Snoqualmie Falls Postcard By Lowman and Hanford – No. 2027

I’m continuously amazed at how may postcards exist of Snoqualmie Falls in Snoqualmie, Washington. I’ve been collecting them for a few years now due to their connection to David Lynch and Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks. I recently acquired a black and white postcard printed by the former Seattle-based company of Lowman and Hanford. The card is more than 120 years old!

SNOQUALMIE FALLS POSTCARD BY LOWMAN AND HANFORD – NO. 2027

The front of the Snoqualmie Falls postcard by Lowman & Hanford S. & P. Co (Stationery and Printing Company) in Seattle features a view of the falls as seen from its base along the Snoqualmie River. The card has production No. 2027.

You’ll notice the Snoqualmie Falls Lodge is missing from this view as the then eight-room roadside hotel wouldn’t open until 1916.

Seattle-born Clarence E. Hanford and Maryland-born James Lowman joined forces to open their stationery and printing firm around 1882. This partnership was operated under the name of Lowman & Hanford until April, 1884, when it was incorporated as the Lowman & Hanford Stationery and Printing company.

Throughout the 1900s, this printing shop was known by several names – L&H Printing Co. and then L&H Engraving Co. In 1995, The Ligature bought the shop. You can see a more detailed history of this postcard company in this Twin Peaks Blog article.

The back of the postcard contains a postage stamp box – domestic mail costs 1-cent while foreign mail was 2-cents.

Thanks to an online auction containing a similar used postcard, I can possibly date the Lowman and Hanford card to around November 1905. Without access to a production catalog, it’s difficult to say when exactly it was produced but the earliest example found is the card above.

The website ClickAmericana.com included a photo by Elgin R. Shepard of Snoqualmie Falls from a similar vantage point. They note Detroit Photographic Co. documented life and scenes across the US from the late 1890s until the 1920s. Many of these images ended up on postcards or in publications like “Ladies’ Home Journal” magazine.

The caption for this image reads: “Of the many streams which flow from the mountains to the picturesque waters of Puget Sound the Snoqualmie is one of the most beautiful. The Snoqualmie Falls, 280 feet high, are in a romantic nook of the hills, fifty-five miles from Seattle.”

It’s important to note the falls are 268-feet tall, not 280 feet as described above. This photo was most likely taken after 1905 but before 1916. It’s not the same image found in the postcard as the waterfall and river look different and the solitary tree in the upper right corner has grown.

WHY ARE SNOQUALMIE FALLS IMPORTANT TO THE SNOQUALMIE TRIBE?

The falls are incredibly important to the Snoqualmie Tribe. In 2023, the tribe opened the Snoqualmie Falls Gift Shop and Visitor Center, a completely remodeled visitors center that contains exhibits, a gift shop and a small cafe. More than 2 million people visit the falls annually making it one of the most visited natural wonders in Washington state.

Inside, an exhibit titled “Our Story Is the Story of the Falls,” documents the history of Snoqualmie Falls from Time Immemorial to modern day. It is believed that Moon the Transformer created the falls and the first Snoqualmie people at this sacred spot. Part of the story is shared in this exhibit.

“He was the Transformer. He went on a great journey. During his travels he changed everything – plants for healing, food to eat, the land for the people, On each river, he created a people to care for and protect that river for all time.

When he came upon a huge fish weir that Raven had built, he turned the weir to stone and the thundering water rushing over it became Snoqualmie Falls.

There, the Transformer, Moon, created the first Snoqualmie man and woman. He then climbed back into the sky to his Star father’s people, where he can still be seen today. He provides light through darkness through the hole his Snoqualmie mother made with her digging stick.”

You can learn more about the importance of the land to the tribe and what you can do to protect, respect and restore it on this website – Snoqualmie Tribe Ancestral Land Movement.