Mt. Tacoma (Rainier) from the banks of the Puyallup River, circa 1902. The building to the right is the Puyallup Indian Church, built in 1880 or 1881 with lumber hauled by horse and wagon from Old Tacoma. It was based on Presbyterian teachings and had many prominent Indians, such as Thomas Stolyer, as members. The church was located close to the Puyallup Indian cemetery. (Copied by Mary Randlett)

Rainier, Mount (Wash.); Puyallup River (Wash.); Puyallup Indian Church (Tacoma);

Crompton, The four masted steel barque 'Crompton', 2810 tons, under sail [steel 4 mast barque, 2810 tons, ON97800, 310.0 x 45.3 x 24.9. Built 1890 (7) T. Royden and Sons Liverpool. Owners Steel Sailing Ship Crompton Co. MacVicar, Marshall and Co. registered Liverpool. State Library of South Australia, B 3456, PRG 1218/3 or OH 456/1, Digital Collections, South Australiana Collection, Photographs, A. d. Edwardes Collection, https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/PRG+1373/6/67

Sailing ships; barks; barques;

ca. 1902. Stone masons pause to be photographed circa 1902 before resuming work cutting stone to be used in the construction of the Carnegie Library at 1102 Tacoma Avenue South. The sandstone used came from both Wilkeson and Tenino. Industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie had donated $75,000 for the construction of a new Tacoma Public Library near So. 12th and Tacoma Avenue So. The 85th Carnegie Library to be built in the United States opened on June 4, 1903, as the first Carnegie Library in the State of Washington. Thousands attended the grand opening until 10:30 that night.

Stone cutting--Tacoma; Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma); Public libraries--Tacoma--1900-1910;

ca. 1903. Copy of customer print ordered by W.H. Hewitt on November 8, 1973. This is an artist's rendering of the mill located at the Northern Pacific station in Wilburton. It was apparently built by "Tacoma capital" and "operated in the midst of the big trees across Lake Washington from Seattle." In 1903 Wade Hewitt and Charles Lea became the operators of the sawmill located at the head of the Mercer Slough. The Hewitt-Lea Lumber Co. dealt in lumber, lath and shingles.

Renderings; Sawmills--Wilburton;

ca. 1903. The contract to build the first steel bridge to span the Foss waterway at the foot of South 11th Street was let in 1894 and construction was completed in 1895 at a cost of $90,000. An article from the Tacoma Daily Ledger dated Feb. 1, 1895 stated: 'In its relation to the future greatness of Tacoma, the erection of the bridge is perhaps the most important public work since the first train came through the Stampede tunnel." In this view, dating from around 1903, long lines of employees from the many businesses on the tideflats stream across the bridge toward downtown Tacoma. The Pacific Starch Co. (far left) opened in 1903; it was the "largest starch factory in the United States." The first 11th Street Bridge was closed in 1911; it was replaced by the more modern, "vertical lift" Murray Morgan Bridge. ( Copy of glass plate made on October 3, 1958.) TPL-8743

11th Street Bridge (Tacoma); Bridges--Tacoma;

ca. 1903. Noted Northwest marine photographer Wilhelm Hester photographed the crew of the "Buckingham" circa 1903 with grain elevator A on Tacoma's waterfront in the background. The men were under the command of William Roberts and all were neatly dressed in suits. There was also one woman in the center of the group, perhaps a family member of one of the crew. Wilhelm Hester, a Seattle resident, had offices in Tacoma's Bernice Building at 1106-08 Pacific Ave. for several years in the first decade of the 20th century. He took photographs of ships and sailors on the Tacoma, Seattle and Port Blakely waterfronts. This ship was probably in port to pick up a cargo of flour.

Shipping--Tacoma--1900-1910; Cargo ships--Tacoma--1900-1910; Waterfronts--Tacoma--1900-1910; Grain elevators--Tacoma--1900-1910;

Image title: Joseph - Nez Percé. The North American Indian, vol. 8, p. 24.

Indians of North America--Nez Percé--1910-1920; Men--Indians of North America; Indians of North America--Portraits;

ca. 1903. Salmon weir under construction in White River, four miles south east of Auburn and near or within the south west boundary of the Mucklesoot Reservation. The structure seems to be complete except for the wattled screen. A horizontal pole suspended by a cord is being installed by the workers. This snapshot was taken when two youths were on a hike in the summer of 1903. Photo by Elmer E. Patten. Mr. E. D. VanWinkle, of Auburn, furnished the print of which this is a copy. (Caption from the typed note on the back of the photo.) (Donated by Arthur Ballard) TPL-8040

Fishing weirs--Washington;

ca. 1903. The lake at Point Defiance, circa 1903. Much of the early design of Point Defiance can be laid at the feet of Welsh landscape gardener, and Point Defiance's first superintendent, Ebenezer Roberts. He saw the park as an island of peace and beauty to be used and enjoyed by the people of Tacoma. He also sought to preserve its wildness. He was also one of the forces behind the city obtaining sole ownership of the park in 1905. His vision of rustic beauty shaped the early look of the park. In those days, the animals were housed in the pens seen behind the lake. Elk, bison and deer would gather to eat at the animal pavilions, the small buildings in the pens. Ducks inhabited the lake. In the photograph, a woman in a floor length skirt stands at the top of the lake, taking in its beauty.

