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Tag: Washington Archives Month

Celebrating WA bridges: Green River Gorge Bridge

Celebrating WA bridges: Green River Gorge Bridge

(Photo courtesy Washington State Archives) Throughout October, our State Archives is playing tribute to Washington’s historic bridges as documented in its collections as it celebrates Archives Month. Here we’re featuring the Green River Gorge Bridge when it was under construction in 1914. The photo is from the Museum of History & Industry in Seattle. It’s one of a dozen photos of historic WA bridges that are found on this year free Archives Month poster. You can pick up a printed…

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Hey, don’t flip out! Archives Month is ending

Hey, don’t flip out! Archives Month is ending

(Photo courtesy Washington State Archives) Around our State Archives, Halloween doesn’t just mean the end of October; it also means the end of Washington Archives Month. This year’s theme is Fairs and Festivals. The photo above shows competitors in the pancake flipping race during the 1956 Pancake Festival in White Center. The photo originated from the Museum of History & Industry. By going to the Archives Month website, you can have access to this year’s very cool and colorful Archives…

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Fairs and festivals: Fourth of July parade

Fairs and festivals: Fourth of July parade

(Photo courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives) In alignment with Washington Archives Month’s Fairs and Festivals theme, today’s featured Archives Month photo is of the 1936 4th of July Parade in Seattle. Check out the Archives Month website, where you can learn about workshops and other free events related to the State Archives, plus access to this year’s Archives Month poster. If you want to pick up a free printed copy of the Archives Month poster, stop by our Executive…

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Fairs and festivals: cake-eating contest

Fairs and festivals: cake-eating contest

(Photo courtesy of Museum of History & Industry) We’re celebrating Washington Archives Month throughout October, and this year’s theme is Fairs and Festivals. In keeping with the theme, this photo shows people taking part in a cake-eating contest during the Cornucopia Festival in Kent in 1956. Check out the Archives Month website, where you can learn about workshops and other free events related to the State Archives, plus access to this year’s Archives Month poster. If you want to pick…

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Archives spotlights logging history

Archives spotlights logging history

Not even Game 1 of the World Series could keep nearly 75 people from attending Thursday night’s logging history event at the State Archives in Olympia. The three-hour program, called “Logging in Washington: High Climbing and Tall Timber,” included a 1920s silent film on the old days of the Schafer Brothers Logging Company of Aberdeen. It also featured presentations by Schafer family member Peter Reid and two generations of Washington loggers, as well as a logging photo exhibit and a…

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Hard Times in Washington: Building mountain roads

Hard Times in Washington: Building mountain roads

Photo courtesy of Washington State Archives Anyone who has traveled across the scenic North Cascades Highway (SR 20) knows how long and beautiful it is. Just imagine how difficult it was to construct it. Opened in 1972, the highway that connects the Skagit Valley and Methow Valley took decades to build through this remote part of Washington. This 1968 photo shows one of the highway bridges being constructed. October is Washington Archives Month. Go here to learn more about Archives…

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Hard Times in Washington: Early travel

Hard Times in Washington: Early travel

Photo courtesy of Washington State Archives You thought your rainy commute this morning was tough? Try doing it on a muddy “road” that is really a wide trail, while sitting in an uncovered wagon pulled by a horse.  No wonder train travel was so popular back then. Long before Washingtonians had the luxury of automobiles, paved roads and traffic updates, they had to endure traveling SLOOOWLY from one place to another. At least the fuel was grass, not gas, back…

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Hard Times in Washington: Mount St. Helens eruption

Hard Times in Washington: Mount St. Helens eruption

Photo courtesy of Washington State Archives Those who witnessed this once-beautiful mountain’s eruption on May 18, 1980, will never forget the incredible destruction and the ash cloud that seemed to rise endlessly into the sky. In the late 1990s, the Johnston Ridge Observatory and Visitor Center was opened to the public, offering a breathtaking view of St. Helens and its massive crater. If you want to visit Johnston Ridge before winter returns, do it soon. At the end of the…

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