July 3rd, 2009 by Cliffe | Sorted Past Post | 
2 Comments »
This probably would have been a nice vantage point for a fireworks display. I’m unsure whatever became of this structure and whether anything remains from it. Over the years this well known Seattle area postcard had this stamped on the back: “This tree is located at terminus of Lake Burian car line, large tracts of land with Sound view at this point for sale on easy terms - Geo. Gunther owner, office at terminus of Lake Burian Electric R.R. - R.F.D. No. 4 Seattle, Wash.”
This interesting website also mentions Gunther’s. Click on the card’s thumbnail for higher res.
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| 3188 — Gunther’s Observation Tree, Lake Burian, Seattle, Washington. Published by Edw. H. Mitchell, San Francisco. |
June 29th, 2009 by Cliffe | Sorted Photo Exposure | 3 Comments »
You drive over his bridge every day and probably stare at the sign while sitting in endless traffic — “Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge–Evergreen Point”. Yet would you recognize the man if you saw him? Well now you can. Rosellini was Governor of Washington from 1957 until 1965 and at age 99 is now the oldest living former Governor in the United States.
Here he is in the car with Kennedy in 1960 in front of the 5th Ave Theatre. Click on the thumbnail for the super high-res.
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| Portraits of Albert D. Rosellini, Governor of Washington, 1957-1965. Photo courtesy Washington State Digital Archives. |
June 25th, 2009 by Cliffe | Sorted Historic Buildings | 4 Comments »
Ever walk by an empty parking lot and wonder what history the site held? Well, if you’re like me then you’ve walked by
this empty parking lot many times. Though it has since been developed, it once housed Broadway’s First Christian Church. The structure was damaged during the 2001 Nisqually earthquake and the high cost of repair meant the church was sold and demolished in 2005. Here’s a
photo set of the demolition. Click on the thumbnail for higher res.
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| First Christian Church on Broadway, Seattle, Wa. Photo by Marion Dean Ross, May 4, 1974. Photo courtesy University of Oregon Libraries, Architecture of Oregon & the Pacific Northwest. |
June 23rd, 2009 by Cliffe | Sorted Historic Buildings | 4 Comments »
I promised Vintage Seattle reader Penny Simmons a post on Nova High School (Horace Mann) in the Central District. I’m quite late, but here we are. To see the full history of 1902 Horace Mann School, check out
this pdf. Take it away, Penny:
I am the Godmother of a young lady (Brittaney) who just graduated this past year from Nova High School. Brittaney was literally “saved” from educational extinction by the incredibly dedicated and highly energized staff at Nova. When the traditional school system in Kent could not provide the learning environment for someone like Brittaney, she was kicked out of her home and came to live with us two years ago. At 15 she was NOT an educational fan and it looked like we had a major job ahead of us. Then we were blessed to find Nova through Bill Morrison, a neighbor who is a teacher in the Burien School District. Thanks to some great tips from Bill, we were able to enroll Brittaney in Nova and the rest is history. She graduated with a 3.9, received one of only 10 scholarships awarded for college, from the Seattle School District, and after completing her studies at Global College in New York, hopes to come back to Nova to teach again someday. Check out the history of the drummer in Pearl Jam - who is one of the more highlighted of Nova’s Alumni.
Nova is in a very precarious position today - as it is home to less than 400 students, and although one would never know it receives any type of funding (by going inside of the building), from the Seattle School District, they are considering closing it down.
I only express this so you can see the sincerity I present, when I ask for a highlight on your site for Nova High School.
I would LOVE to have more historic photos of this great old building. This has been the education home to some outstanding citizens of which many continue to reside in Seattle…..
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| The school in 1905, then known as Walla Walla. Photo courtesy MOHAI. |
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| Horace Mann, 1940. |
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| NOVA Project @ Horace Mann, 2009. |
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| NOVA Project @ Horace Mann, 2009. |
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| NOVA Project @ Horace Mann, 2009. |
June 22nd, 2009 by Cliffe | Sorted Photo Exposure | 5 Comments »
As an update on
this 1929 overhead view of the U.W. campus — we have this undated photo of the same. I’d put it in the 1950’s to early 60’s. Has to be before August 1963 when the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge opened up. Click for higher res.
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| University of Washington, Seattle. This lower portion of the campus shows many of the university’s beautiful buildings, the athletic pavilion and stadium. Union Bay, in the middle distance, opens into 25-mile-long Lake Washington beyond. |
June 21st, 2009 by Cliffe | Sorted Historic Buildings | 1 Comment »
West Seattle Blog
is reporting that the former Christian Scientist Church at 42nd and Lander has been nominated for city landmark status. The West Seattle structure, now known as
The Sanctuary at Admiral, will go before the board on July 1st at 3:30pm. Full nomination document is
here. We posted a full profile of the building in October of last year. Click
here to view. Click on the thumbnail for higher res.
