VintageSeattle.org

If you can’t get enough Northwest history blogging, then I’ve got something for you. I recently came into contact with John Chilson and his excellent Portland, Oregon history blog Stumptown Confidential. He describes the site goal as a documenting Portland “architecture, history, and culture through photos, postcards, and words.” Now there’s a concept I can appreciate! It’s very well done — so give it a look over. If you didn’t know, “Stumptown” was a nickname given to Portland in the early days when rapid growth left untold numbers of tree stumps exposed, ready to be paved over. While you are exploring our neighbors to the South, also check this Portland Building Ads blog out. Just don’t go there if you’re scared of ghost signs. We will continue next week with the second half of my Live Historic tour, but until then let’s enjoy some hi-res Portland imagery. Click on the thumbnail if you want to inspect.

Panorama of Portland, Oregon from 1890 with Mount Hood in the background. Image courtesy National Archives.

It’s vintage postcard time! Hey hey, no groaning — because today I thought we could all bask in the thought of these hot august days as they’ll be gone soon enough. With that said, today we have two slightly different looks at the Mount Baker Park Boat Club. And I do mean slight. The first postcard is from February 1917 and the second is probably from around that same time. First card reads:

Front: Lake Washington Boulevard, Seattle. 2783

Back: Postcard sent Feb 3, 1917 to Bellingham, Washington from 1517 21st Ave S.

Front: The Boat Club At Mount Baker Park, Seattle.

Back: Postcard postally unused.

Brand new on the historic preservation scene comes Live Historic, headed up by developer Ben Rankin of Seattle-based Pioneer Property Group. He and Kate Miller of Live Historic were kind enough to give me a tour of two of their new (well, old) projects: Queen’s Court Condos and The Pittsburgh Condos. The company specializes in restoring architecturally important pre-1940 buildings and I can tell you that they do excellent work. First up, let’s take a look at Queen’s Court Condos and later this week we’ll have a gander at the Pittsburgh. The simple yet elegant Queen’s Court has stood on lower Queen Anne at 124 Warren Avenue N. since 1930 serving as rental apartments. These 34 small living spaces that make up Queen’s Court border Seattle Center where in the early 1960’s similar buildings were torn down to make way for the Expo. They are now selling, so if you’re in the market for an impressively preserved home with character, consider these. Let’s have a look and as always click on an image for a larger view.

Wide angle view of the front west facing side of the building. A triangular pediment breaks up any straight lines of the roofline.	The recessed entry detail is of note as well as the paired round arch windows on the bottom floor. Upper floors feature a traditional eight-over-one double-hung sash window.
Interior shot of one unit. Plate rails run along most walls for picture hanging. All wood trim and floors have been sanded and re-stained.	Queen’s Court has smaller floor plan spaces ranging from the upper 400’s to the mid 700’s. As you can see from the closet door, most original hardware has been retained.
The kitchens have been gutted and redone with modern touches like stainless appliances. Not much of the original kitchens remain.	Bathrooms have also been gutted and replaced. The more expensive period style subway tile was reserved for the higher-end Pittsburgh.

I’ve always been a sucker for those “Greetings From [enter city name here]!” cards. So I was searching around my archives the other day and unearthed this linen 1940’s gem of a vintage postcard sent March 14, 1942. The front features Mount Rainier, the Canal Locks, and the Pontoon Bridge (I-90 before it was expanded). So let’s have a look and a read:

Front: Greetings From Seattle, Washington. Canal Locks, Seattle, Washington. Mount Rainier, In State Of Washington. Pontoon Bridge, On Lake Washington.

Back: Postcard sent March 14, 1942.

I just received a news update on the fate of the Central Area’s historic Washington Hall building. As you may recall from my July 10th post, this landmark was dangerously close to meeting its demise via condo development. It now look as though the building could be saved. Word from Historic Seattle is that an offer to purchase the building was made to current owners the Sons Of Haiti. Historic Seattle is hoping to partner with the Central District Forum for Arts and Ideas to redevelop the hall for “performing arts and cultural uses with related office space.” You can learn more here from their September 2007 Newsletter. This is very encouraging news! If you haven’t already, be sure to check out my original photo gallery from the building. And let’s have a look at two additional photos:

North face of Washington Hall.

One of the back meeting rooms in the building. The hall is currently in very rough shape.

