Harry Whitney Treat was born in Monroe, Wisconsin on December 13, 1865. His parents were descended from a direct line of English settlers and Harry Treat was an avid, lifelong Anglophile. After attending Cornell University and Harvard Law School, he worked for Marshall Field Department Store before establishing his own real estate firm, Helliwell and Treat. In 1896, he married Olive Marion Graef, the daughter of Charles Graef, a wealthy champagne importer.
Harry and Olive Treat traveled on business to Europe in 1903 and 1904 with their first child Priscilla. In 1906, the family moved to Seattle where Treat established the Pacific Trust Company, specializing in real estate development. Their second daughter Loyal was born in Seattle, and the Loyal Heights residential neighborhood was named after her. Within a few years, Harry Treat was a millionaire and became a colorful high society figure in Seattle. He and Olive sponsored lavish charity benefits and outdoor social events. The Treats had a flair for the theatrical and their Queen Anne mansion and Loyal Heights farm were filled with vintage English coaches, period costumes, hunting dogs and purebred English Hackney horses.
Shortly after arriving in Seattle, Harry Treat began purchasing hundreds of acres of forested land in the northern part of the city, including a long stretch of pristine waterfront. He acquired this real estate at a time when most speculators were concentrating on the empty tide flats south of downtown. The Ballard area was impoverished and lacked public transportation, so the potential for residential development was overlooked. To remedy this problem, Harry Treat established an electric trolley line called the Loyal Railway and used it promote the suburbs of Ballard, Loyal Heights and Loyal Beach. He also created a magnificent waterfront park accessible by trolley called Golden Gardens, which his family later donated to the City of Seattle. The logging baron Frederick Stimson acquired the northeast portion of Harry Treat’s new Loyal Heights neighborhood and planned The Highlands, a luxury development with five-acre home sites arranged around a golf course.
Harry Treat was active in Seattle civic affairs until his sudden death at age 57. He was the president of the Washington State Arts Association, Seattle Tennis Club, and Seattle Horseshow Association, and a member of the Chamber of Commerce. On July 30, 1922, he died in an automobile accident near Chilliwack, Canada. After the marriage of her daughters Priscilla and Loyal, Olive Treat lived in the Olympic Hotel until her death in 1945 at the age of 76. She was a member of the first board of the Orthopedic Hospital.
The two collections include scrapbooks, photographs and ephemera related to the family of Harry Whitney Treat. See notes for each collection below for more detailed descriptions.
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The Museum of History & Industry is the owner of the materials in the Sophie Frye Bass Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from MOHAI before any reproduction use. The museum does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.
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The collection consist of two scrapbooks containing newspaper clippings, photographs and ephemera related to Harry W. Treat and his family. Photographs include portraits of family members, interiors and exteriors of the Treat home, and Treat family social and recreational activities. Clippings document the business and social life of Harry Treat and family. Much of one of the scrapbooks is devoted to ephemera collected on a family trip to Europe in 1903.
Harry W. Treat Family Scrapbooks, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle
Gift of the Treat family; received in May 1946.
Each scrapbook has a handwritten note inside the front cover from Treat's daughter, donor Loyal Treat Nichols, marking the donation of the scrapbooks to Mrs. Frederick Swanstrom for the Seattle Historical Society in April 1946.
The first of two scrapbooks has a dark green cover with "News Cuttings" embossed in gold. The scrapbook material spans the years 1893 to 1912; the majority of the material is from 1903. Most items are securely attached to the pages, some with handwritten captions and notations. Contents include Seattle newspaper clippings detailing the social life and business activities of Harry Treat; photographs of Treat family members, including homes, horses, carriages, and parks; photographs of Seattle street scenes and various recreational activities; and entertainment programs and magazine articles documenting the social life of the Treat family. The scrapbook also includes a large collection of ephemera and other materials from the family's 1903 trip to Europe, including postcards, photographs, correspondence, diary pages, maps, hotel bills, menus, tickets and souvenirs.
The second scrapbook has a red-marbled, unmarked cover. The first section of the scrapbook is primarily Seattle newspaper clippings relating to the social activities of the Treat family. The scrapbook photographs include equestrian activities, Seattle parks, Treat home interiors and exteriors, and formal portraits of Treat family members.
Harry W. Treat family photographs and ephemera, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle
Gift of Patsy Treat Nichols Schweitzer; received in March 2005.
Photographs of Treat family member and Treat home on Queen Anne, and clippings related to the Treat family.
Caption on photo: Auto Parade, Golden Potlatch, 1912
Handwritten identifications by Loyal Treat Nichols on verso: "In back seat: Phoebe Nell Tidmarsh and Priscilla Treat. Front seat: Fred, our Japanese driver, Loyal and Grandmother Priscilla (Gould) Treat"
Handwritten caption taped to photo: "Taken in 1932 by Times photographer at Olympic Riding Club in one of our old coaches"
The "Kirmess" carnival, a major Seattle social event with extravagant stage shows, was a fundraising event for Seattle's Children's Orthopedic Hospital.
Modern copy (probably an inkjet digital print) of original photo
Modern copy (probably an inkjet digital print) of original photo
Copy negative
Copy negative
Copy negative
These appear to be copies of original prints which have been reproduced and printed on inkjet printer, and one modern snapshot copy. Includes family photos, equestrian event, and the Treat daughters at a pageant at University of Washington.
Cut from a scrapbook. Handwritten on page: "Loyal Heights farm--party and hunting dogs"
Newspaper clippings and magazine articles related to the Treat family.