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Ziegler and Rankin Families Photographs and Other Material, circa 1890-1933

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Ziegler family ; ; Rankin family
Title
Ziegler and Rankin Families Photographs and Other Material
Dates
circa 1890-1933 (inclusive)
Quantity
3 boxes plus 3 oversize folders, ( .8 linear feet)
Collection Number
1977.6486
Summary
Photographs, photo albums and papers from the Ziegler and Rankin families, who lived in Port Blakely on Bainbridge Island from approximately 1888 through the early 1900s. Along with a number of portraits of family, friends and school groups, the collection includes photographs documenting the Port Blakely Mill and company houses, the Hall Brothers shipyard and other Bainbridge Island locations.
Repository
Museum of History & Industry, Sophie Frye Bass Library

P.O. Box 80816
Seattle, WA
98108
Telephone: 2063241126 x102
library@mohai.org
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public by appointment.

Languages
English.
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Biographical Note

The collection strongly suggests that there were three Ziegler siblings: Fred, Henry and Carrie Ziegler, children of Mr. G. and Christina Ziegler.

Fred G. Ziegler was a resident of Port Blakely since 1888 and ran the Bainbridge Hotel at Port Blakely until at least 1920. After the hotel burned down on August 12, 1928, Ziegler ran a dairy with his herd of Jersey cows, whose milk he sent to the creamery in Bremerton. It was during such a delivery that Fred Ziegler died in 1931, in a drowning accident at Fletcher Bay when he accidentally backed his truck off the ferry dock. Ziegler was survived by his wife, Gertrude Zeigler, who seems to have been an active member of the Port Blakely community. The Zieglers had a son, Weldon.

Henry Ziegler worked for Port Blakely Mill and lived in the company housing with his wife M. Augusta Meins Ziegler, whom he married in 1898.

Carrie Ziegler married William Rankin, a manager of the Port Blakely Mill Company, in 1906. The Rankins had two sons, Elwood (b. 1908) and Weldon (1911- 1925), the latter dying of pneumonia at the age of 14. In 1925, the Rankin family lived in Seattle, having moved there from Port Blakely three years previously, and both sons attended Queen Anne High School. William Rankin died on June 30, 1926, after managing the Port Blakely Mill Company for the previous 25 years.

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Historical Background

Port Blakely Mill

After failed attempts to establish mill operations at Alki and Port Orchard, Captain William Renton founded the Port Blakely Mill Company in 1864, on land he purchased at Bainbridge Island's Blakely Harbor. One of several small mills in the area, the mill's output began to increase during the 1870s, partly as a result of a large immigrant labor force. In 1872, ferry service began between Seattle and Port Blakely and in 1879, Renton persuaded Hall Brothers Shipyard to move its operation to Port Blakely. During this period, Renton built houses for the families of mill workers, bachelor dormitories and the nearby 75-room Bainbridge Hotel; he also established a daily stage between Port Blakely and Port Madison. By the 1880s Port Blakely mill had become the largest sawmill on the Pacific Coast, turning out 200,000 board feet a day. The Port Blakely Mill was damaged by fire and subsequently rebuilt in 1888 and again in 1907. Following a decline in the lumber market, the mill was closed and demolished in 1924. Today, the Islandwood center for outdoor education for school children operates on the site of the old Port Blakely Mill.

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Content Description

The collection consists of photographs, photo albums and papers from the Ziegler and Rankin families, who lived in Port Blakely on Bainbridge Island from approximately 1888 through the early 1900s. The photographs include many portraits, including a few portraying Ziegler family members. Group portraits of school children include Ziegler children as well as many children from local immigrant families, such as the Elofsons. The photographs also document the company houses for mill employees, including the house of the Henry Ziegler family. Other photographs depict the Port Blakely Mill, office and boiler room, Hall Brothers shipyard and other Bainbridge Island locations.

The albums consist of family photographs and clippings. Albums photographs include further images of company housing, and formal and informal photographs of family and friends. Family papers include wedding announcements, letters, invitations and programs, and newspaper clippings about friends and family. A biographical booklet about Victor Hugo Elfendahl describes the life and professional career of this assistant manager of the Port Blakely Mill.

