People waiting at the bus shelter near Brooks Biddle Automotive in Bothell, can now view historic transportation moments in the city, starting from 1911.

Bothell Historical Museum volunteers selected a few photos found in the museum and from local families and placed them on the bus shelter’s panels. The photographs include a group of men celebrating Good Road’s Day, a picture of residents riding in the first car in the area and a logging truck with a tree trunk latched onto it. The shelter is located on SR522 at 180th Street Northeast.

“When we started doing this project, we decided we should use photos connected to road transportation in Bothell,” said Pat Pierce, museum volunteer. “I think the pictures we chose reflect a big milestone in transportation for the city.”

Volunteers selected the photos and brought them to Photo Center Northwest in Seattle to be enhanced and prepared. The process cost around $250.

Volunteer Mary Anne Gibbons said she hopes the pictures inspire residents to want to look into the history of Bothell.

“I think it’s very important to take a look back on where you came from,” she said. “And it’s fun.”

Gibbons and Pierce are part of a group that help people visiting the museum in Bothell Landing Park access the resources they need.

“We’ve had actors coming in to find research for a role, families, corporations looking to do business in Bothell and city council members,” Pierce recalled.

The museum’s historic buildings are open and free to the public on Sundays from 1-4 p.m. The buildings are filled with items from the first Bothell settlers as well as photographs, old newspapers and other informational sources.

“What I love is when girl scout troops and schools come in for tours,” Gibbons said. “But we also offer what we call treasure boxes. Anyone can request one and we deliver it filled with hands-on activities.”

Bothell Historical Museum volunteers are working on another project funded by a $3,000 grant from 4Culture, King County’s Public Art Program. They are digitizing Bothell newspapers dating from 1908-1939.

“It’s been fascinating to look back and not only get more history about the city from the paper, but to see how differently things were recorded in those days,” said Margaret Turcott, volunteer. “Sometimes you see that the papers were purely gossip, talking about how a resident just came back from prison and that sort of thing. If you have strong family ties to the city, chances are your family is mentioned in here.”

Turcott said one of her favorite stories she’s found involved a woman named Alice Season who was the first woman to deliver U.S. mail.

“Her husband died and she stepped up to take a job so she could feed her family,” Season said. “But then we find she was fired because a man needed the job.”

Volunteer Mary Farley said both projects are important to residents.

“When something happens, we often don’t realize its impact until we sit back and read about it or see a picture,” she said. “Many of us who grew up in Bothell have so many stories, but they are all oral. We are helping to find our history in our papers and in our pictures to capture our legacies.”

The women have inspired other nearby cities to capture their history too. Kenmore and Woodinville are currently looking into placing historic photos on their bus shelters, according to Pierce.