Seattle Blog and Recent Site Additions
January 28, 2012
The Museum of History and Industry
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2700 24th Avenue
Artist’s Drawing of the New Home for the Museum of History and Industry (Image Courtesy of Museum of History and Industry)
It has been a while since I visited the Museum of History and Industry. I wanted to see it again, especially as it is making preparations for its upcoming move to South Lake Union. The Museum ("Mohai") is a delightful dose of Seattle history and it has many areas of interest. If you have never been to Mohai, I would encourage you to visit its historic location in Montlake to enjoy the museum today.
Mohai hosts 40,000 visitors annually including 10,000 students. It was founded in 1952 at its historic Montlake location and has built up an impressive collection of Seattle’s history. The collection includes over 100,000 three dimensional objects and over 2,000,000 posters and photos.
Mohai has multimedia exhibits to guide you through Seattle’s old west history and its journey into current times. You can easily spend a couple of hours in the Museum enjoying all of the exhibits.
UPCOMING MOVE TO SOUTH LAKE UNION
In June of 2012, Mohai will close its doors at its historic Montlake location and will begin the process of moving the museum to its new location in the renovated Naval Reserve Armory on south Lake Union. The $90,000,000 project will conclude with the opening of Mohai at its new location in November 2012. This is an exciting project and it will place the museum at the area that houses the exciting Center for Wooden Boats and beautiful Lake Union Park.
MY FAVORITES AT THE MUSEUM
My favorite sections in the Museum are what it refers as its “Halls of Icons and Eye Candy” and the “Garden of Iconic Objects”. These areas includes famous artifacts such as the Lincoln Towing Toe Truck, the neon “R” from the historic Rainier Beer factory, Boeing’s B1 Flying Boat, the famous hydroplane “Slo-Mo-Shun IV”, and the irreverent marquee sign from the closed Lusty Lady that offered naughty puns and sayings to amuse passersby.
The Famous Lincoln's Towing Toe Truck
I love the Lincoln's Towing Toe Truck. The company actually had two of these “Toe” trucks, a left foot and a right foot. The left foot sat on top of the Lincoln Towing building at I-5 and Mercer and was seen by millions of passing motorists. Owner Ed Lincoln decided to build the Toe Truck in 1979 from the chassis of a wrecked VW bus. The toes are built out of Styrofoam and fiberglass. The left foot truck was donated to Mohai after Mr. Lincoln sold the business.
The Elegant Carroll's Jewelers Street Clock
Another of my favorites is the stately and elegant Carroll’s Jewelers street clock that is mounted at the main entrance. This is the most elaborate of Seattle’s historic clocks and it has found a perfect place to serve in its retirement. We have a large section on our web site about seeing Seattle's street clocks.
Please click here to go to our detailed web information about this clock.
The Rainier "R" Neon Sign
I enjoy the history of beer making around the country and one reminder of Seattle’s brewing tradition is the 11 foot tall Rainier Beer “R” neon sign that sat on top of its brewery in what is now the Tully’s Coffee headquarters building adjacent to I-5. The neon sign dates from about 1950 and it was donated to Mohai when the brewery was sold in 1999. The Rainier Beer sign glows at one end of the museum’s gift shop and it makes a great target for photography.
For more information about visiting Mohai, please click here to visit our full web page about Mohai.
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