It’s always encouraging to get reader submitted photos showing old Seattle. But when Josh Salwitz
e-mailed me with a huge batch of slides he’d found at the Salvation Army selling for $1.50, I knew he’ d hit the jackpot.
Not only is there volume, but this collection is framed well and the color survives beautifully.
Here we are at the 9th and final installment in the World’ s Fair Sliding
series feature. If you need to catch up on these excellent Seattle Center construction and World’s Fair snapshots, just
click here. As we round out this series we have to say huge thanks to Josh for scanning and sharing these with all of us.
Click on the thumbnails to admire the full-res shots.
Snapshot taken during the Century 21 Exposition (Seattle World’s Fair) 1962. Photo courtesy Josh Salwitz.
Snapshot taken during the Century 21 Exposition (Seattle World’s Fair) 1962. Photo courtesy Josh Salwitz.
Snapshot taken during the Century 21 Exposition (Seattle World’s Fair) 1962. Photo courtesy Josh Salwitz.
Snapshot taken during the Century 21 Exposition (Seattle World’s Fair) 1962. Photo courtesy Josh Salwitz.
Snapshot taken during the Century 21 Exposition (Seattle World’s Fair) 1962. Photo courtesy Josh Salwitz.
Snapshot taken during the Century 21 Exposition (Seattle World’s Fair) 1962. Photo courtesy Josh Salwitz.
Snapshot taken during the Century 21 Exposition (Seattle World’s Fair) 1962. Photo courtesy Josh Salwitz.
Snapshot taken during the Century 21 Exposition (Seattle World’s Fair) 1962. Photo courtesy Josh Salwitz.
Boy howdy, I sure like #6. All of my favorite buildings visible and none of my LEAST favorites even built yet. You CAN go back!
(Water tower!)
Sad to see this is the final installment…great pictures!
Do you know what type of film was used? Kodachrome?
Look closely in the Lake Union view and see the sub docked at the pier.
The Elektra/Townhouse (was it built as the Townhouse Apts?) sure stands out in the city view. Now hidden by the Convention Center, freeway, Meridian.
What building is the “Fluke Electronics” sign on? Looks like it’s in front of ‘the Bon’.
Wow, Jeff, sharp eye. I didn’t notice that submarine at first, though I did notice the roll of toilet paper being thrown from the northwest rim of the space needle in #6. Course, that may be a scratch on the slide…
#1, I mean. (to quote the Pythons, “I’ll come in again”)
I think the Fluke sign is on the building across the street from the Bon to the north (the Security Building?).
Securities Bldg. is right. It looks like we can also see the old natatorium, the Crystal Pool, way over on the right edge at Second and Lenora. I didn’t realize the dome was already gone by that time.
The picture looking across Lake Union shows something that I’ve missed for a long time – the views from Aurora as it runs along the shoulder of Queen Anne Hill. I’ve missed being able to enjoy the view since they started putting up the wall of condos there.
I love the 2nd to last photo, taken from West Seattle. Notice the stam ferry “San Mateo” crossing the bay. Also I like the lack of freeway south of downtown.
The sub at the Naval Reserve Center is most likely the USS Bowfin, SS-287. She was based there in the 60′s. My dad was in the Naval Reserve, flying out of Sand Point at the time, but often had to go to the Lake Union Reserve Center for paperwork. It was common for the kids of the reservists to be allowed to run around aboard the Bowfin while Dad/Mom was in the Reserve Center taking care of business. Wonder if the kids at Bangor today get the same deal (not likely!!) Ah, it was a different time!
I swear a few years ago that I saw a submarine in Lake Washington, but my friends didn’t believe me. I was driving on 520 at the time and didn’t get a great look, but I’ll be damned if it wasn’t the top of a sizeable sub. Of course I had no idea why a sub would be in Lake Washington, or if it would even fit in the locks.
The fact that subs used to dock in Lake Union gives me hope I wasn’t delusional.
M the E, I believe what you saw was a Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus. It’s just my little theory.
Matt- In the 1950′s, the fleet submarine Puffer was berthed at the Naval Reserve Center on Lake Union. She was replaced by the Bowfin, which is now at the National Park in San Francisco. If it was just in the last few years, possibly the boat you saw was the ex-Russian sub that was berthed by Colman Dock, & moves back & forth between Victoria & Vancouver.
I notice that in the Lake Union shot, the Tradewinds Restaurant on the old ferry just west of the Naval Reserve Center is still there. I wonder if the pirate was still leaning on the stack.
Thank you for posting all these great picts of The Century 21 Exposition. I actually discovered the site tonight and went through all nine chapters. The only time I went to the fair was in my mother’s womb. I am actually a “World’s Fair Kid.” The only qualification being that you had to have been born in Seattle during the run of the fair. This means I’m as old as the Space Needle which will soon be the Northwest equivalent to the expression “old as the hills.”
After a spell out of the country, I am finally catching upon this site and have enjoyed the World’s Fair picture sets. The current set includes some great pix, but at least one of them was taken after the 1962 Fair ended. Number 4, east across Lake Union, shows I-5 complete or nearly ready to open – the scale makes it a little hard to determine if the vehicles on the road are traffic or construction implements. In fact I-5 was not completed until well after the Fair was over, and a lot of cement remained to be put in place in 1962.