Preview up to 100 items from this collection below. The Space Needle’s construction during the early 1960s was an epic feat of architecture and design. George Gulacsik chronicled the project with over 2000 photos. Browse through our timeline to see the Needle’s construction milestones.
Space Needle worker and view west with helicopter, ca. November 27, 1961
Identifier: spl_gg_73540004
Date: 1961-11-27
View this itemWorkers installing screening on Space Needle roof, ca. December 28, 1961
Identifier: spl_gg_019
Date: 1961-12-28
View this itemVictor Steinbrueck letter to Councilman Paul Kranbel, June 1, 1983
In his letter to Paul Kranbel of the Seattle City Council, Steinbrueck expresses his concerns over the Pike Place Market Ordinance Proposal drafted by Councilman Michael Hildt. His concerns include the prospect of weakening the Historic District Commission and ensuring enough space is allocated for farmers. He includes a draft of the ordinance with his letter in which he has written notes and proposed changes.
Identifier: 002_VSLetter
Date: 1983-06-01
View this itemScaffolding at Space Needle base, ca. August 1961
Identifier: spl_gg_68910006
Date: 1961-08
View this itemWorker balances on cable inside Space Needle, ca. November 19, 1961
Identifier: spl_gg_72700015
Date: 1961-11-19
View this itemWorkers applying concrete on Space Needle pagoda, ca. early January 1965
Identifier: spl_gg_76240022
Date: 1962-01
View this itemThe Berry-Picker - Clayoquot
In 1906, Edward S. Curtis received funding from J.P. Morgan to begin work on "The North American Indian," a twenty volume set of photographs and text documenting Native American tribes throughout the western United States. The eleventh volume, featuring the Nootka, Clayoquot and Haida tribes, was published in 1916.
Identifier: spl_nai_11_368
Date: 1915
View this itemWorkers guiding Space Needle leg into place, ca. September 13, 1961
Identifier: spl_gg_69680006
Date: 1961-09-13
View this itemWorkers install Space Needle decking, ca. November 29, 1961
Identifier: spl_gg_73560003
Date: 1961-11-29
View this itemShai Shotie
Frank Asakichi Kunishige was born in Japan on June 5, 1878. He came to the United States via San Francisco in 1895. After graduating from the Illinois College of Photography, he opened a small photography studio in San Francisco. Kunishige moved to Seattle in 1917. In the same year, he married Gin Kunishige and began working in the studio of Edward S. Curtis where he became acquainted with Ella McBride who he worked for in later years. Kunishige was well known for his use of Pictorialism, a popular painterly style of photography. He developed his photographs on "textura tissue," a paper of his own creation, which allowed him to produce almost dreamlike prints. His work was featured nationally and internationally in exhibitions and publications such as Photo-Era and Seattle's Town Crier. In 1924, Kunishige became one of the founding members of the Seattle Camera Club, a group of local photographers including Kyo Koike, Yukio Morinaga, Iwao Matsushita and Fred Y. Ogasawara who gathered to share techniques and ideas, as well as their deep love of the medium. Although the group was initially solely Japanese, they soon welcomed more members including Ella McBride, their first female member. When World War II struck and the country's Japanese internment policy was put in place, Kunishige and his wife were forced to leave Seattle for Idaho where they were interned at the Minidoka camp. After their release, Kunishige spent two years working at a photography studio in Twin Falls, Idaho but eventually returned to Seattle due to his poor health. Frank Kunishige passed away on April 9, 1960.
Identifier: spl_art_367924_42
Date: 1940
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