Ziegler and Rankin
Families Photographs and Other Material
Dates:
circa
1890-1933 ( inclusive )
Quantity:
3 boxes ( .8 linear feet)
Location of Collection:
2b.1.4
Collection Number:
1977.6486
Summary:
Photographs, photo albums and papers
from the Ziegler and Rankin families, who lived in Port Blakely on Bainbridge
Island from approximately 1888 through the early 1900s. Along with a number of
portraits of family, friends and school groups, the collection includes
photographs documenting the Port Blakely Mill and company houses, the Hall
Brothers shipyard and other Bainbridge Island locations.
Repository:
Museum of History &
Industry Sophie Frye Bass
Library
Funding for encoding this finding
aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the
Humanities.
Biographical Note
The collection strongly suggests that there were three Ziegler
siblings: Fred, Henry and Carrie Ziegler, children of Mr. G. and Christina
Ziegler.
Fred G. Ziegler was a resident of Port Blakely since 1888 and ran the
Bainbridge Hotel at Port Blakely until at least 1920. After the hotel burned
down on August 12, 1928, Ziegler ran a dairy with his herd of Jersey cows,
whose milk he sent to the creamery in Bremerton. It was during such a delivery
that Fred Ziegler died in 1931, in a drowning accident at Fletcher Bay when he
accidentally backed his truck off the ferry dock. Ziegler was survived by his
wife, Gertrude Zeigler, who seems to have been an active member of the Port
Blakely community. The Zieglers had a son, Weldon.
Henry Ziegler worked for Port Blakely Mill and lived in the company
housing with his wife M. Augusta Meins Ziegler, whom he married in 1898.
Carrie Ziegler married William Rankin, a manager of the Port Blakely
Mill Company, in 1906. The Rankins had two sons, Elwood (b. 1908) and Weldon
(1911- 1925), the latter dying of pneumonia at the age of 14. In 1925, the
Rankin family lived in Seattle, having moved there from Port Blakely three
years previously, and both sons attended Queen Anne High School. William Rankin
died on June 30, 1926, after managing the Port Blakely Mill Company for the
previous 25 years.
Historical Background
Port Blakely Mill
After failed attempts to establish mill operations at Alki and Port
Orchard, Captain William Renton founded the Port Blakely Mill Company in 1864,
on land he purchased at Bainbridge Island's Blakely Harbor. One of several
small mills in the area, the mill's output began to increase during the 1870s,
partly as a result of a large immigrant labor force. In 1872, ferry service
began between Seattle and Port Blakely and in 1879, Renton persuaded Hall
Brothers Shipyard to move its operation to Port Blakely. During this period,
Renton built houses for the families of mill workers, bachelor dormitories and
the nearby 75-room Bainbridge Hotel; he also established a daily stage between
Port Blakely and Port Madison. By the 1880s Port Blakely mill had become the
largest sawmill on the Pacific Coast, turning out 200,000 board feet a day. The
Port Blakely Mill was damaged by fire and subsequently rebuilt in 1888 and
again in 1907. Following a decline in the lumber market, the mill was closed
and demolished in 1924. Today, the Islandwood center for outdoor education for
school children operates on the site of the old Port Blakely Mill.
Content Description
The collection consists of photographs, photo albums and papers from
the Ziegler and Rankin families, who lived in Port Blakely on Bainbridge Island
from approximately 1888 through the early 1900s. The photographs include many
portraits, including a few portraying Ziegler family members. Group portraits
of school children include Ziegler children as well as many children from local
immigrant families, such as the Elofsons. The photographs also document the
company houses for mill employees, including the house of the Henry Ziegler
family. Other photographs depict the Port Blakely Mill, office and boiler room,
Hall Brothers shipyard and other Bainbridge Island locations.
The albums consist of family photographs and clippings. Albums
photographs include further images of company housing, and formal and informal
photographs of family and friends. Family papers include wedding announcements,
letters, invitations and programs, and newspaper clippings about friends and
family. A biographical booklet about Victor Hugo Elfendahl describes the life
and professional career of this assistant manager of the Port Blakely Mill.
Use of the Collection
Restrictions on Access :
The collection is open to the public by appointment.
Restrictions on Use :
The Museum of History & Industry is the owner of the materials in
the Sophie Frye Bass Library and makes available reproductions for research,
publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from MOHAI
before any reproduction use. The museum does not necessarily hold copyright to
all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may
require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.
Preferred Citation :
Ziegler and Rankin Families Photographs and Other Materials, Museum of
History & Industry, Seattle
Administrative Information
Arrangement :
The collection has been divided into series by format, with separate
series for photographs, albums, papers and publications.
Acquisition Information :
Donated by Mrs. F.R. Rankin in 1977.
Processing Note :
One of the photo albums was disassembled due to deterioration. Album
pages were placed in folders and retained in their original order.
Separated Materials :
These materials are part of a donation that also included artifacts.
These artifacts are cataloged and stored separately by MOHAI's Collections
Department.
Bibliography :
Kitsap County Historical Society (1977). Kitsap
County: A History. Book VI: Bainbridge Island.
Price, A., Jr (1990). Port Blakely: The
Community Captain Renton Built. Seattle, WA: Port Blakely Books.
This album consists largely of images of the William Rankin and
Carrie Ziegler Rankin family and friends. It includes photographs of William
and Carrie Rankin, two children who are probably their sons Weldon and Elwood,
and photographs of a Port Blakely Mill company house. The album also contains
clippings, including several about the death of Weldon Rankin at the age of 14
from pneumonia, and about the death of William Rankin. Loose photos removed
from the album are in a separate folder.
circa 1900-1925
2
112: Photograph album
The front of the album consists of portraits of several
individuals. Some are recognizable as members of the Zeigler family (probably
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ziegler); others are possibly members of a Lowe family. The
album also includes several images of the Port Blakely company houses, and
photographs of the Hall Brothers shipyard, the U.S.S. Arizona, and church and school buildings. The back of
the album contains photographs of pets, livestock and farm buildings. Loose
photos removed from the album are in a separate folder.
undated
2
113: Photograph album
This album contains images of a Mrs. Brock and her family, "Aunt
Lizzie Hogue" and her husband, and other individuals. Locations depicted
include a hotel, houses, a cabin, Mount Rainier and Bainbridge High School.
Loose photos removed from the album are in a separate folder.
114: Booklet of photographs of
Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition buildings
circa 1909
3
115: The Cornish School General
Catalog
1924-1925
3
116: At Home
with the Kodak
Tips on taking photographs at home, published by the Eastman
Kodak Company, Rochester, N.Y.
early 1900s
3
117: Victor Hugo
Elfendahl
Brief biographical booklet about the life and professional
career of Elfendahl, the assistant general manager of the Port Blakely Mill
Company of Seattle.
