Seattle, Washington, 1875. Looking S. W. from roof of Territorial Univ. Photo shows unpaved streets, wooden houses, a church, fences, a bay and a long building on a small peninsula. Image courtesy Washington State Digital Archives.
From Territorial U. 1875
April 6th, 2011 @ 12:04 am by Cliffe | Sorted Photo Exposure |
The year was 1861 when Territorial University (later known as U. W.) opened up in what is now downtown Seattle with 30 students and just one teacher. Below f ind a photograph taken in 1875 from the roof of the University building — you can see a southwestern view with West Seattle in the background. This is a very nice view of early Seattle. Click for the high res.
Seattle, Washington, 1875. Looking S. W. from roof of Territorial Univ. Photo shows unpaved streets, wooden houses, a church, fences, a bay and a long building on a small peninsula. Image courtesy Washington State Digital Archives.
Seattle, Washington, 1875. Looking S. W. from roof of Territorial Univ. Photo shows unpaved streets, wooden houses, a church, fences, a bay and a long building on a small peninsula. Image courtesy Washington State Digital Archives.
To recreate the pioneer experience of walking in town without sidewalks, visit north of 90th.
Caution: horseless carriages may intrude on your pioneer experience. Vintage Seattle us not responsible for your safety in rustic North Seattle.
Wow. Lots here. The way I understand this, the line of view from the camera to the steeple of the Methodist church down at Second and Madison (hoving above the trees center) cuts a diagonal through the block bounded by Seneca, Fourth, Spring and Third, then chops the northwest corner of Third and Spring in front of the pair of two-story houses with the ladders on their roo(ve/f)s. I’m surprised this image is tilted; I assume (incorrectly?) that a tripod would have been used, so it must have been intentional, but what would be the point of that? It actually makes the hill seem slightly less steep, maybe a plus if you were shooting to advertise land for sale in a growing town!
What a fantastic photo!
It never ceases to amaze me that downtown Seattle once looked like this.