The Chamber Folds Seattle for Postwar Visitors

The outer panels carry a photograph of the Seattle waterfront flanked by two columns of text: a "Facts" panel on the left and "Scenic Drives" on the right. This is the exterior of the brochure; the interior, not shown here, would have contained the map itself. The Chamber's Tourist Information Desk was at 3rd and Columbia — the Chamber of Commerce Building at 215 Columbia, a Romanesque Revival landmark that housed the organization from 1924 until it relocated in 1983.

The population claim — "almost half a million people in its metropolitan area" — fits neatly with the 1950 census, which recorded 467,591 city residents. By 1960, Seattle had grown past 557,000, so "almost half a million" would have been out of date. Combined with the named-exchange phone number (MAin exchanges served downtown Seattle; the city dropped all named prefixes on March 16, 1958), the brochure likely dates to the early-to-mid 1950s.

The scenic drives described on the right panel are all real routes still recognizable today:

• Lake Washington Boulevard, running 52 miles around the lake's western shoreline
• Queen Anne Boulevard, a 3.7-mile loop atop Queen Anne Hill, built between 1911 and 1916
• Marine Drive and Magnolia Boulevard, both skirting the bluffs west of downtown with views toward Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains

The sightseeing tours listed include a combination land-and-water trip for $3.50 and a water-only trip for $1.95 — the latter running 9½ hours, likely a ferry or excursion steamer circuit of the sound. The closing line, "Courtesy Help and Information from Police Officers," reflects a common mid-century municipal practice of training beat officers to assist tourists rather than directing all inquiries to a single desk.