What ambiance!

Washington State Museum in the Forestry Bldg, ca 1910
Photo courtesy of UW Special Collections, for educational use only.

Destruction! The end of Washington Bldg 1957

Destruction! The end of Forestry Bldg 1930

Photo courtesy of UW Special Collections, for educational use only.

Destruction! The end of California Bldg in 1915

Photo courtesy of UW Special Collections, for educational use only.

Who is this Thomas Burke?

The gravesite of Judge Thomas Burke and his wife Caroline

provides grandeur but no epitaph.

His memorial erected in Seattle's Volunteer Park offers both:

1849-1925
Thomas Burke
Patriot Jurist
Orator Friend
Patron of Education
First in every movement for the

advancement of the city and the state
Seattles foremost and best beloved citizen

Faithful unto death in the promotion of

understanding and amity among nations.

Champion of law and order, unselfish

leader in the city's early struggle.

This monument erected by his friends throughout the world.

Photos by McGilvra, December 2007.

Aerial view of UW Campus, 1955.
The Museum is in the lower right, Washington State Building.
Photo by unknown photographer, 1955; courtesy of the UW Library Special
Collections, negative #UW19721z

Incarnations of the Museum: 1962-present

In the 1960s, the museum reemerged with a new building and a new name, the Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum. The museum opened its doors to the public on May 4, 1964.