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Use of the Collection

Alternative Forms Available

View selections from the collection in MOHAI's online collections.

Restrictions on Use

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.

Preferred Citation

Ziegler and Rankin Families Photographs and Other Materials, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection has been divided into series by format, with separate series for photographs, albums, papers and publications.

Location of Collection

2b.1.6

Location of Collection

1a.3.6, 10 (oversize photos)

Acquisition Information

Donated by Mrs. F.R. Rankin in 1977.

Processing Note

One of the photo albums was disassembled due to deterioration. Album pages were placed in folders and retained in their original order.

Separated Materials

These materials are part of a donation that also included artifacts. These artifacts are cataloged and stored separately by MOHAI's Collections Department.

Bibliography

Kitsap County Historical Society (1977). Kitsap County: A History. Book VI: Bainbridge Island.

Price, A., Jr (1990). Port Blakely: The Community Captain Renton Built. Seattle, WA: Port Blakely Books.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

  • Photographs

    • Description: 1: Young man, probably Henry or Fred Ziegler
      Judkins (photographer)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/1
    • Description: 2, 3: Gertrude Ziegler
      Hamilton, Seattle (photographer)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/2
    • Description: 4: Maud Hemstock
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/3
    • Description: 5: Abbie Durkin
      Globe Studio , Seattle (photographer)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/3
    • Description: 6: Grace Gill
      James & Bushnell , Seattle (photographer)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/3
    • Description: 7: Ellen Tobin
      Nordlund's Photo Co. , Seattle (photographer)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/3
    • Description: 8: Chieko Shigemura
      Toyo Studio , Seattle (photographer)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/3
    • Description: 9: Sol Asher
      Urban & Rogers , Seattle (photographer)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/4
    • Description: 10: Mr. and Mrs. Hjellmer Anderson
      Jacob , Seattle (photographer)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/4
    • Description: 11: Two men in bowler hats on sidewalk
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/4
    • Description: 12: Group on horses on Las Cascadas Road
      Dates: 1909 December 12
      Container: Box/Folder 1/4
    • Description: 13: Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Connors
      Dates: 1911 June 11
      Container: Box/Folder 1/4
    • Description: 14: Woman with fur boa
      Dates: circa 1917
      Container: Box/Folder 1/5
    • Description: 15-18: Individual portraits of women
      Colpitts , Seattle; Boyd , Seattle; Urban & Rogers , Seattle; Wils & Vreeland , Seattle (photographer)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/5
    • Description: 19-21: Individual portraits of men
      Bushnell , Seattle; LaPine , Seattle; Dingman Studio , Seattle (photographer)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/6
    • Description: 22: Couple with infant
      James & Bushnell , Seattle (photographer)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/6
    • Description: 23: Two women and man
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/6
    • Description: 24: Two women and man in front of horse-drawn carriage
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/6
    • Description: 25: Ronald Eben Bucklin at five months old
      Dates: 1909 August 17
      Container: Box/Folder 1/7
    • Description: 26: Alice Jane Carroll at two months old
      Lynn & Cram , Seattle (photographer)
      Dates: 1909 February
      Container: Box/Folder 1/7
    • Description: 27: C. Verlaine Ziegler at 11 years old
      Dates: 1913 September
      Container: Box/Folder 1/7
    • Description: 28: Infant Georgia Franks
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/7
    • Description: 29: Leslie Lincoln Randall at 1 year old
      Mercer Studio (photographer)
      Dates: 1910
      Container: Box/Folder 1/7
    • Description: 30-33: Individual portraits of children
      Dingham , Seattle; A.T. Miles , Bremerton; Lothrop , Seattle; Christy Studio , Seattle (photographer)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/7
    • Description: 34: School group
      Dates: 1909 February 14
      Container: Box/Folder 1/8
    • Description: 35: School children

      Identifications on verso

      Dates: 1925
      Container: Box/Folder 1/8
    • Description: 36: Second grade group

      Identifications on verso

      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/8
    • Description: 37: Students on steps of Woodlawn School
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/8
    • Description: 38: Students, including Carrie Ziegler, on steps of school

      Identifications on verso

      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/8
    • Description: 39: Students in front of Port Blakely School

      Identifications on verso

      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/8
    • Description: 121: Flower girls at wedding of William Rankin and Carrie Ziegler

      Two of the girls are identified on verso as Helen Peterson and Kathleen Price.

