Now & Then

Paul Dorpat digs into our rich local history, sharing images and stories from Seattle’s past.

Pacific NW magazine

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THEN: The spiny, orange gazebo-like terminus of the Union 76 Sky Ride can be found at the Washington State Fair in Puyallup, where it was moved in 1980. Today’s Sky Ride trip runs $5, only 10 times the 1962 fare. By comparison, a ride to the top of the Space Needle, $1 in 1962, today starts at $32.50, more than 30 times the original price. The Monorail offers the best deal of all, a mere $2.50 per ride, only five times the 1962 rate.

August 22, 2019 at 7:00 am

At Seattle Center, a willing suspension — from a sky-high ride to high drama

The Seattle Playhouse — built for the 1962 Seattle’s World Fair in only 34 days — was visible from the Union 76 Skyride.

THEN: This undated view of Fourth Church of Christ, Scientist, looks southwest from the corner of Eighth and Seneca, sometime prior to the 1968 demolition and reconstruction of neighboring First Presbyterian Church, whose own dome peeks out at left.

August 15, 2019 at 7:00 am

Saving a building’s soul, along with the heart of Town Hall Seattle

The former Fourth Church of Christ, Scientist, on First Hill celebrates its life-extending renovation this season.

THEN: Much as Aurora Valentinetti asked children to do in her puppet shows, transport yourself to a different realm – in this case the drama department in the basement of Denny Hall at the University of Washington where, in this view from the late 1940s/early 1950s, the new professor coaxes the personality of her handmade Pip marionette for a production of “The Shoemaker and the Elves.”

August 1, 2019 at 7:00 am

Aurora Valentinetti’s distinguished lifetime of bringing puppets to moppets

Professor and puppeteer Aurora Valentinetti earns the University of Washington’s Distinguished Teaching Legacy Award.

THEN: In 1925, more than 60 students at then-11-year-old East Seattle School, some in dresses, ties or knickerbockers, take their exercise outside the school’s east-facing backside. For a complete history of the school and its environs, see the 2013 book “Mercer Island: From Haunted Wilderness to Coveted Community” by Jane Meyer Brahm.

July 25, 2019 at 7:00 am

East + Seattle = Mercer Island, where an old school’s days might be numbered

This 1914 building, remembered as ‘heaven’ by at least one student, had a true old-school approach.

THEN: A Seattle-bound train boards passengers at the Black Diamond depot in 1910. While these rails were mainly dedicated to transporting coal, in its heyday, three passenger trains a day made the trip to the big city.

July 18, 2019 at 7:00 am

The railway that saved Seattle’s fortunes — and a young romance

A 40-mile stretch of Pacific Coast Railway built in the late 1800s transported coal and people. Historian Kurt E. Armbruster describes it in his newest...

THEN1: Held by his mom, Patricia, and eyed by his masked dad, Dallas, the hours-old Neil Armstrong Dial poses July 20, 1969, in a Northwest Hospital room. Décor included a model lunar module made from an inverted Styrofoam cup, with Q-tips for legs.

July 10, 2019 at 7:00 am

Meet the man born in Seattle on July 20, 1969, and named — you guessed it — Neil Armstrong Dial VIEW

The baby born in Seattle 50 years ago at the same time as the 1st moon landing is now an attorney who’s as humble as...

THEN: This view, probably looking southeast at five streetcars heading north, dates from 1890, 17 years before Ballard annexed to Seattle.

July 4, 2019 at 7:00 am

This week’s ‘Then’ photo could be from Interbay or Belltown. If you know, please let us know!

For sure, it’s somewhere on the line between Ballard and Seattle.

Mayor Allan Pomeroy is at the microphone, and Seafair Queen Carol Christensen stands center stage at this April 18, 1955, rally. Left of center, behind team owner Emil Sick and his trademark bowler, Fred Hutchinson peeks out. For IDs of others onstage, see this feature on SeattleTimes.com.

June 27, 2019 at 7:00 am

Hutch, the baseball hero and namesake for the cancer research center founded by his brother, was born in Seattle 100 years ago

Fred Hutchinson, a star pitcher for Franklin High School and the Seattle Rainiers before finding success as a pitcher and manager in the major leagues,...

THEN: Count the flags, big and small, strewn throughout this glimmering “then.” We calculate at least 100. For detailed maps, engaging narrative and stunning photos on the A-Y-P, check out the centennial book by Alan J. Stein, Paula Becker and the staff of HistoryLink.

June 20, 2019 at 7:00 am

A fairly wide view of Seattle’s 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition

Washington state’s first world’s fair opened 110 years ago at the University of Washington.

This 1885 or 1886 view shows only the right (west) half of a panorama that is wide enough to support two hand-drawn Mount Rainiers. You can find the full panorama, with both peaks for your confusion and/or pleasure, at seattletimes.com/pacificnw.

June 13, 2019 at 7:00 am

Stacking up evidence of Seattle’s growth in the 1880s

Booming pillars of pride signaled commercial success — and population statistics confirm it.

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