Budlong's boathouse, ca 1886 (MOHAI 5828)

Webster & Stevens made copies of the work of a number of earlier Seattle photographers. Some, like this one, show what Seattle looked like a few years before the great fire of 1889.
This photo, taken around 1886, shows Budlong's Boathouse on Front Street (now First Avenue) at the foot of Marion Street. The sailboats and other small watercraft that crowd the waterfront were for rent. The large building in the center is the Frye Opera House, considered the grandest stage north of San Francisco. Almost all of the buildings in this photo would burn in the June 1889 fire.
Original photograph: ca. 1886. Copied after 1902 by Webster & Stevens
Subjects (LCTGM): Budlong's Boathouse; Frye Opera House; Sailboats; Waterfronts