Imagine you live in a city where the tallest building is only three stories. And then someone decides to build a 42-story tower! That’s what happened in Seattle in 1914, when the Smith Tower opened. It wasn’t just a tall tower — it was a dream embodied in glass, steel, and marble. But the most interesting part of this story isn’t the tower itself, it’s the people who lifted others toward the clouds every day. They were female elevator operators, and without them the whole magnificent enterprise simply wouldn’t have worked.
A Millionaire’s Dream and an Engineering Marvel
Lyman Cornelius Smith was a wealthy man who made his fortune in firearm manufacturing. But he dreamed of something beyond money. He wanted his son to see something extraordinary. Sadly, his son died, and Smith decided to build the tallest building west of the Mississippi River in his memory.
Building such a tower in 1914 was insanely difficult. Engineers had to solve many problems: how to make sure the building wouldn’t collapse in an earthquake? How to get water up to the 42nd floor when pumps weren’t as powerful? How to lift people quickly to the top?
They came up with a steel frame — like a human skeleton, but made of metal. That “skeleton” supported the whole building. The walls were non-load-bearing; they merely enclosed the building like clothing. It was revolutionary technology for its time! And they installed eight elevators — an incredible luxury when most people walked even to the third floor.
Women in White Gloves Who Operated the Mechanical Wonder
Here the most interesting part of the story begins. The elevators in the Smith Tower weren’t automatic like they are today. They were complex mechanisms that had to be operated manually. You had to know exactly when to pull the lever so the elevator stopped precisely at the correct floor, not above or below it. If you made a mistake — people couldn’t get out because the door would be at the level of the floor or the ceiling!
And do you know whom they hired for this responsible job? Young women! That was very unusual in 1914. Back then it was thought women could work as teachers, nurses, or seamstresses, but not operate complex machinery in the city’s most modern building.
These women wore a special uniform: dark skirts, white blouses, and white gloves. They had to be polite, know which offices were on which floors, and be able to hold a conversation with passengers. Each elevator ride lasted a few minutes — and it was a small performance. The operator announced floors, told stories about the building, and answered questions. She was the face of the Smith Tower.
One of these women, named Mary, worked in the tower for more than 20 years. She knew all the regulars by name, remembered which floor they were going to, and even knew who was friends with whom and who was arguing. People would wait for her elevator even if another one was free. Mary said she felt like the captain of a ship, lifting people to the clouds instead of sailing the sea.
The Chinese Room: A Secret at the Top of the Tower
At the very top of the Smith Tower, on the 35th floor, there was something utterly magical — the Chinese Room. It was said to be a gift from the Empress Dowager Cixi (although in reality Smith bought it himself, but the legend says otherwise, and people loved to believe it).
Imagine a room where everything is made of carved black wood inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The ceiling is adorned with dragons, silk paintings hang on the walls, and in the center stands a huge wooden table more than 500 years old. The room’s windows face every direction, offering views of the whole city, the mountains, and the sea.
In the 1920s — the Jazz Age — the most important business deals in Seattle were made in this room. Wealthy businessmen rode the elevators (operated by our heroine operators) and negotiated in this luxurious space. The fate of entire companies was decided there, plans for the city's development were made.
But there was one problem: women were not expected to enter. Business was considered a man's domain. Here the irony appears: the female elevator operators carried men into this room every day, but they themselves were not allowed to be there. Times changed, though. By the late 1920s the first businesswomen began to appear in the Chinese Room, and that was a real revolution.
What Remains of the Dream
The Smith Tower is no longer the tallest building in Seattle. Now skyscrapers have grown around it that are two, three, four times taller. But it still stands, and people still visit.
The elevators are now automatic — specially trained operators are no longer needed. But one elevator was kept manual, and sometimes a person in historical uniform works it, telling the tower’s story while carrying tourists up. It’s like a time machine: you step into an old elevator with wooden panels and brass handles — and you’re transported a hundred years back.
The Chinese Room has also been preserved. You can now host a wedding or a birthday there. Many couples come to get engaged there — it’s one of the most romantic places in the city, where the sky feels very close.
The engineers who built the tower wanted to show that people can achieve the impossible. They built a building that seemed too tall, too bold, too modern. It has stood for more than a hundred years, surviving earthquakes and storms.
But I think the real heroes of this story were the women in white gloves. Day after day, many times a shift, they lifted people to the clouds. They proved that women can operate complex machinery, be the face of a modern company, and be part of a big dream. When the Smith Tower dreamed of reaching the sky, these women made that dream real — one elevator ride at a time.
Today, when you press a button in an elevator and it automatically takes you to the floor you want, remember Mary and the other operators of the Smith Tower. They were pioneers — women who steered the future even when the world wasn’t ready.
