Seattle Historic Postcard Collection
Preview up to 100 items from this collection below. Highlights of early 20th century Seattle, as depicted through our historic postcards. Cards include images of buildings, attractions and events from the 1900s to the 1960s along with messages between friends and family.
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Medical Dental Building, ca. 1925
The Medical Dental Building was constructed in 1925 and expanded in 1950. Initial plans for expansion during the 1930s were put on hold due to the Great Depression. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
Identifier: spl_pc_00900
Date: 1925?
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Smith Tower, ca. 1915
Transcribed from postcard: "Second Ave and the 42 Story L.C. Smith Bldg. Seattle. U.S.A. Eight elevators-two serving the tower. Six hundred Offices. Six stores. Telegraph office on first Floor. Barber Shop, Restaurant, Buffet in Basement, Thirty-fifth Floor furnished in Washington."
Identifier: spl_pc_00216
Date: 1915?
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Workers hammer drift pins into place on Space Needle leg, ca. July 1961
Identifier: spl_gg_68820032
Date: 1961-07
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St. James Cathedral, ca. 1910
Bishop Edward O'Dea purchased the land for St. James Cathedral's First Hill site in 1903 after successfully petitioning the Pope to relocate the episcopal see from Vancouver, Washington to Seattle. The cornerstone for the building was laid in 1905 with more than 5,000 people in attendance and the cathedral officially opened on December 15, 1907.
Identifier: spl_pc_00312
Date: 1910?
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Perry Hotel, ca. 1910
Located at Madison Street and Boren Avenue, the Perry Hotel, also known as the Perry Apartments, was built in 1907. In 1916, the building was renovated to become the Columbus Sanitarium and renamed once again to Cabrini Hospital in the 1960s. The building was demolished in 1996.
Identifier: spl_pc_00817
Date: 1910?
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Swedish Tabernacle at Bellevue Ave. and E. Pike St., ca. 1915
Located at the corner of Bellevue Avenue and Pike Street, construction on the Swedish Tabernacle Church was completed in 1906 under the guidance of the architect, John A. Creutzer.
Identifier: spl_pc_00314
Date: 1915?
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SGS Bulletin, v.6, no. 7, Mar. 1957
Identifier: spl_sgs_475325_006_007_Mar1957
Date: Mar. 1957
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Providence Hospital, ca. 1911
Between 1907 and 1912, Seattle's Providence Hospital built a large new brick building, at a cost of one million dollars. Designed by Somervell & Cote, it was a full-service hospital with six operating rooms and a nursing school.
Identifier: spl_pc_00907
Date: 1911
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Washington Hotel, 1903
The Washington Hotel (originally called the Denny Hotel) as it appeared at its location on 3rd Avenue and Stewart Street before the Denny Regrade. Construction of The Denny Hotel started in 1889 but was stopped with only the exterior completed when the Panic of 1893 hit. James A. Moore purchased the property, renaming it the Washington Hotel, but was only able to operate it for a short time before the Denny Regrade forced it to close. The initial regrade lasted from 1902 to 1911 and sluiced much of the land that the hotel originally stood on down into Elliott Bay.
Identifier: spl_pc_00827
Date: 1903
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