Point Defiance Park (Tacoma); Parks--Tacoma; Lakes & ponds--Tacoma;

ca. 1903. This large Victorian style home with veranda at 107 South G Street was the residence of Col. Marshall K. Snell, prominent Tacoma attorney, who practiced in the State of Washington for more than fifty years. Another view of the house can be seen at TPL 1021 with a few landscaping differences. Col. Snell, an Iowa native who was educated at the University of Wisconsin, came to Tacoma in 1888. He was involved in criminal defense and later corporate law. His second wife Bertha was the first woman to be admitted to practice in Washington and became her husband's law partner throughout the rest of his life. Col. Snell made time for a variety of interests besides law including breeding and showing horses, farming problems and solutions and developing good roads to make marketing farmers products easier and more beneficial to the growers. School, church and community center sites were donated by Col. Snell for the betterment of others. Col. Snell would pass away in Tacoma on April 19, 1939, at the age of 79. (Downs, Winfield, Encyclopedia of Northwest Biography, p. 109-110-article)

Snell, Marshall K.--Homes & haunts;

ca. 1903. Rhodes Brothers horse drawn delivery wagon, circa 1903. When the Rhodes Brothers store opened in 1903, they employed four horse drawn delivery wagons. The name of the store was printed boldly on the side, and the wagons were kept busy delivering throughout the area. By 1912, the horses were retired and replaced by automobiles. (photograph donated by the Rhodes Reunion Committee)

Department stores--Tacoma; Rhodes Brothers Department Store (Tacoma);

ca. 1903. St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 2910 North Starr St, as viewed circa 1903. The tiny 21 x 45-foot wood church is considered to be Tacoma's oldest church, built in 1873 on land donated by Edward S. "Snookum" Smith and Capt. Starr with timber donated by the Hanson-Ackerson Mill. The unusual bell tower is actually a fir tree cut at 48 feet with its bell donated by the Sunday School of St. Peter's Church in Philadelphia. A windstorm in 1935 resulted in a new tower which replaced the unique Old Town fir tower. St. Peter's is on both the City and National Registers.

St. Peters Episcopal Church (Tacoma); Episcopal churches--Tacoma;

George F. Cram and Company
1 map; 34 x 51 cm. From page 292-293 of Cram's unrivaled atlas of the world. Relief shown by hachures. Shows counties, cities and railroads. Scale ca. 1:1,300,000 On verso: portion of "City of Portland, Oregon." In lower margin: 292, 293. Index on verso.

ca. 1904. The Tacoma Public Library, built with funds from industrialist Andrew Carnegie, was dedicated in 1903. The stacks area, where most of the Library's books were shelved (shown at the rear of the picture,) was "closed," meaning that the librarian retrieved books for the patron. The librarians worked behind the wooden, windowed structure at the rear center of the picture much like tellers in a bank. Pictured in the foreground is the top of the white Vermont marble staircase. Above can be seen the decorative stained glass dome. Graceful Ionic columns support the high ceilings. The original glass dome was damaged in the 1949 earthquake. In 1952, a new main library was built adjoining the Carnegie building and the older building was used for storage and meeting rooms. A 5.1 million dollar renovation in 1990 remodeled the newer building and restored the Carnegie Library. This room is now home to the Library's NW Room/ Special Collection Department.

Public Libraries--Tacoma; Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma);

ca. 1904. Rhodes Brothers Store, circa 1904; Ladies' parasols and intimate apparel. The Rhodes Brothers Department Store was opened at 950 Broadway by Henry A. Rhodes in 1903. It was the grand establishment of his dreams, patterned after Wanamakers and Marshall Fields. From the beginning, they employed Herbert A. Foster as the window trimmer and decorator. This view of the store was festooned with parasols, studded with palms and draped with garlands. The lighting fixtures hanging from the ceiling were gas lights. The shelves were covered with boxes of different sizes, possibly containing accessories or women's intimate apparel. (photograph donated by the Rhodes Reunion Committee)

Department stores--Tacoma; Merchandise displays--Tacoma; Rhodes Brothers Department Store (Tacoma);

ca. 1904. Rhodes Brothers store, circa 1904; Parasol and streamer decorations and unidentified merchandise in boxes. Rhodes Brothers Department Store opened at 950 Broadway in 1903. Each department was not equipped with bags or a cash register, so merchandise was lifted by pulley up to a track and then sent to the office on the mezzanine where it was wrapped and change was made. The cables and tracks in this photograph are believed to have been used for that purpose. Photograph damaged upper left corner. (photograph donated by the Rhodes Reunion Committee)

Department stores--Tacoma; Merchandise displays--Tacoma; Rhodes Brothers Department Store (Tacoma);

ca. 1904. Rhodes Brothers store, circa 1904; Stairway to Mezzanine balcony from first floor. The Rhodes Brothers Department Store opened at 950 Broadway toward the end of 1903. It was, for the time, a modern emporium based on the model of Wanamaker's and Marshall Field's. The store carried a wide variety of merchandise on its three floors. This photograph shows the stairway leading to the mezzanine, where the ladies' lounge and the business office were located. (photograph donated by the Rhodes Reunion Committee)

Department stores--Tacoma; Rhodes Brothers Department Store (Tacoma);

ca. 1904. Rhodes Brothers Store, circa 1904; Shoe and Boot department. Henry A. Rhodes opened his dream emporium in a three story building at 950 Broadway at the end of 1903. The Rhodes Brothers Department Store offered a wide variety of fine merchandise. In the womens' shoe and boot department, chairs were provided for shoppers to sit and try on the shoes. The shelves are lined with boxes of shoes. Shoe models are attached to the pillar right. Decorations- parasols, ivy and palms- are evident in many places. (photograph donated by the Rhodes Reunion Committee)

Rhodes Brothers Department Store (Tacoma); Department stores--Tacoma;