History in Motion: Miracle Strip Local filmmaker Stephen Sadis paid tribute to Seattle's late thoroughbred racetrack, Longacres, in this 1990s documentary. Featuring archival footage, historic photos and contemporary interviews. Courtesy of Stephen Sadis.

The SEATTLE CHANNEL Presents
History In Motion: Seattle's Past on Film

Seattle grew up in the age of motion pictures, and some of the most historic films from the City of Seattle Municipal Archives, Seattle's Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) and local documentary filmmakers have found a home on the SEATTLE CHANNEL.

History In Motion: Seattle's Past on Film, is a showcase for documentaries, archival films and vintage video from the 1920s to the 1990s. Thanks to the generosity of local filmmaker Stephen Sadis; former Seattle Pilots' marketing director Bill Sears; Museum of History & Industry executive director Leonard Garfield; City of Seattle Archivist Scott Cline; Hannah Palin of the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections; and several other history-minded individuals, the best in local history is now available on local television via the SEATTLE CHANNEL! History In Motion: Seattle's Past on Film was compiled by Feliks Banel for the SEATTLE CHANNEL.

PAST BROADCASTS

History in Motion: Miracle Strip
Local filmmaker Stephen Sadis paid tribute to Seattle's late thoroughbred racetrack, Longacres, in this 1990s documentary. Featuring archival footage, historic photos and contemporary interviews. Courtesy of Stephen Sadis.

History in Motion: Seattle Here and There
This rare footage of Seattle and environs in the 1930s was shot by amateur filmmaker Iwao Matsushita. See downtown streets and sidewalks, Lincoln Park, Seward Park, Volunteer Park, a UW football game, rambunctious kitties and other surprises.

History in Motion: House That Cats Built
Seattle resident Iwao Matsushita shot professional quality amateur films of the city and environs in the 1930s and 1940s, including this whimsical film called The House That Cats Built.

History in Motion: Seattle by Iwao Matsushita
Seattle resident Iwao Matsushita shot professional quality amateur films of the city and environs in the 1930s and 1940s, including this film called Seattle.

History in Motion: Fighting Ships for Fighting Men
The Todd Shipyard is the subject of this film made in Seattle in 1943, during a critical time on the WWII homefront.

History in Motion: More Power To You
A lush color film from the late 1940s to commemorate the expansion of the Skagit River hydroelectric project. See dignitaries examining the dam, and go for a hike into the glacier-studded wilderness of the Upper Skagit River to measure the snow pack.

History in Motion: Century 21
This assortment of films shot before and during the fair speak to the enthusiasm of fair organizers and to those who took part in Century 21, provide a glimpse into the earliest days of the Space Needle, monorail and other Seattle icons.

History in Motion: The Seattle-Tacoma Interurban Railway
Local filmmaker Stephen Sadis made this fascinating documentary about the electric trolleys that ran regularly between Seattle and Tacoma during the first half of the twentieth century. Featuring archival footage, historic photos and contemporary interviews.

History in Motion: Seattle Pilots - The First Voyage
The Seattle Pilots were Seattle's first major league baseball team back in 1969.

History in Motion: Denny Regrade
This 1930 silent film starts inexplicably with a few tantalizing seconds of a downtown Seattle street at night, in all its Untouchables-esque glory...

History in Motion: 1925 Picnic of the Department of Streets and Sewers
Someone with an early motion picture camera and the skills to make professional quality silent movies titles came along on the Seattle Engineering Department excursion to a picnic at Fortuna Park (on the east side of Mercer Island) one summer day back in the 1920s.

History in Motion: Skagit Adventure
This 1960s film produced by Seattle City Light (with help from the US Forest Service) takes a big picture look at energy and at hydroelectric power, and gets into the science involved.

History in Motion: Bobo's Home Movies
Bobo the Gorilla was one of Seattle's biggest celebrities in the 1950s and 1960s during his time at Woodland Park Zoo.

History in Motion: Frederick and Nelson
Seattle's late great local department store Frederick and Nelson is nowadays just a memory. But, it was big news in the early 1950s when the store doubled in size with a major expansion project.

History in Motion: Million Horsepower Skagit
This lush, colorful film documents a pre-WWII group visit to the City of Seattle hydroelectric project on the Skagit River circa 1940.

History in Motion: New York to Seattle Cross Country Race 1909/1959
A road race from New York to Seattle took place in 1909 in conjunction with the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition held that year in Seattle.

History in Motion: Vintage Hydroplane Films
Learn about Seattle's most famous hydro, Slo-Mo-Shun IV, breaking the speed record, and about the Gold Cup Race coming to Seattle.

History in Motion: The Bombing of Seattle
The football stadium at the University of Washington was the site of a major civil defense drill on June 13, 1943. Organizers staged a mock air raid, set fire to mock buildings, and helped Seattle prepare for an attack.

History in Motion: The Seattle Rainiers
Local filmmaker Stephen Sadis created this documentary in the late 1990s about Seattle's love affair with its mid-century minor league baseball team, the Seattle Rainiers.