Historical Note
The position of City Treasurer was created in Seattle's first City
Charter in 1869. The Treasurer administered the collection, management, and
disbursement of all City monies, invested temporary surplus cash, kept accounts
of all funds received and expended, and administered Local Improvement District
assessments. The Treasurer, like the Comptroller, was an elected official until
1992, when a City Charter amendment abolished the two positions and
consolidated the two departments into an executive agency, the Department of
Finance.
Content Description
The collection consists of three volumes of information regarding taxes
levied by the City of Seattle on its residents during the years 1874-1878.
Tables include name of resident, description of property, value of real estate
and personal property, total valuation, amount assessed for each tax, date of
payment, and remarks. Taxes levied included Road Poll, Road Property, City, Gas
Light, Fire, and Cemetery taxes.
Prominent early Seattleites whose names appear in the tax lists include
religious leader Daniel Bagley, businessman (and later Mayor of Seattle) Bailey
Gatzert, banker Dexter Horton, early pioneer (and widow of Dr. David "Doc"
Maynard) Catherine Maynard, and early settlers Henry and Sarah Yesler.