Every day heading west down James Street just before entering the I-5 on-ramp, two or more of my tires nearly explode. This area, along with Mercer Street, has some of the most heinous pot holes I think I’ve ever seen. The chasms seem nearly bottomless, and the damage to cars… outrageous. Well if only we still had The Barber Asphalt Paving Company around laying pavement on First Hill, which by the way (at the time) was “the best paved residence district in the world.” If that’s true, and I have no reason to believe otherwise, then things have changed. For the worse! But seriously, some Seattle streets just look like war zones. So readers, which area(s) of the city have done the most damage to your car? While you’re pondering that, let’s have a closer look at this vintage ad from 1902’s Seattle Mail And Herald. Click on the image for a higher-res version.

The Barber Asphalt Paving Co. Street paving. Reservoir Lining. The Seattle Mail And Herald, 1902.

The market turns 100 and what happens next? Is the pink elephant being poached? All this and more on this week’s Links To The Past!

• Founders’ Kin Reunite At Market Celebration Six dozen descendents of the Pike Place Market founders descend to meet, coming from all over the United States.
• The “Taj Mahal” And The Pink Elephant The Ballard Denny’s building is getting a landmark nomination, but not from who you’d think. And the iconic pink elephant in Belltown may be on the endangered species list.
• Smith Tower Condo Plan Wins A Unanimous Vote The historic skyscraper is one step closer to becoming condos.
• My Market: “The Future” | What Happens After The Party? A number of questions loom as to how the market can stay authentic, functional, and relevant as time marches on.
• Ron Paul For President In 2008 Let’s all take part in a USA chant for Ron Paul. He’s keeping it real.

Pike Place Market is now officially 100 years old! Horse-drawn wagons rode into the market today carrying produce just as they had done a century ago for the first of many times. Check out the Seattle Times article on the festivities. Vintage Seattle reader Todd recently said in the comments “I watched Children of the Market last night and it is a miracle that Pike Place is still standing. We almost lost the market many times over its 100 year history and there are lawsuits to this day over it.” He’s absolutely right. It’s a reminder that, even to this day, we need to continue to fight for this and other historic sites in Seattle. Seems like a great weekend to spend some time at the market. Anna has a friend visiting from out of town, so I’m sure we’ll also be venturing down there as well. Have a good weekend and let’s have a look at an old photograph of the market, shall we? Click on the image for a larger view.

Pike Place Market vendors in 1936. Five cents for a head of lettuce. Photograph courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives.

In an unsurprising turn of events, Sabey Corporation has applied to the Landmarks Board and are working on a permit application to demolish what remains of the Rainier Cold Storage Stock House. As I mentioned in my initial collection of photos from the complex, this building was used as a freezer facility from 1937 to 2002 and had frozen the water table 24 feet down. Over the years, the building has launched up 12 inches into the air and now as the water thaws over the years the building is settling and cracking. I have to say that when I was on the tour of the building in this area I did not feel safe and was extremely skeptical, given the structural condition of the building, that they’d salvage it. You can read Jim Harmon’s whole writeup here from a meeting that the company had in Georgetown where they broke the news. You can also view the application for demolition here, which includes the whole history of the building’s problems. This is a true shame for anyone who had high hopes for the preservation of these key Seattle icons of the industrial revolution. So let’s have a look at a few images I shot of the Stock House and enjoy this important building before it’s gone.

North-most end of the Stock House. The two and a half story high section of wall to the left is the lone facade wall remaining from the 1988 fire.

South-most end of the building. The in-filled windows, the south ghost sign, and so much history — will meet a wrecking ball.

Dug up this vintage 1912 postcard showing Seattle’s downtown nightlife at 2nd Ave looking north. You can see quite a bit of early hustle and bustle, streetcars complete with headlight, and of course the very first Pantages Theater in the foreground. You’ll notice this is the first, less ornate Pantages that opened in 1904 (the other Pantages opened in 1915 at 3rd Ave and University). The postcard reads:

Front: Second Ave. Looking North. Seattle, Washington.

Back: Postcard to Miss G. McClellon in Salt Lake City, Utah. Sent July 1912.

More Knute. Less Liebman. Now I’d call that a pretty good week.

• A Walk Through Ravenna, Now And Then A stroll through Ravenna reveals the past and what’s left of it.
• History’s Blueprint King County Landmarks Commission Chair Lauren McCroskey writes that real history is about “complete disclosure.” Indeed!
• Is Urban Development ‘Terrorism’? Meant to post this one earlier this month. Mossback considers whether the city’s density can truly absorb growth.
• Ron Paul For President In 2008 Is Ron Paul realistic in ‘08? Vijay Boyapati seems to think so.

