Museum of History & Industry

The Seattle Historical Society formed in 1911 on the 60th anniversary of the landing of Seattle's founding settlers. Chartered three years later, and later known as the Seattle-King County Historical Society, the group worked hard for the next fifty years to open a museum that would tell the history of their city.

The Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) opened on February 15, 1952 in Seattle's Montlake neighborhood. It has grown to become the largest private heritage organization in Washington State, attracting more than 60,000 visitors annually from the Northwest and beyond. MOHAI collects, preserves, and presents the rich history of the Pacific Northwest. Its engaging exhibits and programs have created an appreciation for the Northwest's diverse cultural, social, and economic history.

MOHAI's Sophie Frye Bass Library contains over one and a half million historical images, as well as books, manuscripts, motion pictures, maps, sound recordings, and ephemera materials related to the history of Seattle and the Puget Sound region. The library is open to the public by appointment and serves the research and reference needs of students and scholars, journalists, public and private organizations, and interested individuals.

Over 4,000 images from MOHAI's collection were selected and scanned for this Web site to present a visual history of Seattle and King County from the 1860s through the 1980s.

Browse images in Museum of History & Industry collection