PORT TOWNSEND — An unidentified buyer purchased a collection of historical photos that were collected by the late North Olympic Peninsula retailer Cliff Swain, paying $1,000 for the whole lot.
The photos — which included many maritime views and ships of the Northwest and Alaska as well as landmarks such as the first Elwha River dam that washed out — were featured in Sunday’s editions of the Peninsula Daily News.
But the photos, which were displayed at the Swain’s Outdoor store in Port Townsend, were sold the day before the Sunday editions, according to a store employee.
Cliff Swain bought the pictures from his customers who brought them in to the original Swain’s General Store store in Port Angeles.
Swain died in 1995. The photos were displayed in Swain’s Outdoor store in Port Townsend by owner Glenda Swain Cable, Swain’s daughter.
The Port Townsend store is in the process of closing.