Funding for encoding this finding
aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the
Humanities.
Historical Note
The first United States Post Office in Seattle--and the first in King
County--opened in 1853 in pioneer Arthur A. Denny's log cabin home on Front
Street (now First Avenue) and Marion Street, with Denny named the first
postmaster. Previously, all mail for Seattle and Alki was delivered once a week
by canoe from Olympia. The first post office consisted, as Denny's daughter
Louisa Denny Frye later recalled, of a desk with small cubbyholes where the 30
year old Denny sorted the first small batches of mail to come directly to
Seattle.
The Seattle Post Office lacked a permanent address for its first fifty
years, moving from one location to another. From 1890 to 1899, the Post Office
occupied a building on Columbia Street between Second and Third Avenues,
constructed after the fire of 1889. Later it was in the nearby Boston Block,
and later, in the Arlington Hotel Building at First and University. The first
permanent home of the Seattle Post Office was the Beaux-Arts inspired building
constructed between 1903 and 1909 at Third Avenue and Union Street. Also known
as the Federal Building, this ornate structure originally also housed the
United States Federal Court and Department of Customs, though the Post Office
soon outgrew its space and took over the entire building. This building, which
had become too cramped and had also begun to deteriorate, was demolished in
1958 and replaced by the modern three-story facility still used today.
Content Description
Photographs comprise the bulk of the Seattle Post Office collection.
Three groups of photographs portray postal employees: individual portraits from
the late 19th century and group portraits of employees of various Seattle
stations, taken in 1935 and 1952. Another series of 113 photographs documents
the construction (1903-1909), from groundbreaking to completion, of the
classical post office building that stood at Third Avenue and Union Street
until its demolition in 1958. Other photographs depict a 1950 letter carriers
convention, and the Terminal Annex on Jackson Street.
The collection also includes three albums: one volume of employee
signatures, probably given as a retirement gift; an album of newspaper
clippings documenting the early days of air mail service; and an album of
photographs and clippings related to the Retired Letter Carriers Club and the
associated Ladies Social Club for wives of retired letter carriers.
Post office papers includes early records from the Seattle and Olympia
post offices, an account book from Wagner, Oregon, and post office
ephemera.
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 :
Seattle Post Office photographs and other material, Museum of History
& Industry, Seattle
Administrative Information
Arrangement :
Arranged in 3 series:
Photographs
Papers
Albums
Acquisition Information :
Source: United States Post Office, Seattle (James J. Symbol,
Postmaster) on February 5, 1972.
Separated Materials :
These materials are part of a donation that also included a number of
artifacts. These artifacts are cataloged and stored separately by MOHAI's
Collections Department.
Detailed Description of the Collection
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in
the collection.
Photographs, circa 1890s-1956
231 photographs
Container(s)
Description
Dates
Employees
box/folder
1/1
1-4: Employee portraits
4 photographs
Roberts & Kautz,
Seattle (photographer)
Individual portraits of employees mounted on cardboard;
identifications written on verso.
circa 1890s
1/2-4
4-38: Employee portraits
34 photographs
Individual portraits of employees mounted on cardboard;
identifications written on verso.
circa 1890s
4/1-2
39-51: Employee groups by
station
13 photographs 8" x 19.5"
Groups of employees of individual Seattle stations: Ballard,
Columbia, Georgetown, Greenlake, Main Station, Queen Anne, University, and
Stations "B," "F" (Fremont), "I" (Interbay) and "W" (West Seattle). Also
includes 2 group photographs of Postmaster George E. Starr and supervisors.
Identifications are written on verso of each photograph,
though not all individuals are identified.
1935 August-September
4/3-6
52-72: Employee groups by
station
21 photographs 8" x 19.5"
Groups of employees of individual Seattle stations: Ballard,
Broadway, Columbia, Georgetown, Greenwood, Jackson, Lake City, Magnolia, Main,
Northgate, Terminal Station, Queen Anne, Richland Highlands, Riverton Heights,
University, Wallingford, West Seattle, and White Center. Also includes
photographs of employees at the North Garage, and 3 copies of a photograph of
Postmaster George E. Starr and supervisors. Identifications are written on verso of each photograph,
though not all individuals are identified.
1956 June -September
1/5
73-77: Employee groups
5 photographs
Includes employees of the Motor Vehicle Unit outside the U.S.
Post Office garage and a group of employees who received the "safe-driving
award" in 1940. Identifications of individuals written on verso or on separate
sheets of paper.
1933-1949
National Association of Letter
Carriers Annual Convention, Seattle
Photographs of the 37th biennial convention of the National
Association of Letter Carriers, which took place in Seattle.
1950 September
box/folder
1/6
78: Group on dock and boarding
the ferry Kalakala
1950 September
1/6
79: Ferry
Kalakala passing under Fremont bridge
Lawrence Barrett,
Seattle (photographer)
Copy negative on file
1950 September
1/6
80-81: People arriving for Grand
Ball
1950 September
1/6
82: Group seated at tables in
hall
1950 September
1/6
83: Group of letter
carriers
1950 September
1/7
84-92: National Association of
Letter Carriers parade during convention
9 photographs
1950 September
Buildings
box/folder
1/8-19
93-205: Construction of the U.S.
Courthouse, Custom House and Post Office building
113 photographs
This series of photographs documents the years-long
construction of the ornate classical building on the southeast corner of Third
Avenue and Union Street in Seattle, which housed the Post Office and well as
the United State Federal Court and the Department of Customs. Offically named
the U.S. Courthouse, Custom House and Post Office building, it was also
referred to as the Federal Building. Many of the photographs are mounted on
linen backing, and most are perforated with two holes along the left edge,
suggesting they have been removed from an album. The first images document the vacant corner prior to the
beginning of construction, after the two-story Plummer Block was lifted and
moved two blocks north to Pine Street, where it became the Hotel Federal.
