Photographs of the Seattle Hardware Company, approximately 1907-1960

Overview of the Collection

Title
Photographs of the Seattle Hardware Company
Dates
approximately 1907-1960 (inclusive)
approximately 1907-1926 (bulk)
Quantity
29 photographic prints ; various sizes
Collection Number
PH0698
Summary
Photographs of Seattle Hardware Company buildings and employees
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

Selections from the collection can be viewed on the Libraries' Digital Collections website. Permission of Visual Materials Curator is required to view originals. Contact Special Collections for more information.

Request at UW

Languages
English

Historical BackgroundReturn to Top

The Seattle Hardware Company started in the Pioneer Square neighborhood of Seattle in 1883. After their building was lost in the Great Seattle Fire of June 6, 1889, the company leased a barn from the Seattle Street Railway Company. They stayed in this location, on the corner of Pike Street and Second Avenue, for one year. In 1890, the Seattle Hardware Company returned to the Pioneer Square neighborhood and occupied the Colman building on First Avenue and Marion Street. They stayed there until 1905, when they moved to their own seven-story building on the corner of First Avenue South and King Street.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The collection includes photographs of buildings and people associated with the Seattle Hardware Company. The photographs primarily show offices and warehouses, and employees working and at picnics.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Alternative Forms Available

View selections from the collection in digital format

Restrictions on Use

Restrictions might exist on reproduction, quotation, or publication. Contact the repository for details.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

Donor: Paul Dorpat; received in 2001.

Processing Note

Processed by Emiko Hastings, July 2005, and Megan E. Peacock, 2007.

A minute book with the collection was transferred to the manuscripts section in Special Collections, 2009.

Bibliography

Dorpat, Paul. " Horses Out, Hardware In." Pacific Northwest Magazine, March 19, 2004.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

 

Exterior viewsReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
box:oversize item
XH5 1
Drawing of bird's-eye view of Seattle Hardware Company building and warehouse
Text in decorative graphic at center of drawing: AFTER 5 DAYS RETURN TO SEATTLE HARDWARE CO. SEATTLE, WASH. Depicts the store and warehouse across the street from each other, showing railroad car on tracks, waterfront and Olympic mountain range.
1920?
Box/Folder
1/1 2-3 1920?
1/2 4
Seattle Hardware Company warehouse building and railroad tracks
Asahel Curtis, Seattle (photographer)
Chinese characters are written on front of photograph.
1917?
1/2 5
Seattle Hardware Company building
Roger Dudley, Seattle, Washington (photographer)
between 1950 and 1960?
item
6
(number not used)
Box/Folder item
1/3 7
Sailing ships at dock with logs floating in the foreground
between 1880 and 1910?

Interior ViewsReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder item
1/4 8 between 1930 and 1960?
1/4 9 between 1920 and 1940?
1/5 10 1922
1/5 11
Employees working in office
Asahel Curtis, Seattle (48066) (photographer)
1923?
1/5 12 1925
1/5 13
Employees working in office
Asahel Curtis, Seattle, WA (55373) (photographer)
1925
1/5 14
Office
Smallfield Photo Service, Seattle, Washington (photographer)
between 1940 and 1960?
1/6 15 1907
1/6 16-18
Sorting and packing hardware products
Asahel Curtis, Seattle, Washington (35947, 35948, 35951) (photographer)
1917?
1/7 19
Employees in overalls
Asahel Curtis, Seattle, Washington (35952) (photographer)
1917?
1/7 20
Warehouse filled with barrels
Asahel Curtis, Seattle, Washington (35586) (photographer)
Chinese characters are written on front of photograph.
1917?
1/7 21 between 1920 and 1930?

Employees and employee activitiesReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder item
1/8 22
Three seated men
Pierson and Company, Seattle , Washington (photographer)
between 1918 and 1923
1/8 23
Fred White, Walt Anderson, W.J. Ford and others seated around table
Columbia Commercial Studio, Portland, Oregon (photographer)
between 1920 and 1930?
box-folder:oversize
OS4 24
Group of men, probably employees of the Seattle Hardware Company.
Romans Photographic Company, Seattle, Washington (photographer)
The men are identified on the back of the photograph.
between 1903 and 1920
box:oversize
OS3 25
Group of men, possibly the management of the Seattle Hardware Company.
Some identifications on verso of the photograph.
between 1900 and 1930?
Box/Folder
1/8 26
Group of men, probably employees of the Seattle Hardware Company
Fisher-Croft Company (photographer)
Some identifications are listed on accompanying page.
1923
mapcase
M271 27
Panorama of Seattle Hardware Company picnic at Wildwood Park, Puyallup, Washington
Pierson Co, Seattle, Washington (photographer)
July 14, 1917
box-folder:oversize
OS4 28 between 1917 and 1918
box:oversize
XH5 29
Families at Seattle Hardware Company picnic, Fortuna park, Mercer Island, Washington
Gowan Studio, Seattle (photographer)
August 7, 1926

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Hardware industry workers--Washington (State)--Seattle--Photographs
  • Hardware industry--Washington (State)--Seattle--Photographs
  • Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)

Corporate Names

  • Seattle Hardware Company--Archives
  • Seattle Hardware Company--Buildings--Photographs
  • Seattle Hardware Company--Employees--Photographs
  • Seattle Hardware Company--Photographs
  • Seattle Hardware Company--Photographs

Other Creators

  • Personal Names
    • Curtis, Asahel, 1874-1941 (photographer)