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Asahel Curtis Seattle photograph album, approxiomately 1901-1903

Overview of the Collection

Photographer
Curtis, Asahel, 1874-1941
Title
Asahel Curtis Seattle photograph album
Dates
approxiomately 1901-1903 (inclusive)
Quantity
78 photographs in 1 album (1 box) ; various sizes
Collection Number
PH0481
Summary
Album of photographs of 3rd and 4th Avenues and other streets in Seattle, arranged to create panoramas showing a continuous view of the buildings on each street
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

Entire 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
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Biographical Note

Asahel Curtis was the most prominent Seattle photographer of the early twentieth century, as well as a noted outdoorsman and regional booster. Born in Minnesota in 1874, he moved to Washington Territory in 1888. Asahel's brother, Edward, supported the family by opening a photography studio in Seattle, and Asahel went to work for him in 1894. In 1897, the brothers agreed that Asahel should go to the Yukon and document the Klondike Gold Rush. Asahel remained there for two years, alternately taking pictures and working a small and largely unproductive claim. The brothers parted ways after a bitter disagreement over the rights to Asahel's Yukon photos, which Edward had published under his own name. Edward later became nationally recognized for his twenty-volume series of photos of Native Americans. Asahel also enjoyed a successful career as a photographer, although he did not receive the acclaim that Edward did. He married Florence Carney in 1902 and opened his own studio in 1911. He was hired by a number of local companies, organizations, and wealthy individuals to take portraits and promotional photos. Asahel became more widely known for his high-quality images of the Washington landscape that were published nationally.

Asahel Curtis had a deep appreciation of Mt. Rainier and for several decades he directed both his appreciation for scenic beauty and efforts at regional boosterism into the development of Mt. Rainier National Park. Curtis was a founding member of the Mountaineers, a mountain-climbing group which also promoted the preservation of wilderness areas. Curtis was active in the affairs of the club for the first several years after its founding in 1906. He led the Mountaineers on climbs of Mt. Rainier and organized a committee within the club on Mt. Rainier National Park. However, his involvement in the Seattle-Tacoma Rainier National Park Committee (later the Rainier National Park Advisory Board) strained his relations with the group. The committee, which Curtis chaired from 1912 to 1936, was formed by community business interests to exploit the park's tourism potential. Curtis, through the committee, sought to promote accessibility to the park and to increase tourism by building roads. His opposition to the expansion of Olympic National Park in the late 1930s led to a further deterioration of relations with the Mountaineers. It also caused a rift between Curtis and his fellow Mt. Rainier boosters and effectively ended his involement in park affairs.

Curtis's advocacy was not limited to the development of Mt. Rainier National Park. While serving as the offical photographer for the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, he also chaired its Development Committee and its Highway Committee for many years. His interests reached beyond the Puget Sound region. Curtis owned a small orchard in Ellensburg, and he believed that the landscape of Central Washington could be improved by building irrigation projects to turn the arid region into cropland. The Washington Irrigation Association thus chose Curtis to be its president in the 1920s. He also participated in the affairs of the Washington State Good Roads Association, serving as its president in 1932 and 1933. Asahel Curtis died in 1941.

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Content Description

The album documents many historic buildings in the downtown Seattle area. The album has been dated to after 1900 (Cyrus Clapp building, page 34), and before 1903-1904 (Bonney & Stewart Undertakers, page 23). It probably dates closer to the 1903 opening of the Hotel Washington (page 48).

The album consists of a sequence of photographs that document Seattle street scenes up and down 3rd and 4th Avenues between Yesler and Pine, on both sides of the street; the photos look up and down the named streets as well. The photographs are arranged together in the album so as to present a continuous view of each street. The buildings shown include: Plymouth Congregational Church, First Presbyterian Church, Shorey's Old Book Store, New Western Hotel, Telephone Building, Third Avenue Theatre, Seattle Theatre, St. Elmo Hotel, Old City Hall and Police Station.

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Other Descriptive Information

Most pages consist of two photographic prints forming a panoramic image.

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Use of the Collection

Alternative Forms Available

View the digital version of the collection

Restrictions on Use

Restrictions may exist on reproduction, quotation, or publication. Contact Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries for details.

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Administrative Information

Processing Note

Processed by Megan Churchwell, 2009.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

 

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Apartments--Washington (State)--Seattle--Photographs
  • Dwellings--Washington (State)--Seattle--Photographs
  • Small business--Washington (State)--Seattle--Photographs
  • Streets--Washington (State)--Seattle--Photographs
  • Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)

Personal Names

  • Curtis, Asahel, 1874-1941--Archives

Corporate Names

  • First Presbyterian Church (Seattle, Wash.)--Photographs
  • Plymouth Congregational Church (Seattle, Wash.)--Photographs
  • Shorey Book Store--Photographs

Geographical Names

  • Fourth Avenue (Seattle, Wash.)--Photographs
  • Pine Street (Seattle, Wash.)--Photographs
  • Seattle (Wash.)--Buildings, structures, etc.--Photographs
  • Seattle (Wash.)--Photographs
  • Third Avenue (Seattle, Wash.)--Photographs
  • Yesler Way (Seattle, Wash.)--Photographs


2008 (Last modified: 6/1/2022)

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