General Photograph Collection

The General Photograph Collection of the Washington State Historical Society is a visual record of the people, places and events that tell the story of Washington State.

There are images revealing the beauty of the land: the wild rivers before the dams, the forests and the deserts, the beaches and the bluffs, the lowlands and the mountains. The photographs include early views of Olympia, Seattle, Tacoma, and Spokane, as well as the small towns in between. There are photos of loggers in the woods, fishermen hauling seine nets in Puget Sound, teachers and students in one room school houses, coal miners descending into the mines at Newcastle, farmers threshing wheat in the Palouse, and pickers harvesting apples in Yakima. There are portraits of presidents, governors, tycoons, and generals as well as the ordinary men, women and children who helped build the State.

A broad range of photographers who document 150 years of history of the State of Washington is represented in the collection. Photographers include A.H. Barnes, James Bashford, R.L. Boren, Roger Chute, John Cress, I.G. Davidson, J. Boyd Ellis, Virna Haffer, Darius Kinsey, Frank LaRoche, F.H. Nowell, Thomas H. Rutter, Henry M. Sarvant, Alfred G. Simmer, C.B. Talbot, photographers from the Works Progress Administration, and many others.

Additional Information:

Tacoma Public Library - Tacoma Past and Present provides access to the extensive photograph collections of the Tacoma Public Library.

University of Washington Digital Collections - The Digital Collections of the UW features photographs, documents, and audio/video resources for students, teachers, classrooms, and the community.

King County Snapshots -Presenting King County, Washington, through more than 12,000 historic images carefully chosen from the collections of thirteen museums, libraries, and history/heritage organizations.