Continuing our tour of the Rainier Cold Storage Building Campus, let’s now take a look at the interior shots. I’m primarily concentrating here on the Brew House, as this area was the most impressive and the most well lit. As you can see from the shots, this facility is about as “raw” as a historic building can get. Some of the spaces, such as the Brew House, felt like real time capsules – it seemed as though I’d just stepped in the building after the workers had thrown down their equipment. Pretty amazing. Again, I consider this site to be one of Seattle’s crown jewels as far as historic architecture and I feel extremely lucky to have been given access to photograph it before the development process begins. How that will go, and to what degree these buildings can and will be preserved, remains to be seen. Rest assured though, we’ll be keeping an eye on how things shake out. Let’s get to the shots, but first check out the first set of exterior shots if you haven’t already. Click on the thumbnails for a larger view.

Upper floor of the Freezer Building. Just beyond the far wall is the ice freezing facility. The large machines seen through the doorway are ice crushing machines. Click here for the 1914 view.	This room housed the racks in which the ice was frozen into large blocks. Out of frame is a large conveyer that the blocks would be sent down in order to be crushed into cubes. The wall on the left corresponds to the exterior shots with the crumbling brick wall next to the train tracks.
First floor of the Brew House. As you can tell from the architecture, this was one of the first buildings of the complex to be built. Notice the intricate detailing on the metal staircase as well as the tile patterns on the ground. Click here for the view from 1907 and notice the palm trees.	Detailed shot of the staircase on the second floor. This floor was littered with loose bricks and debris from crumbling walls.
Alternate angle of the deterioration on the second floor. You can match up this wall with the exterior shots of the back side of the Brew House with the vines growing upward. This area had a definite blown-out WWII era feel to it.	These original walls were crumbling. Sabey officials noted that the asbestos problems were not as much of a factor as the copious amounts of ammonia piping throughout the facility.
Alternate view of original studs revealing themselves after 100 plus years. It looks as though the spiral staircase once continued up through another floor.	Floor three to four stairwells. The extreme level of dilapidation is very evident. One sign of the times, the metal staircase felt strong and sturdy despite the building literally falling apart around them.
Another view of the spiral staircase termination, an eerie reminder of the current state of the building.	Opposite side of the spiral staircase area. The large circular floor cutouts where brewing containers once sat are now boarded up. Click here for an image of this area photographed in 1914.
South side of the third floor. You can see plaster peeling and revealing a large structural beam. This area of the complex seems like an easy choice for living spaces.	Alternate view of the first floor stairwell. Off frame to the right is the base of the spiral staircase (see below).
North side of the Brew House first floor. The foreground of this shot is roughly where these palm trees once stood.	Interior of the Machine House building. These spaces do not have the natural light problem that the Freezer Building does. In addition, the space is in comparatively good condition.
Base of the first floor Brew House spiral staircase. I’m hoping this amazing relic is salvaged in some way.	First floor of the Machine House interior. The windows in this area are unlike any other in the facility and make for a brilliant sunset.

Last Thursday I was lucky enough to go on a tour of one of Seattle’s crown jewels, The Rainier Cold Storage Building Campus in Georgetown. Sabey Corporation bought this collection of buildings for $10 million and is planning to develop the site into a mix of stores, industry, homes, and office space. The complex, consisting of a Freezer Building, Malt House, Brew House, Machine House, Stock House, and offices, was built starting in 1903, with additions built through the years. In 1904, the company was the 6th largest brewery in the country and the largest west of the Mississippi. This collection of buildings is simply awe-inspiring (especially the Brew House, more on that later). The tour lasted more than 2 hours and my photo collection is so massive that I’m going to have to divide up the content over a few days. So, we’ll start today with the exterior shots. And I’d like to thank Jim Harmon of Sabey for putting the tour together. This important Seattle landmark photo collection is definitely To Be Continued later this week. *Update: Part 2 of the image collection is now up — click here to view. Click on the images for a larger view.

