We’ve just wrapped up the addition of more than 800 historic images to our Northwest Photograph Collection thanks to grant funding from Washington State Library and Institute of Museum and Library Services. The collection now includes over 1300 photographs from Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Alaska.
The newly added photos include views of :
- The 1949 Lummi Stommish Water Festival. The celebration started near Bellingham in 1946 with activities including canoe races, salmon bakes, dancing and the selection of a festival princess.
- Governor Ernest Lister and his family. Lister served as governor of Washington from 1913 to 1919, leading the state through the influenza epidemic and World War I. Lister died of heart disease while in office in 1919, shortly after many of these photos were taken.
- McNeil Island Penitentiary, which operated as a federal penitentiary from 1875 to 1981 before being taken over by the Washington State Department of Corrections and finally closing in 2011. The photos in our collection were taken between roughly 1920 and 1950 and show the prison grounds, prisoners, guards and transport boats.
- Mount Baker Lodge. The lodge was constructed in 1927 and was only open for four short years before being destroyed in a fire. The photos show the building’s exterior, grand lobby area and dining rooms.
Many of the other images added to the collection are real photo postcards, gathered by travelers as they visited locations such as Orcas Island, Snoqualmie Pass, Tacoma, Hood Canal and Lake Crescent. They provide plenty of inspiration for summer travel destinations that are a car ride away.
~posted by Jade D.
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