Past Post: Downtown Seattle 1912
August 14th, 2007 @ 1:00 am by Cliffe | Sorted Past Post
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:
I have been here two weeks now and I like it fine. How I wish I could see you. Archie & I are having fine times. We go out together all the time. Don’t forget to write.
|
| Front: Second Ave. Looking North. Seattle, Washington. |
|
| Back: Postcard to Miss G. McClellon in Salt Lake City, Utah. Sent July 1912. |
August 14th, 2007 @ 8:56 am
You have to wonder who, or what, Gochie is.
August 14th, 2007 @ 9:09 pm
Could it be Archie?
The large block at the end of the street appears to be the Moore and The Josephinum (2nd and Stewart) - formerly the New Washington hotel, which looks like what the neon sign reads.
The block just to the right of the streetcar with the Savoy and Pantages is where the [original] WaMu tower now stands - so this appears to be at 2nd and Seneca. The building on the far side of that block, 2nd and Union, 4 stories tall with the three arched windows, is still there - the Brooklyn Seafood restauraunt, nestled beside the WaMu tower. The block beyond that is now Benaroya, with SAM and the new WaMu tower facing it across the street.
I think the two buildings to the immediate left - two story red, five story grey, are still there, opposite the [original] WaMu, though I don’t know what they are these days.
I’m not sure about the moon, though - is it technically possible to get a full moon to the north of the city??
August 14th, 2007 @ 11:31 pm
Hmm, it could be Archie. Some other great catches there, Brendan.
Also, as far as the moon… it’s bogus. Looks like it was thrown in there when the scene was tinted. Also bogus are the streetcar light beams and oddly there’s an awning that was removed. Check it out:
Cliffe
August 15th, 2007 @ 12:12 am
Wow, that’s some pretty neat tinting - literally turns day into night. The streetcar light is doubly bogus when you consider that it’s on the back of the car, not the font.
August 15th, 2007 @ 8:43 am
I’m still trying to find post cards like these in antique shops etc. I don’t know how you do it but you sure are good at it.
August 15th, 2007 @ 2:19 pm
There are a variety of businesses in the low-rise buildings across 2nd Ave from the WaMu Tower — there’s a deli in the gray building, and the red building houses a very classy state liquor store (among other things).
August 16th, 2007 @ 12:43 pm
Corrected it to “Archie.”
Cliffe