Archives: Lake Union
Seaplane on Lake Union, Seattle, July 6, 1935
Seaplane on Lake Union, Seattle, July 6, 1935
Handwritten on sleeve: Pilot Kurtzer on pontoons – Lake Union 7-6-35.
Photographer: Charles Laidlaw
Image Date: July 6, 1935
Image Number: 1983.10.18067.14
To order a reproduction or to inquire about permissions contact us on our website or phone us at 206-324-1126. Please refer to the Image Number and provide a brief description of the photograph.
…On the Lake
Seattle may not be the only large city in the U.S. to have lakes within its boundaries, but we do have a very distinct geography based in part on those lakes. Imagine if Lake Union were just filled in. That would remove a lot of our transportation barriers in the north-south way, and it would be a heck of a lot easier to get from Queen Anne to Capitol Hill. (in fact, there was a preliminary plan to do just that; fill in most of Lake Union, but that is a blog topic for another day.)
Submarine Bowfin in Lake Union, Seattle, 1971
Submarine Bowfin in Lake Union, Seattle, 1971
The Bowfin was used as a training submarine based at the Naval Reserve in Seattle from 1960 to 1971. Launched in 1942, it had seena ctive service in World War II and during the Korean War. The Bowfin is now at Pearl Harbor, where she serves as a memorial.
Photographer: Phil H. Webber
Image Date: 1971
Image Number: 1986.5.54716.1
To order a reproduction or to inquire about permissions contact us on our website or phone us at 206-324-1126. Please refer to the Image Number and provide a brief description of the photograph.
Brace and Hergert Mill, Seattle, ca. 1910
Brace and Hergert Mill, Seattle, ca. 1910
Pioneer David Denny owned the land south of Lake Union. In 1882, he opened the Western Mill on the lake’s southern shore. A small community soon grew up around the lumber mill. In 1899 John S. Brace and Frank Hergert, both previously employed at the Western Mill, purchased it and changed the name to Brace & Hergert. A fire destroyed the mill in 1909 and it was then rebuilt on newly filled land north of Valley Street, as shown in this photograph. The mill continued under the ownership of Brace and Hergert until 1921.
Photographer: Unknown
Image Date: ca. 1910
Image Number: SHS9881
This image was used as part of our Now & Then Photo Quest. Below is a full slideshow of the contemporary photos taken of this same spot.
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
To order a reproduction or to inquire about permissions contact us on our website or phone us at 206-324-1126. Please refer to the Image Number and provide a brief description of the photograph.
Lake Union and Downtown Seattle, 1992
Photographer: Joseph Scaylea
Image Date: 1992
Image Number: 1993.20.41
To order a reproduction or to inquire about permissions contact photos@seattlehistory.org or phone us at 206-324-1126. Please refer to the Image Number and provide a brief description of the photograph.
October 31
Welcome to your new home, MOHAI!
Can. Not. Wait!
November of 2012!
Please credit the Museum of History & Industry. All rights reserved.
SHS9881
October 30
Man, do I love this vista.
That’s Lake Union at the heart of the city. That’s Queen Anne Hill in the background. And those are surplus ships from WWI just hanging out in the lake. I’ll tell that story sometime. Notice how few houses there on Queen Anne Hill. Crazy.
1983.10.2261.1
This photo is part of MOHAI’s Now & Then Photo Quest. To participate, visit our Flickr Group.
…Creative Reuse
Thursday Hidden Treasure
Table Lamp With Base Made From Wood From the Ship Diamond Head
Note: Electric table lamp, wooden parts were made from original railing from the ship Diamond Head. Ship built in 1866 as the Gainsborough in England, wrecked on Diamond Head, Hawaiʻi, raised and renamed. Oil barge for General Petroleum since ca. 1915; ca. 1938 tore railing, etc. off her. Ship moored on Lake Union by the City Light Plant; lamp has tan, red and black paper shade with electric cord.
…Prepared for the Weather
Thursday Hidden Treasure
Plaster Figure of “Umbrella Man”, Local Figure
Note: From Catalog Card: Plaster Statue, “Umbrella Man”. 9 in. high, 3½ inches square base. Standing in front of a soap box, was a character in Seattle who invented an umbrella hat, which he always wore. Was a pensioner of the Civil War, lived on a houseboat on Lake Union, his name was Robert W. Patten, known as “the maker of Seattle’s weather.” “Dok” Hager conceived the idea of using his likeness in caricature as subject for his daily weather cartoon in the Seattle Times newspaper. Mr. Patten was born February 29, 1811 in New York. He mended crockery, umbrellas and glue and repaired other items to supplement his pension. After a stroke, he moved to Soldier’s home at Orting, in 1911 moved to soldier’s home in Los Angeles.
Thursday Hidden Treasure highlights artifacts in MOHAI’s collection that are not on everyday display.
…in Dry Dock
Thursday Hidden Treasure
“Caulkers” sign from Lake Union Dry Dock
Mallet from Lake Union Dry Dock
Note: Lake Union Dry Dock Company (LUDD) was founded in 1919 and is one of Seattle’s oldest businesses in current operation. It is the last remaining all-wooden dock in Seattle, located at the east side of Lake Union. During WWII, it shifted its focus to wartime vessels, and today works mainly on maintenance and repair of commercial and fishing vessels. Clients include Washington State Ferries and NOAA. The caulking tools and associated artifacts in this accession relate to wooden ship caulking using traditional oakum (hemp fiber soaked in pine tar) caulking. The fibers were driven into the wedge-shaped seam between wooden ship planks using a caulking mallet and iron. The caulking was then covered with putty or melted pine pitch, in a process called “paying.”
Thursday Hidden Treasure highlights artifacts in MOHAI’s collection that are not on everyday display.
