446 photographic
prints (145 negatives) .8 cubic foot (2 boxes)
Collection Number:
1650-14
Summary:
Planning Commission Photographs depict
Seattle neighborhoods, roads, parks, and marinas; also included are photographs
of display materials and photographs related to land use.
Funding for encoding this
finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for
the Humanities.
Historical Note
The City Planning Commission was created in 1924 to prepare plans and
gather data for the development of the City, to advise City Council on current
problems and long range planning, and to participate in administration of the
City's Zoning Ordinance. An independent nine-member commission was established
with adoption of a new City Charter in 1946. It was provided with authority to
hire as needed to carry out its planning and advisory functions. The Planning
Commission also administered the Board of Adjustment following its creation in
1957.
The city planning process was reorganized in 1980 and the Commission's
planning function was transferred to the Department of Community Development.
The current Commission is an advisory agency that reviews development plans and
reports to the Mayor and City Council. It is composed of 15 members, all of
whom must be Seattle citizens.
Content Description
The Planning Commission photographs date from 1945 to 1957; most of the
photographs are undated. The photographs depict neighborhoods, homes, parks,
highways, moorages and marinas, and aerial views of Seattle and surrounding
areas. Some photographs are related to land use. A selection of photographs of
a display is included; the photographs show display materials on the topic of
city and neighborhood planning. Some display materials in the collection may be
related to the 1953 convention of the American Institute of Architects, which
was held in Seattle. Also included are photographs of Kitimat, B.C., and
highway photographs made in California. Very few images in the collection are
specifically identified.
Use of the Collection
Restrictions on Access :
Records are open to the public.
Preferred Citation :
[Title of image, date. Item number.] Planning Commission Photographs,
Record Series 1650-14. Seattle Municipal Archives.
Administrative Information
Arrangement :
Photographs are arranged alphabetically by subject.
Detailed Description of the Collection
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in
the collection.
Planning Commission
Photographs, 1945-1957
Container(s)
Description
Dates
Box/Folder
1/1
AIA Convention: Exhibit Memo
and Itinerary
1953
1/2
Blight
1 print
1950
1/3
Buffalo City Planning
Commission
17 negatives
Photographs may have been part of an exhibit or display.
Negatives correspond to prints in 1/8. Notes on box: "City
Planning, Albright Show, B.C.P.A. studies, Radburn etc."
n.d.
1/10
Exhibit
Photographs
17 negatives
Images show maps, including a map of Paris and two German
maps; also pictured are aerial views of cities and buildings. Photographs may
have been part of an exhibit or display.
n.d.
1/11
Green River Flood Photographs
(Mounted)
17 prints
n.d.
1/12
Green River Flood Photographs
(Mounted)
17 prints
n.d.
1/13
King Street Station and
Terminal Post Office
7 prints
n.d.
1/14
King Street Station and
Terminal Post Office
9 prints
1950,
n.d.
1/15
Kitimat, B.C.
8 prints
n.d.
1/16
Land Use: North of City
Annexation
16 prints
1950
1/17
Land Use: Queen City Yacht
Club
8 prints
n.d.
1/18
Land Use: Residential
Density Photographs
32 prints
n.d.
1/19
Magnolia Shopping
Center
4 prints
n.d.
2/1
Marinas and
Moorages
25 prints
1952-1953,
n.d.
2/2
Marinas and
Moorages
18 prints
1952,
n.d.
2/3
Parkway (Aurora?)
1 print
n.d.
2/4
Planning San Francisco: A
Monthly Bulletin of the San Francisco Planning Commission
8 newsletters
1945-1946
2/5
Portage Bay Study
Photographs
32 prints
1950,
n.d.
2/6
Seattle Aerial Photographs
(dated)
31 prints
Photographs are dated and identified by street name or
neighborhood.
1949-1954
2/7
Seattle Aerial Photographs
(undated)
23 prints
Photographs are undated, but in some cases are identified by
street names handwritten on prints.
n.d.
2/8
Seattle Aerial
Photographs
17 negatives
Negatives may correspond to prints in folders 2/6 or 2/7.
"Shot with focal-plane shutter."
n.d.
2/9
Seattle City Planning
Commission
1 print
1957
2/10
Seattle City Planning
Commission Correspondence
Included are several items of correspondence, as well as a
copy of an architectural drawing of the proposed Civic Center.
1950
2/11
Seattle City Planning
Commission Display Materials
3 prints
Photographs of display materials showing population studies,
land use, and topography for Seattle, as well as a map showing data for the
Comprehensive Plan.
n.d.
2/12
Seattle City Planning
Commission Display Materials
17 prints
Included are aerial photographs, images of parks and
streets, and traffic images from the California Highway Department.
1949-1956,
n.d.
2/13
Seattle City Planning
Commission: "Taxes Are High Because of Slum Areas"
1 print, 1 negative
n.d.
2/14
Seattle
(Miscellaneous)
11 prints
Included are photographs of people, neighborhoods, homes,
parks, roads, and Seattle views.
1954,
n.d.
2/15
Seattle
(Miscellaneous)
36 3x5 prints; 46 2 1/4
prints
Included are photographs of people, neighborhoods, homes,
parks, roads, and various other Seattle locales.
n.d.
2/16
Seattle
(Miscellaneous)
49 negatives
Included are photographs of neighborhoods, homes, parks,
roads, and various other Seattle locales. Some negatives correspond to prints
in folder 2/15.
n.d.
2/17
Slide Conditions (Alki,
Spring 1950)
9 prints
1950
2/18
Slide Conditions (Vicinity of
12th and Blaine, Spring 1951)
10 prints
1951
2/19
Traffic and Roads
22 prints
Several images are from the California Highways and Public
Works Division; these photographs show traffic and roads in Los Angeles,
Petaluma, and Walnut Creek.
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.