Rainier Cold Storage & Ice ghost sign on the south face of the building campus. Even further south and out of frame is the general office building. Notice the bricked in-filled windows — the matching brick suggests the brick was laid in the windows at the time the building was built. The water table under this building is still half frozen and isn’t expected to thaw for some years. The freezing and thawing has wrought havoc on the structural integrity of this building. Cracks are evident throughout. Click here for an image of this same view from 1907.	Old smoke stack next to the Machine House building. The area to the right used to be part of the facility as well, but was destroyed in fire and had to be torn down. The Machine House building has some of the most pleasing architecture of the complex.
This bridge extends from the 3rd floor of the Machine House (not in frame) to the Brew House. As we’ll see in the shots later this week, the Brew House interior was absolutely stunning. There used to be another story on the top floor which was removed at an unknown time (click here for an image).	Close-up shot of the Stock House foundation. The sandstone has been blasted away over the years by cars spraying water from the street. This has been compounded by the fact that the sidewalk is just 6 feet wide as opposed to the more conventional 10 feet. Pardon my shadow.
Looking up at the Stock House facade with yet more windows at ground level that have been bricked over. The brick does not match here, suggesting that they were laid at a later date than construction.	Wide angle shot of the whole complex (sans General Offices, again off frame to the right). This gives a scale to the complex, which is fairly massive. Just across the street are a collection of bars, restaurants, and shops. Traffic on Airport Way is quite heavy and I anticipate the noise being a real problem for this complex when developed. Click here for this same angle from 1908.
Back (east) side of the freezer building. As mentioned, the freezing and thawing of the water table under this building has caused considerable structural problems. Note the masonry literally crumbling. Hard hats are worn in this area of the site, as bricks have been known to fall. The train tracks to the right of this shot are still in operation.	Another angle of the back side of the freezer building. The pipes above the first floor used to carry ammonia and have to be taken apart with great care. The 2nd floor pictured above is where the large blocks of ice were frozen and processed.
Back side of the Brew House. Just to the right and out of frame in this shot is the smoke stack. The area to the left of this shot is captured in the next photo.	The area in the foreground of this image was originally part of the Stock House building but a massive fire in 1988 left it in ruins and most of it had to be torn down. As you can see, just the wall facade was left in tact, braced, and left standing. The wall of the Freezer Building to the left had to be supported with cinder blocks.
Alternate view of the Brew House on left and Freezer Building on right. General Offices building can be seen in the far distance. The concrete part of the 1st level facade was built sometime in the 1930’s or 1940’s.	This north-most building housed the brewing company’s offices and today serves as an artist work loft area. As you can see the original ground floor has been raised half a level. Click here for a shot of the interior of this building from 1914.

Bit of a slow week in terms of preservation and history. How many more Henry Liebman articles can I link to?

• Foreign Investments In Sodo Raise Questions Yet more on the continuing Henry Liebman + Sodo saga, this time examining the EB-5 visa program.
• Run-down Roosevelt Buildings Are Goners Delapidated homes in Roosevelt are to be destroyed, but replaced by what?
• Land Mogul Stirs Discomfort In Sodo Another overhead view of the Henry Liebman + Sodo situation.
• Old Mill Town A Vestige Of The Past Once again, this isn’t Seattle but hey — close enough.
• Museum Plans To Relocate To South Lake Union Make way, friends! MOHAI is coming to South Lake Union. For anyone who’s been to their current location, this seems like a good move.
• Saving The Pike Place Market — Again Mossback takes a look at the cyclic preservation of Pike Place Market in anticipation of his panel discussion about the future of the Pike Place Market.
• Ron Paul For President In 2008 I’m going to see how many times I can link to Ron Paul’s website. Forget Henry Liebman! Ron Paul in ‘08!

Let’s stick with that Seattle Center theme from last week and look once again at the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair aka Century 21 Exposition. The Fair opened April 21, 1962 and ran until October 21 of that same year and almost 10 million people attended during that time. And did you know that President John Kennedy was scheduled to attend the Expo but bowed out due to “a cold” (when in actuality he was knee deep in the Cuban Missile Crisis). Enough trivia though, let’s take a look at two vintage postcards from the Expo. As always, clickity click for a larger view:

Front: Seattle’s World Fair.

Back: Seattle World’s Fair. Industrial Exhibits. Exhibition industriel. Exhibicion industrial. Color photo by Mike Roberts. Postcard sent June 1962.

Front: Seattle’s World Fair.

Back: Seattle World’s Fair. Aerial view of the Fair. Vue a vol d’oiseau de la exposition. Vista de pajaro de la exposicion. Color photo by Mike Roberts. Postcard sent August 1962. It did in fact “bear a special postmark.”