File:Employees posing outside Lowman & Hanford Co building on First and Cherry, Seattle, 1882 (MOHAI 8766).jpg

English:

James D. Lowman (1856-1947) and Clarence Hanford (1857-1920) were business and civic leaders in early Seattle, each with ties to Seattle's pioneer settlers. In 1882, they joined forces to found Lowman & Hanford Stationery and Printing Company. The firm advertised as booksellers, stationers, printers, and binders but also sold typewriters, sewing machines, pianos, and organs. After losing their original building on Front Street (now First Aveune) between Cherry and James Streets in the Great Fire of 1889, the partners reopened the business on the first two floors of their new building at 616 First Avenue, becoming key contributors in rebuilding Seattle. They expanded into selling photographic equipment and other supplies to people leaving for the gold fields. A four-story building was completed in 1892 at the same location, with three more upper floors added around 1902. Immediately next door, the 10-story Lowman Building at 107 Cherry Street was completed in 1906. In the 1930s the firm was located at 1515 Second Avenue. The company existed in one form or another until the 1960s. This photograph of the exterior of the original Lowman & Hanford Stationery & Printing Company building on Front Street between Cherry and James was taken in 1882. Posing on the boardwalk in front of the shop are seven men, identified from left to right as: Unknown, Alex Meyers, Lang, Charles McLean, (unreadable), Rue, and West.

Signs in image: White Sewing Machine, Wilder Ticket 35 cents

• Subjects (LCTGM): Business districts--Washington (State)--Seattle; Commercial streets--Washington (State)--Seattle; Printers--Washington (State)--Seattle; Stationery trade--Washington (State)--Seattle
• People: Hanford, Clarence, 1857-1920; Lowman, James D., 1856-1947

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MOHAI's description above is off on one minor detail: it's the (still extant) 10-story Lowman Building that is at exactly this location; the other building they refer to, the (still extant) Lowman & Hanford Building is immediately south of this.