wasmhi1978_6585.xml Guide to the Pacific Coast Company Photograph Album circa 1875-1925 Pacific Coast Company Collection Finding aid prepared by Jody Hendrickson Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Museum of History & Industry © 2006
5933 6th Avenue South Seattle, WA 98108 Phone: 206-324-1126 URL: http://www.mohai.org
Finding aid encoded by ArchProteus2006 Finding aid is in English Finding aid based on DACS ( Describing Archives: A Content Standard) Museum of History & Industry, Sophie Frye Bass Library
5933 6th Avenue South Seattle, WA 98108 Phone: 206-324-1126 URL: http://www.mohai.org
1978.6585 Pacific Coast Company Pacific Coast Company Photograph Album circa 1875-1925 1 photograph album Photograph album showing Pacific Coast Company mining, steamship and rail operations in Washington, California, Oregon and Alaska. Includes images of piers, coal bunkers, coal and passenger rail depots, warehouses and other buildings on and near company property. 2b.1.5 Collection materials are in English. Historical Note:

The Pacific Coast Company rail, shipping and coal operations served the West coast from the mid 19th century until its last railways were abandoned or sold in the mid 20th century. Though the company was organized under the “Pacific Coast Company” name in late 1897, it comprised several existing organizations, most notably the Pacific Coast Steamship Co., Pacific Coast Coal Co. and the Pacific Coast Railway. In Seattle, the Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad, originally the Seattle & Walla Walla, became part of the Pacific Coast Railway in 1916. The several operations of Pacific Coast Co., which also included a cement company and engineering company, played an important role in the development of King County resources and the development of Seattle and outlying communities.

The company’s rail system, which began as a horse-drawn rail line near San Luis Obispo, developed into full-fledged narrow gauge and later, standard gauge railroads. A fleet of steamships, including the Umatilla and the Walla Walla, complemented the rail service, serving as coal carriers for the company’s mining operations, such as those at Newcastle, Franklin, Maple Valley and the Black Diamond mine. By the 1930s, the Pacific Coast Coal Co. was the top coal producing facility in Washington State. As shipments of coal gradually decreased, the Pacific Coast steamships were converted to passenger ships.

The collection consists of one album containing 170 photographs on linen backing with typed captions on verso. The photographs depict the various properties and operations of the Pacific Coast Company and its various component companies, largely the Pacific Coast Coal Co., Pacific Coast Steamship Co. and Pacific Coast Railway. The bulk of the images depict facilities and operations in Washington and California, including a number of images of the Pacific Steamship Co. piers in Seattle photographed by Frank H. Nowell.

A few images from Oregon document the Pacific Coast Company coal bunker in Portland. Images from Alaska document the Pacific Coast Steamship Company wharves and coal bunker in Juneau and Pacific Coast Company properties under lease in Skagway and Nome.

The photographs in the album were stamped with numbers by the creator. In cases of multiple photographs with the same number, letters have been added to distinguish them, e.g. 3a, 3b,etc. Each linen-backed photograph constitutes one page of the album.

Geographic series and subseries reflect the organization of the index on the first pages of the album.

A selection of these photographs is available in digital format in the Museum of History & Industry online collections.

The collection is open to the public by appointment.

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.

Pacific Coast Company Photograph Album, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle

Donated by Major Vernon Bunch from the Salvation Army in 1978.

Additional photographs of Pacific Coast Coal Co. operations are available in MOHAI's Webster & Stevens collection (1983.10).

Photographs of the Pacific Coast Railroad Company from the Maple Valley Historical Society are available online at King County Snapshots.

Best, Gerald M. Ships and narrow gauge rails: The story of the Pacific Coast Company. Berkeley: Howell-North, 1964.

 Nowell, Frank H., 1864-1950 Pacific Coast Steamship Co. Pacific Coast Railroad Company Pacific Coast Coal Company Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad Ballard (Seattle, Wash.) Black Diamond (Wash.) Coal Creek (Wash.) Photograph albums Coal mining Industrial facilities Railroad stations--Washington (State) Railroad stations--California Mines and Mineral resources Photographs Railroads Ships and Shipping Transportation Seattle California Alaska Washington (State) Tacoma Washington Seattle

Photographs stamped with Frank Nowell's name are attributed to him below; however, many others without attribution are also believed to have been taken by Nowell.