      Dates: 1906
      Container: Box/Folder 1/8b
    • Description: 40: Group of women in costumes

      Identifications on verso

      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/9
    • Dates: circa 1900
      Container: Box/Folder 1/10
    • Description: 42: Man in office
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/10
    • Description: 43-48: Portraits: tintypes
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/11
    • Description: 49-57: Sailing vessels at Port Blakely Lumber Mill dock
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/12
    • Dates: circa 1890s
      Container: Box/Folder 1/12
    • Description: 60: Crane moving lumber
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/12
    • Dates: circa 1900
      Container: Box/Folder 1/13
    • Description: 62: Man at desk in Port Blakely Mill office
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/13
    • Description: 63, 64: Port Blakely Mill and band saw after fire
      C.P. Harper (photographer)
      Dates: circa 1907
      Container: Box/Folder 1/14
    • Description: 65: Henry Ziegler's mill company house
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/15
    • Description: 66: Three men, two women and child on steps of mill company house
      Dates: circa 1909
      Container: Box/Folder 1/16
    • Dates: circa 1900
      Container: Box/Folder 1/16
    • Dates: circa 1900
      Container: Box/Folder 1/16
    • Description: 69: Hotel, possibly the Port Blakely Hotel
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/17
    • Description: 70: Hall Brothers shipyard
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/17
    • Description: 71: Port Blakely Hall decorated for Masonic party
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/18
    • Description: 72: Room decorated for event at Masonic Hall
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/18
    • Description: 73-75: Greenhouses on Bainbridge Island
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/19
    • Dates: circa 1930
      Container: Box/Folder 1/20
    • Description: 77: View of Puget Sound at sunset
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/20
    • Description: 78: Seagull with Seattle skyline in background
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/20
    • Description: 79: Dirt road through wooded area
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/20
    • Description: 80: Clipper ship Benjamin Packard
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/21
    • Description: 81, 82: Clipper ship Benjamin Packard
      Dale (photographer)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/21
    • Description: 83: Battleship before launch, probably the Nebraska
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/22
    • Description: 84: Road around Lake Crescent on the Olympic Peninsula
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/23
    • Description: 85: Olympic Highway Bridge on Duckabush River on the Olympic Peninsula
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/23
    • Description: 86: 60 by 90 feet flag flying at Camp Lewis
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/24
    • Description: 87: Members of a fraternal order posed outside commercial building
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/25
    • Description: 88: Nooksack Indian Old Tolowie and Nooksack woman
      U.P. Hadley (photographer)
      Dates: circa 1903
      Container: Box/Folder 1/26
    • Description: 89: Native woman weaving basket outside shack
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/26
    • Description: 90-95: S.S. Bertha on fire in Uyak Bay, Kodiak, Alaska 6 photographic postcards
      N.W.F. Co. (photographer)
      Dates: 1915 July 19
      Container: Box/Folder 1/27
    • Description: 96-99: Exterior, interior and fish bin of Tea Harbor Packing Co. Cannery, Tea Harbor, Alaska
      W.H. Case (photographer)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/28
    • Description: 100: View of volcano, probably in Alaska
      Merrill Studio , Sitka, Alaska (photographer)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/29
    • Description: 101: Memorial stone markers near Union Gap, Yakima, Washington

      These markers commemorate Tow-Tow-Nah-Hee, the only Indian killed in the Battle of Two Buttes

      Dates: after 1917
      Container: Box/Folder 1/30
    • Description: 102: Horse drawn cart in front of Ike's Place Confectionary & Pool Hall
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/30
    • Description: 103-105: Boat Lieut. Elliott aground
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/30
    • Description: 106, 107: Steamers near dock, probably at Port Blakely
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/30
    • Description: 108: Ship in shipbuilding cradle
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/30
    • Description: 109: Ship at dock, probably at Port Blakely
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/30
    • Description: 110: Ships near dock
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1/30
    • Description: 118: Waterfront (Port Blakely?)
      Dates: 1891
      Container: Box:oversize OS
    • Description: 119: Group of children in front of brick building
      Dates: circa 1890s
      Container: Box:oversize OS
    • Description: 120: Launch of the five-masted schooner H.K. Hall at the Hall Brothers Shipyard, Port Blakely
      Wilhelm Hester (photographer)
      Dates: 1901
      Container: Box:oversize OS
  • Photograph Albums