Approximately one or two photographs per month document all stages of the
construction, which include the regrade of Third Avenue in 1907, unanticipated
in the building planning and requiring the addition of wide steps to connect
the building with the sidewalk four feet below. Beginning in January 1908, some
of the photographs document work on the building's interior, including 1909
images of finished rooms.
1903 December-1909 May
1/20
206-207: Interior of U.S. Courthouse,
Custom House and Post Office building
Pierson &
Co. (photographer)
1909
Terminal Annex
box/folder
1/21
People working in the
Terminal Annex building
3 photographs
These photographs are mounted on construction paper and are
accompanied by typed captions indicating that the photographs were used to
document congestion in various parts of the building, with employees working in
close quarters with each other and with office equipment.
1949 February
1/21
211-212: Exterior of Terminal
Annex
Caption: "Terminal Annex, Seattle, Wash. Taken Oct. 31,
1955, by Frank Allyn, Training Officer, who retained negative."
1955 October 31
Miscellaneous
box/folder
1/22
213: Crow sitting on
mailbox
Written on verso: "Glossy print courtesy of PI [
Seattle Post-Intelligencer] (Beth
McKinnon). Crow was stealing letters from mail box. This photo caught him red
handed."
"Brief History of the National
Federation of Post Office Clerks" by Fred McGee
1 page
undated
Seattle Post Office
box/folder
2/2
National Association of Letter
Carriers, Seattle Branch souvenir booklet
2 copies
Booklet containing photographs of Seattle letter carriers,
listing names, home state and appointment dates.
1901
2/3
Calls for proposals for
airplane service between Seattle and Vicotoria, B.C.
Includes calls for proposals, proposal cover letters,
correspondence and clippings
1923, 1928-1929
2/4
Mail schedules
4 items
Schedule of "Arrival and Departure of Princial Mails" (1917);
train mail and air mail schedules (1930); and a map showing air mail transit
hours between Seattle and other principal cities (1931).
1917, 1930, 1931
Olympia Post Office
box/folder
2/5
Arrivals and departures
registers
Records of arrivals and departures of mail by type of carrier:
horse and cart, steamboat or railroad.
1889-1893
2/6-7
Employees
Includes letter carrier applications and letters of
recommendation; appointment of Postmaster Val A. Milroy; reports of Letter
Carrier Service; and oaths and bonds of letter carriers and Postmaster Val
Milroy.
1890-1893
2/8-9
Financial records
Includes vouchers and reports on various types of delivery and
sales; receipts for rent, utilities, salaries and purchases; and
correspondence. Includes correspondence from the Post Office Department Salary
and Allowance Division regarding salary, rent and other expenses; from the
Office of the Auditor of the Treasury for the Post Office Department regarding
collection of money from former Postmaster J.G. Kennedy; from Postmaster Milroy
regarding funds for improvement of post office facilities, and other
correspondence.
1889-1893
Wagner, Oregon Post
Office
box/folder
2/10
Account book of quarterly
returns
1894-1897
Ephemera
box/folder
2/11
U.S. Postal Service booklet of
general information for the public
Cover stamped "Ellensburg, WA. 98926"
1904
2/12
Material distributed by or
available at post offices
Includes Registered Mail envelopes, a poster announcing the
Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, a list of providers of produce, and
a letter from the National Recovery Administration about the Code of Fair
Competition (1934).
1934; 1940 ; undated
2/12
Banquet programs
1928; 1941
Clippings
box/folder
2/14
"The G.P.O. Museum" by Pamela
Steelcroft, published in the
Strand Magazine, London
Article clipped and mailed to Postmaster George Starr by
Louis Nash, King County Auditor, with the inscription "Something for you
scrapbook"
1897 September
2/14
The
Bundy Recorder free speech
edition.
The
Bundy Recorder was the "official organ of the
Seattle P.O. Clerks Union."
1909 August
2/15
Miscellaneous
Includes a New Year's card from Seattle Post Office to the
Universal Postal Union (1909); two letters of recognition; and an announcement
about excursions to Saratoga Lake for employees.
Titled on cover "Post Office Employes [sic]," this album
consists of pages each signed by a postal employee, most indicating the
employee's appointment date and position, and the current date. Signature dates
range from 1895-1914, with groups at 1895-1899, 1903-1906 and 1914. The first page of the album is printed with a message to
Postmaster Griffith Davies, indicating that this album was assembled in honor
of his retirement. Inscription in album: "For your archive, This book belonged to
my father, James W. Scott, who was one of the "original boys" --way back when.
I'm hoping you will enjoy having it. Sincerely, Norma Scott Drimmel, May 2,
1949."
1894-1914
3
230: Ladies of the Retired Letter
Carriers Social Club album
The front of the album consists of photographs of members of the
Ladies Social Club (who were wives of retired letter carriers) and clippings
about Club events, many by Club secretary Clara Newell. The album includes a
list of charter members at the Club's founding in 1945. The back half of album consists of clippings about and
photographs of members of Retired Letter Carriers Club of Seattle, as well as
clippings about Seattle Post Office history.
1945-1962
3
231: "History of Air Mail" clippings
album
Album apparently assembled by Seattle Post Office. Title on
cover: "History of Air Mail - Clippings - Seattle Post Office"
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online
catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or
places should search the catalog using these headings.
Personal Names :
Starr,
George E.--Photographs
Corporate Names :
Olympia Post
Office
Seattle
Post Office--Photographs
Geographical Names :
United
States--Washington (State)--Seattle
Subject Terms :
Post office
buildings--Washington (State)--Seattle--Photographs
Post offices--Washington
(State)--Seattle
Postal service
employees--Washington (State)--Seattle--Photographs