 1 General office building, Pacific Coast Co., 77 Washington St. Frank H. Nowell, Seattle 2 Pacific Coast Steamship Co. piers and Columbia & Puget Sound passenger depot and team tracks 3a Pier A with steamer Umatilla in berth Frank H. Nowell, Seattle 3b Pacific Coast Steamship Co. pier A 4a Pacific Coast Steamship Co. Pier B with steamer City of Seattle in dock Frank H. Nowell, Seattle 4b Pier B with Admiral Dewey in dock 5a Columbia & Puget Sound R.R Pier C showing brick warehouse fronting Railroad Ave and steamers Gleaner and City of Seattle Frank H. Nowell, Seattle 5b Pier C with ships in dock 6a Pacific Coast Steamship Co. Pier D with steamer Spokane in dock Frank H. Nowell, Seattle 6b Waterfront view of Pier D (Pacific Coast Steamship Co.) 7a Pier D from Railroad Avenue Frank H. Nowell, Seattle

T.F. Clark building, Washington Stevedore Co. building, Draper Engine Works and Railroad Company storage.

 7b Pier D from Railroad Ave. showing Pacific Coast Steamship Co. building 8 Barrels and crates in Pier D building 9 Washington Stevedoring Company building and Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad cement shed 10a Coal bunkers Frank H. Nowell, Seattle 10b Waterfront view of coal bunkers 10c Coal depot facilities 10d Panorama of coal depot showing steamer loading towers, crane tracks, retail bunkers and storage space 11a Columbia & Puget Sound R.R. roundhouse, shops and office building property between coal bunkers and Railroad Ave. 11b Office building, shops and garage on Dearborn St.. 12a-b Office building occupied by Sales Department of Pacific Coast Coal Co. and agent and dispatchers of Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad Company Frank H. Nowell, Seattle 13a Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad roundhouse 13b Outfitting wharf of Pacific Coast Engineering Company Frank H. Nowell, Seattle 14 Building leased to Western Hardware & Metal Co. at First Ave. South and Railroad Way. 15a-b Occidental warehouse, Oriental warehouse and Washington Cold Storage building at Pier 11 Frank H. Nowell, Seattle (15b) 16 Northern Pacific cars on tracks, Vashon Sand Gravel Co. and Seattle Fish & Cold Storage Co. building 17 Great Northern and Northern Pacific rail cars on tracks in front of Independent Asphalt Company. 18a Overhead walkway from waterfront to First Ave. and Pike Street Frank H. Nowell, Seattle 18b Northern Pacific trestle along shore of Lake Union showing frontage owned by Pacific Coast Coal Co. Frank H. Nowell, Seattle 19a Trestle and bunkers of Cascade Coal Co. 19b Georgetown yard of Pacific Coast Coal Co. Frank H. Nowell, Seattle 20, 21a View across Lake Washington of Pacific Coast addition property 21b-c Madison Park yard on Lake Washington showing lake frontage and barges Frank H. Nowell, Seattle (21b) 21d Tug S.L.Dowell on Lake Washington Frank H. Nowell, Seattle 21e-f Pacific Coast Coal Co.'s barge William H. Smith Cardinell Vincent Co., San Francisco Renton 22 Columbia & Puget Sound depot Newcastle 23 Columbia & Puget Sound ticket office and freight warehouse Coal Creek 24 Columbia & Puget Sound ticket office, and powerhouse and bunkers at Ford Mine 25a Ford Mine top works 25b Wash house for miners Frank H. Nowell, Seattle 26a Ford Mine bunkers 26b Coal Creek Hotel Frank H. Nowell, Seattle 27 Coal Creek Saw Mill Maple Valley 28 Columbia & Puget Sound train depot Black Diamond 29 Columbia & Puget Sound train depot 30 Pacific Coast Coal Co. General Merchandise store 31 Men on steps of mine office 32 Mine superintendents' homes 33 Top works at Mine 11 34 Powerhouse and bunkers at Mine 11 35 Mouth of slope at Mine 11 36 Trestle to bunkers and powerhouse, and engine room at Mine 14 37 Engine room, power house, machine shop and warehouse at Mine 14 38 Mine B bunkers Franklin 39 Store 40 New houses under construction near train tracks 41 Cannon Mine coal bunkers under construction 42 Cannon Mine power plant 43 Cannon Mine trestle across Green River and mount of mine 43a Men near revolving tipples at Cannon Mine bunkers 43b Men at picking table at Cannon Mine bunkers 44 Gem mine portion of top works 45 Columbia & Puget Sound rock quarry Frank H. Nowell, Seattle Burnett 46 Store, meat market and warehouse 47 Train tracks and houses in ravine 48 Mine office and houses in ravine 49-51 Burnett mine top works Frank H. Nowell, Seattle (49b,c) 52 Power house 53a Miners' houses Issaquah Frank H. Nowell, Seattle 