Century 21 Exposition. Architectural Drawings for the initial design of the Seattle Space Needle, dated June 22, 1961.
Conceived to commemorate the golden anniversary of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition held in 1909, the Century 21 Exposition opened in April 1962 and was a defining moment in the history of the Pacific Northwest. The theme of the Seattle World's Fair was a consideration of the possibilities of life in the twenty-first century. Many of Seattle's iconic landmarks were constructed for the Seattle World's Fair.
Almost the entirety of the present-day Seattle Center, as well as many of Seattle’s surrounding roads and infrastructure, were redesigned to accommodate the almost 10 million visitors that flocked to the region. The National Archives at Seattle holds all of the original drawings for the exhibits at the Seattle World’s Fair. This record is one of the architectural drawings for the Seattle Space Needle, which was originally referred to as the Tower of Science.
Century 21 Exposition. Architectural Drawings for the initial design of the Seattle Space Needle, dated June 22, 1961. National Archives Identifier: 343793657
View and download this Architectural Drawing for the Space Needle on the National Archives Catalog. This record is one example of the many records from the Seattle World’s Fair at the National Archives at Seattle, WA. You can explore more records held at the National Archives at Seattle through the National Archives Catalog or by visiting the National Archives at Seattle. This record is located within Record Group 43: Records of International Conferences, Commissions, and Expositions, Series: Architectural Drawings, 1961–1962. Many of the records in this collection have yet to be digitized. We encourage researchers to visit us onsite to explore these records and learn more about the archival collections held at the National Archives at Seattle.