Archives West Finding Aid

The Flyer ran between Tacoma and Seattle from 1890 to 1918. The steamer was built circa 1890, and it traveled nearly two million miles on the Seattle to Tacoma route before being extensively rebuilt in 1918. After the rebuilding, the steamer was renamed the Washington. After wartime service, she was retained by the Puget Sound Navigation Company for another decade as a spare boat and in special excursion service.

Fort Steilacoom ceased to be a military base in 1868. In 1871, the Hospital for the Insane was established there for the mentally ill residents of Washington Territory. In 1888, the building became Western Washington Hospital for the Insane. In 1915, it became Western State Hospital, as it remains today. The Fort Steilacoom hospital is arguably the second oldest surviving institution in the state.

Presumably once contained a photo that is now missing.

Presumably once contained a photo that is now missing.

This church at 2910 N. Starr St., was built in 1873, and is now Tacoma's oldest surviving building. The ivy visible here had consumed the church tower by the end of the 19th century.

Lumber yard is possibly the St. Paul and Tacoma Logging Co., which built a sawmill near the Tacoma tideflats in 1889.

Faint image in foreground is possibly a fireman. A bicycle is also visible in the foreground.

Overexposed.

Badly overexposed photograph. Inked.

Steam locative number 347 was a class E-3 10-wheeler built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1890. This locomotive was probably on a Northern Pacific Railroad train. Badly overexposed photograph.

Caption: Training Ship Badger. This auxiliary cruiser was commissioned by the U.S. Navy in 1898 as part of the North Patrol Squadron. The cruiser took part in the blockade of Cuba. In 1899, the cruiser was transferred to the Pacific coast. Between August 1899 and October 6, 1899, the cruiser was used by the Oregon and California Naval Militia for training voyages along the Pacific coast. Among the known ports of call of the Badger are Portland and Astoria, in Oregon and Eureka and San Francisco in California. The ship was taken out of commission on October 31, 1899 and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on March 23, 1900, then becoming the property of the War Department on April 7, 1900. Union Station was finished in 1896.

Caption: China Ship Columbia.

The USS Adams was a U.S. Navy training ship that sailed to Hawaii from May to June 1899. The Adams' first stop on returning to the west coast of North America was Port Angeles, Washington on July 13, 1899. A week later, she sailed up the Canadian coast. The training ship entered San Francisco on July 26, 1899.

Caption: Rooster Rock. Photograph taken from deck of boat.

Man with bowler and man carrying camera tripod over his shoulder in foreground. Two women wearing white are in distance.

Caption: Our House.

Caption: Part of Our Front Room.

This woman is likely the creator of the album.

Caption: Myself. This is the same woman pictured in 23b, likely the album's creator.

Written on verso: Sunset Hong Kong Harbor.

Written on verso: This is a little to dark.

Printed on verso is a joke about a Dakota newspaperman, credited to "Ex." The Harmony House in Tacoma is listed in the 1903-04 and 1905-06 Tacoma directories, but is not listed in prior directories. The proprietor of the Harmony House is named as Vinton Kinkade in the 1903-04 Tacoma directory, and named as Mrs. Vinton Kinkade in the 1905-06 directory.