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| Front of former Christian Scientist Church in West Seattle. |
June 19th, 2009 by Cliffe | Sorted Photo Exposure | 4 Comments »
Found this photo of the Old Federal Courthouse down on Fifth and Madison kicking around the Vintage Seattle archives. The 12 floor facility was opened in 1940. According to
Emporis, it was the first building in the West designed exclusively as a Federal Courthouse. Fellow building nerds may also recognize this site as home to the
original Seattle Providence Hospital. The Federal Courthouse has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980. Click for higher res.
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| Federal Court Building — Seattle, Wn. |
June 17th, 2009 by Cliffe | Sorted Photo Exposure | 7 Comments »
I posted about the Col. Alden J. Blethen residence
back in March of last year. Here’s another scan, this time from 1907. A. J. Blethen was of course one of the original publishers of the Seattle Times and his family still holds a majority stake in it today. But back to the house — is it still standing?
This article says it was somewhere around
22 West Highland Drive. Click for higher res.
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| On Queen Anne Hill. Residence of Col. Alden J. Blethen, showing Mt. Rainier in the distance. This is one of the most beautiful residence sections of the city. The Argus, 1907. |
June 16th, 2009 by Cliffe | Sorted Past Post | 11 Comments »
“The Armory, Center House… but it’ll always be the Food Circus to me,” wrote Louis
in the comments the other day. And here is an old postcard I dug up of said Food Circus — from the 1962 World’s Fair. A little bit of background from the
official Seattle Center site:
Center House was originaly built in 1939 as the old Armory Building. It housed the 146th Field Artillery and its half-ton tanks. The basement of the Center House still has markings from the old firing range and an unfinished swimming pool intended for the recruits. In 1941, Duke Ellington played on stage for the University of Washington’s Junior Prom.
Unlike Louis, the Food Circus will always be the Armory to me. The atmosphere doesn’t quite make me want to cram a corndog. Click on the thumbnail for higher res.
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| The FOOD CIRCUS in the SEATTLE CENTER is an exceptional attraction among the many buildings in this culture and amusement complex where visitors can enjoy food from the four corners of the world. The space-age Bubbleator (rising in the center) takes one to the INTERNATIONAL BAZAAR where gifts from all over the globe are offered for sale. Color photo by Morley Studios, 1962. |
June 15th, 2009 by Cliffe | Sorted Photo Exposure | 7 Comments »
I talk about history a lot here on Vintage Seattle. But history was made this weekend when Westboro Baptist Church
rode into Seattle for a few protests. The video
is here — where you can learn what a “bitch burger” is. Documentary filmmaker Loui Theroux dug a little deeper into their surreal world in
this hour long video where once you’ve gotten over the side-show silliness of it all, you find something pretty heartbreaking (especially the kids). I had never heard of this group before and was interested in the hour long Internet rabbit hole on a Sunday night. Now I don’t place any more significance on the group or their beliefs than your usual band of weirdos — even if they turn the crazy up to 11. Speaking of history, though, I have to wonder if they would have picketed the Christian Pavilion at the 1962 World’s Fair. Probably, I believe.
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| Christian Pavilion, Century 21 Exposition (Seattle, Washington). 1962. Photo courtesy University of Oregon Libraries, Architecture of Oregon & the Pacific Northwest. |
June 12th, 2009 by Cliffe | Sorted Historic Buildings | 4 Comments »
We just
profiled Ballard’s Fire Station 18 last week. Today, to compliment the modern day photos, we present the original 1910 architectural plans from Charles Bebb and Louis Mendel. If you compare the two, you can see that the building followed the plans relatively closely and remains true to them now. According to the University of Washington Special Collections Division, the modified medieval Germanic style was designed in response to the large number of northern European and Scandinavian residents in the Ballard during the early 1900’s. Click on the image for the super-higher res copy.
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| Architectural plans for Fire Station 18. Architects Charles Bebb and Louis Mendel, 1910. Image courtesy University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections Division. |
June 10th, 2009 by Cliffe | Sorted Past Post | 2 Comments »
“We save lives at Harborview.” That’s the license plate frame quote I see every day on my way to work — my neighbor is a nurse there. Here’s an old linen-era postcard from when Harborview’s current location was new in 1931. According to Wikipedia, the hospital had
another location in Gerogetown prior to the First Hill move. Click on the postcard for higher res.
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| Harbor View Hospital, Seattle. Seattle’s New Hospital Building. One of the finest edifices of its kind on the Coast. Cost — approimately $2,750,000. |