    • Description: 111: Photograph album

      This album consists largely of images of the William Rankin and Carrie Ziegler Rankin family and friends. It includes photographs of William and Carrie Rankin, two children who are probably their sons Weldon and Elwood, and photographs of a Port Blakely Mill company house. The album also contains clippings, including several about the death of Weldon Rankin at the age of 14 from pneumonia, and about the death of William Rankin. Loose photos removed from the album are in a separate folder.

      Dates: circa 1900-1925
      Container: Box 2
    • Description: 112: Photograph album

      The front of the album consists of portraits of several individuals. Some are recognizable as members of the Zeigler family (probably Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ziegler); others are possibly members of a Lowe family. The album also includes several images of the Port Blakely company houses, and photographs of the Hall Brothers shipyard, the U.S.S. Arizona, and church and school buildings. The back of the album contains photographs of pets, livestock and farm buildings. Loose photos removed from the album are in a separate folder.

      Dates: undated
      Container: Box 2
    • Description: 113: Photograph album

      This album contains images of a Mrs. Brock and her family, "Aunt Lizzie Hogue" and her husband, and other individuals. Locations depicted include a hotel, houses, a cabin, Mount Rainier and Bainbridge High School. Loose photos removed from the album are in a separate folder.

      Dates: undated
      Container: Box 2
  • Papers

    • Description: Letters to Mr. and Mrs. F.G. Ziegler
      Dates: 1906; 1912; undated
      Container: Box 3, Folder 1
    • Description: Invitations to Mr. and Mrs. F.G. Ziegler
      Dates: circa 1900-1910
      Container: Box 3, Folder 2
    • Description: Wedding announcements and wedding invitations

      Includes announcement of marriage Henry F. Ziegler to Augusta Meins on June 20, 1898 and of Carrie Ziegler to William Rankin on June 18, 1906.

      Dates: 1898-1911
      Container: Box 3, Folder 3
    • Description: Patent certificates to Philip Martin Low for "spark arresters"
      Dates: 1891 September 8; 1909 February 9
      Container: Box 3, Folder 4
    • Description: Programs

      Programs for theatrical productions, luncheons and banquets, mostly in Port Blakely

      Dates: 1899-1933
      Container: Box 3, Folder 5
    • Description: F.G. Ziegler's copy of script for "A Regular Fix"
      Dates: 1899
      Container: Box 3, Folder 6
    • Description: Clippings
      Dates: early 1900s
      Container: Box 3, Folder 7
    • Description: Miscellaneous
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box 3, Folder 8
  • Publications

    • Description: 114: Booklet of photographs of Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition buildings
      Dates: circa 1909
      Container: Box 3
    • Description: 115: The Cornish School General Catalog
      Dates: 1924-1925
      Container: Box 3
    • Description: 116: At Home with the Kodak

      Tips on taking photographs at home, published by the Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N.Y.

      Dates: early 1900s
      Container: Box 3
    • Description: 117: Victor Hugo Elfendahl

      Brief biographical booklet about the life and professional career of Elfendahl, the assistant general manager of the Port Blakely Mill Company of Seattle.

      Dates: circa 1918
      Container: Box 3

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Lumber industry--Washington (State)--Port Blakely
  • Mills--Washington (State)--Port Blakely
  • Shipyards--Washington (State)--Port Blakely

Personal Names

  • Rankin, William
  • Ziegler, Carrie
  • Ziegler, Fred
  • Ziegler, Gertrude
  • Ziegler, Henry

Corporate Names

  • Hall Brothers Shipyard (Port Blakely, Wash.)
  • Port Blakely Mill Company

Geographical Names

  • Bainbridge Island (Wash.)
  • Port Blakely (Wash.)

Form or Genre Terms

  • Photograph albums
  • Photographic prints
  • Portrait photographs
  • Tintypes
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