Three Exciting Views Of Seattle
July 9th, 2009 @ 12:41 am by Cliffe | Sorted Past Post
Is “exciting” overstating it? Hmm, nah. Here are three views of downtown courtesy of some crinkle-cut late 1970’s era postcards. All are courtesy of legendary postcard photographer Max R. Jensen (more on him later) — always documenting the changing landscape. Click on the thumbnails for higher res versions.
 |
| This aerial view of Seattle from the north shows the downtown business district and part of Seattle’s busy harbor. In the center is the King County Domed Stadium. Towering Mt. Rainier dominates the horizon. Color photo by Max R. Jensen. |
 |
| A view of downtown Seattle’s business district from the south with Space Needle in the background. Predominant buildings are (from left to right) the Federal Building, Seattle-First National Bank, Bank of California, and the Smith Tower. Color photo by Max R. Jensen. |
 |
| An exciting evening view of Seattle, Washington’s downtown business district with majestic snow-covered Mount Rainier in the distance, 100 miles away, and the 600 foot Space Needle in the foreground. Also predominant in the skyline are the 42-story Bank of California Building and the circular Washington Plaza Hotel. Color photo by Max R. Jensen. |
July 9th, 2009 @ 8:46 am
All three photos show that one tall white building in various stages of construction. What building is that, anyway? That could help us pinpoint the exact year.
July 9th, 2009 @ 9:33 am
The building in question is the Rainier Tower, begun in the fall of 1975, completed in 1977. It was designed by Minoru Yamasaki, who also was architect of the World Trade Center in New York City. I was working downtown at the time and watched as the classic White-Henry-Stuart building was demolished.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seattlemunicipalarchives/2632562732/sizes/l/
http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=7872
Also, Mt. Rainier is closer to 50 miles from Seattle, as the crow flies, rather than the 100 stated on the night view.
July 9th, 2009 @ 9:40 am
The second and third pictures appear to have been taken closer to 1974 because in both the Federal Building (recently featured on the previous story) is still under construction in both — most of skeleton up in the third picture and almost complete except the very top in the second picture.
I think the crane visible in the third (night) picture is actually working on the building that is now the downtown Red Lion hotel (or at least I think that is what it currently is).
July 9th, 2009 @ 9:57 am
@RPH -Wow! Thank you for the flickr link to the Seattle Municipal Archives ( . . . I think - I tend to lose track of time when I discover “new” old photos and I got stuff I gotta get done . . . so now I might blame you if I can’t manage my time . . .)
Great postcards!
July 9th, 2009 @ 10:06 am
The Red Lion, on Fifth, was originally the People’s Bank building, where I worked in 1975 as a waiter at the basement restaurant, Der Adler, serving Joshua Green III on a regular basis. I also served Henry Jackson at a luncheon there.
July 9th, 2009 @ 4:09 pm
Truely exciting!..for me, anyway…Seattle in the 1970’s featuring the Seattle First National Bank Building, otherwise known as the box the Space Needle came in..
July 9th, 2009 @ 7:06 pm
Wow! I’d really like to see these reframed. Anyone got a helicopter?
July 10th, 2009 @ 1:27 am
So I’m guessing the cards to be, in order, from 1976, 1975, and 1974.