L. C. Smith Building

When it opened in 1914, the L. C. Smith Building in Seattle was the tallest building west of the Mississippi and one of the tallest buildings in the world outside of New York. The building is notable as one of the last on the west coast to have elevator operators: the building’s Otis elevators were not automated until 2017.

Image: “Close-in view of water front showing 42 Story L. C. Smith Building three blocks away” published for the L. C. Smith Building (c. 1920). From the Andrew J. Bramlett Collection.