Archive for April, 2009

Fosberg Indian Motorcycle Shop, Seattle in 1946 and 2009

Inside of Fosberg's Indian Shop, Seattle - 1946

Inside of Fosberg's Indian Shop, Seattle - 1946

In the mid 1940s Paul Stockinger, one of the founding members of the Jolly Rogers Motorcycle Club worked at Fosberg Indian as a mechanic. His son Steve provided the Historian with these photos and we are grateful to him. The pictures show the shop, inside and out in about 1946. Paul relocated to Tacoma a few years later to take over ownership of the Tacoma Indian dealership. He spent a lifetime in the motorcycle business and it started when he was a young man and member of the Jolly Rogers Motorcycle Club. The last picture in this blog is a photo taken a few weeks ago showing the exact same location in Seattle. Sadly, unlike the old Excelsior Motorcycle dealership which has survived as Bauhaus Coffee Shop (see previous blog), The Indian dealership is a parking lot. However, if you are ever riding in Capitol hill, this area has many older building of similar architectual style and age as the long, lost Indian dealership. You can get a feel for what it must have once been like for our early J.R.M.C. brothers who would have often ridden to the Indian dealership.

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Inside Fosberg Indian, Seattle about 1946. Notice the new Chief. Behind it is an older Indian 4 and a hillclimber.

Inside Fosberg Indian, Seattle about 1946. Notice the new Chief. Behind it is an older Indian 4 and a hillclimber.

Fosberg Indian street view. Location is in Capitol Hill, Seattle and picture dates from about 1946.

Fosberg Indian street view. Location is in Capitol Hill, Seattle and picture dates from about 1946.

Broadway and Union in Capitol Hill at the same location as Fosberg Indian in 1946. Today its another parking lot in Seattle.

Broadway and Union in Capitol Hill at the same location as Fosberg Indian in 1946. Today its another parking lot in Seattle.