Guide to the Snoqualmie Falls in Harness: Souvenir of the Visit of the Commercial Club of Chicago Photograph Album
March 21, 1901

Biographical Note

Charles H. Baker was born November 30, 1864, in Chicago, Illinois. After graduating from Cornell University as a civil engineer in 1886, Baker began work the following year for Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railroad in 1887. While traveling past 276-foot Snoqualmie Falls, he began formulating a plan to harness its energy, and after the economic Panic of 1893 left him unemployed, Baker convinced his father to finance his idea for the Snoqualmie Falls Power Company. His father, William T. Baker, was a wealthy businessman, president of the Chicago Board of Trade, and organizer of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Work began in 1898, and the plant was opened in July, 1899. 1903 was disastrous year for Baker and the plant due to a destructive fire and the death of William T. Baker. Estate lawyers refused to recognize Charles H. Baker as a partner of the Snoqualmie Falls Power Company because the company had been under his father's name only. In 1908, the Snoqualmie Falls Power Company was sold to the Seattle-Tacoma Power Company, forerunner of Puget Sound Energy.

The Commercial Club of Chicago was founded in 1877 by a small group of businessmen who wanted to help shape the development of Chicago. In the early 1900s, the club played an instrumental role in the development of an urban plan for the city. In 1907, the club commissioned internationally renowned architect and city planner Daniel H. Burnham to develop the plan, which was published in 1909 as Plan of Chicago. It was one of the first comprehensive development plans designed for an American city. As of 2004, the Commercial Club of Chicago exists as a large membership organization of leading Chicago business and civic leaders.

The Commercial Club of Chicago donated the photograph album of their visit to the Snoqualmie Falls Power Company and surrounding environs to C.H. (Cornelius Holgate) Hanford. Hanford was born in 1849. In 1855, he was carried as a young child into the Seattle blockhouse serving as a fort during an attack by Native Americans. As an adult, Hanford served as a lawyer, judge, and public official. In 1889, he was appointed the last chief justice of the Washington Territory. Most notably, Hanford served as the U.S. circuit judge for the western district of Washington State from 1898 to 1912. In 1912, an impeachment trial began to look into allegations of drunkenness and misconduct, but he resigned before the trial's end. Hanford became a writer and editor of historical fiction and nonfiction before his death in 1926.

Scope and Content

The collection consists of one album of photographs taken during a trip by the Commerical Club of Chicago to the Snoqualmie Falls Power Company in March, 1901. The photographs document the company's power station building and intakes; substations in Seattle, Issaquah, and Renton; and the construction of power lines near Racing River, Cedar River, Preston, Issaquah, and Renton. Also shown are Snoqualmie Falls, Snoqualmie River, Port Blakeley Lumber Mill, Port Orchard Naval Yard, and salmon at a Seattle pier.

Charles H. Baker probably took photographs 1-30, but photographs 31-36 were probably taken by another photographer, possibly John D. Cress.

Restrictions on Access

Collection is open to the public.

General Notes

Handwritten on first page of album: "Hon. C.H. Hanford. Compliments of Chas. [Charles] H. Baker Seattle March 21, 1901."

Custodial History

The Commercial Club of Chicago donated the photograph album to C.H. (Cornelius Holgate) Hanford.

Acquisition Info

Source: Fairlook Antiques, 2003.

Processing Info

Processed by Noella Natalino, 2004.

Bibliography

See: Alan J. Stein, Snoqualmie Falls generators begin producing electricity on July 31, 1899 , HistoryLink.org (2001).

Inventory

Page	Item
1	1		Snoqualmie Falls and buildings near top of falls
2	2		View of Snoqualmie Falls
3	3		Members of the Chicago Commercial Club posing in front of Snoqualmie Falls Power Co. sign
4	4		Intake and buildings on the north side of the Snoqualmie Falls Power Co.
5	5		Top of Snoqualmie Falls, "view from balcony"
6	6		Grounds east of Snoqualmie Falls Power Co. intake with two women posing by water's edge
7	7		Winter scene at Snoqualmie Falls
8	8		Snoqualmie River below the falls
9	9		Crest of Snoqualmie Falls
10	10		Diagram of the headworks of the Snoqualmie Falls Power Co.
11	11		Diagram of the subterranean power station
12	12		Cavity switchboard of the Snoqualmie Falls Power Co.
13	13		Doble waterwheel for exciter power supply
14	14		Interior transformer house of the Snoqualmie Falls Power Co.
15	15		Route cut through forest for power lines, 3 miles from Snoqualmie Falls
16	16		Route cut through forest for power lines near Raging River
17	17		Route cut through forest for power lines at the Raging River crossing
18	18		Route cut through forest for power lines near Preston, Washington
19	19		Route cut through forest for power lines near Issaquah, Washington
20	20		Route cut through forest for power lines crossing Issaquah Valley
21	21		Gilman substation of the Snoqualmie Falls Power Co., Issaquah, Washington
22	22		Man standing next to small wooden station in front of power line pole with a sign attached advertising a reward [Rimrod? Station]
23	23		Route cut through forest for power lines, west of Issaquah, Washington
24	24		Route cut through forest for power lines near Renton, Washington
25	25		Bridge and power line poles crossing Cedar River
26	26		Renton substation of the Snoqualmie Falls Power Co.
27	27		Men in suits standing beside machinery in the interior of the Seattle substation of the Snoqualmie Falls Power Co.
28	28		Seattle substation of the Snoqualmie Falls Power Co.
					Signs on building read: M. Furuya Co., Seattle Cataract Co., and "Snoqualmie Power for Any Use in Any Amount."
29	29		View of Mt. Rainier and power line poles probably from the direction of Tacoma, Washington
30	30		Snoqualmie Falls Power Co. card showing the heights of other tall objects as compared to Snoqualmie Falls
31	31		Port Blakely lumber mill, Bainbridge Island, Washington
32	32		Fishermen with piles of salmon at Seattle Wharf
33	33		Man and boy in Washington forest
34	34		Dry dock at Port Orchard Navy Yard (now Puget Sound Naval Shipyard)
35	35		U.S.S. Iowa in dry dock at the Port Orchard Navy Yard
36	36		Mount Rainier and river
Subject Terms
	Personal Names:
		Baker, Charles H. (Charles Hinckley), b. 1864.
	Organizations:
		Commercial Club of Chicago--Photographs.
		Iowa (Battleship)--Photographs.
		Puget Sound Naval Shipyard--Photographs.
	Geographic Names:
		Rainier, Mount (Wash.)--Photographs.
		Snoqualmie Falls (Wash. : Waterfall)--Photographs.
	Subjects:
		Electric lines--Washington (State)--Photographs.
		Electric substations--Washington (State)--Photographs.
		Hydroelectric power plants--Washington (State)--Photographs.
	Genre Headings:
		Photograph albums.