Ivar Haglund opens Seattle's first aquarium on Pier 3 (now 54) on July 29, 1938.

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On July 29, 1938, Ivar Haglund (1905-1985) opens Seattle's first aquarium on Pier 3 (in 2000 called Pier 54) at the foot of Spring Street on the Seattle waterfront. The exhibit features a seal tank and three large salt-water tanks to display marine life native to Puget Sound. Admission is 10 cents. The Aquarium joins Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, J. D. Williamson's Marine Salon, and Lynda Robinson's Pilot House at that location.

Within three years, 300,000 persons had visited the display and Haglund was appointed director of the municipal aquarium at Stanley Park in Vancouver, B.C.

Sources:
The Seattle Times, July 27, 1938, p. 15; Ibid., May 18, 1941, p. 14.

By David Wilma, June 19, 2000

Travel through time (chronological order):
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At Ivar's aquarium: Two-ton Tony wrestles the alleged Oscar the Octopus, actually a deceased stand-in, Seattle, 1940
Courtesy Paul Dorpat