53b Men and carts at mouth of slope at Issaquah Mine 53c Loaded mine cars on bunker trestle 53d Miners at picking table 53e Miners machine mining coal 53f Power house and transformers 53g Hotel building 53h Panorama of miners' dwellings 53i Miners' dwellings on Second Ave. Tacoma 54 Pacific Coast Coal Co. depot 55a View of coal yard from waterfront showing tug, bunkers and storage piles 55b Coal depot site 56a Coal depot from Dock Street showing office, crane, retail bunkers and Northern Pacific spur 56b Waterfront view of property acquired for new coal depot 57a Horse drawn wagon near retail bunkers 57b Train tracks and buildings (near newly acquired property) 58a Crane moving coal from cars to retail bunkers 58b Buildings on property acquired by company Oregon Portland 59 Waterfront view of Pacific Coast Coal Co. bunker 60 Rear view of bunker showing cart on tracks 61 Side view of bunker California San Francisco 63 Beale St. block (with overlay outlining Pacific Coast Company's property) Gabriel Moulin, San Francisco Eureka 64 View of lumberyard, company property and warehouse (with overlay outlining properties) Freeman 65 Pacific Coast Steamship Company warehouse Watsonville Landing 66, 67 Warehouses near Elkhorn Slough Moss Landing 68 Wharf and warehouse 69 Warehouses and Pacific Coast Steamship Co. wagon bridge across Salinas River 70 Warehouses across Moro Cojo Slough 71 Birds-eye view of Moss Landing Monterey 72, 73 Pacific Coast Steamship Co. wharf and warehouse Swain photo Soquel (Capitola) 74, 75 Wharf Ravnos, Capitola, CA Camp Goodall 76 Cottages and bridge 77 Buildings near sand dunes Ventura 78, 79 San Buena Ventura wharf San Pedro 80-82c San Pedro property; wharf under lease to B.P. Lumber Co.[sic] 8 pages San Diego Herbert R. Fitch, San Diego 83 Wharf 84a Warehouse Port San Luis 84b Pacific Coast Railway Co. wharfs 85 Waterfront and wharf with Hotel Marre pictured 86 Port San Luis wharf 87 Approach to wharf 88 New Pacific Coast Railway wharf 88b Port Harford Asphalt Co., Avila, CA and Whaler's Island 1912 February 12 88c County wharf and Pacific Coast Railway wharf San Luis Obispo 89 Shops, depot, turntable and round house 90 Grain warehouse and bean cleaner 91 Pacific Coast Coal Co. lumber office 92 Men working at planing mill 93 Lumber yard Hadley 94 Ensign-Baker asphalt refinery at crossing of the Pacific Coast and Southern Pacific Railways Arroyo Grande 95 Howe Truss bridge Nipomo & Santa Maria 96 Rock quarry between Nipomo and Santa Maria 97 Depot, bean cleaner and warehouse 98 Interior of bean cleaner Louise Studio, Santa Maria 99 Interior of grain warehouse Louise Studio, Santa Maria 100 Pacific Coast Railway Company electric car in front of the Santa Maria Hotel Betteravia 101 Beet sugar factory Sisquoc 102 Depot an lumber yard Palmer 103 Train of oil cars, Cat Canyon branch 104 Reservoir of oil and Palmer pump station Judkins Studio, Santa Maria Orcutt 105 Depot Bicknell 106 Old Santa Maria oil fields near Bicknell Los Alamos 107 Depot Los Olivos 108 Car near frame trestle near Los Olivos 109 Los Olivos depot and grain warehouse 110 Los Olivos lumber yard and depot 111 Terminus of line in Los Olivos Alaska Juneau 112 Pacific Coast Steamship Company wharf and bunkers, and curio shop 113a Waterfront with Pacific Steamship Company wharf and coal handling facility, Alaska-Juneau Mining Company hill in distance 113b Pacific Steamship Company dock from wharf 113c View of Juneau property showing old and new Pacific Steamship Company wharves, coal handling facility and coal bunkers, with mountains in distance 114a Franklin Street approach to Peoples Wharf 114b Wharf and cola handling facilities 114c Shops on street and approach to new wharf and coal depot property 115a View of central waterfront and business districts 115b Waterfront showing Alaska Steamship Company dock and Pacific Coast Company addition 115c Bird's-eye view of Juneau Frank H. Nowell, Seattle Skagway 116 Bird's-eye view of Skagway showing steamer City of Seattle at Moore's wharf and old Pacific Coast Company wharf Case and Draper Nome 117 Panorama of Nome waterfront showing property owned by the Pacific Coast Company under lease to John J. Sesnon Co. 118 Panorama of John J. Sesnon Co. docks 1907 October 16 Frank H. Nowell 119 John J. Sesnon Co. office 1907 October 16 Frank H. Nowell 120 Panorama of John J. Sesnon Co.'s coal pile 1907 October 17 Frank H. Nowell