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Old Sport is back, old sport. In this week with Player O The Week honors is pitcher Glenn Abbott. The M’s drafted him in 1976 during expansion and he stuck around longer than any other player from that first season (77-81). After all these years, he has landed back in the Pacific Northwest as pitching coach for the Portland Beavers (see modern day photo here). Click on the thumbnail for a full-res look at Glenn’s 1979 Topps card.

Glenn Abbott, Seattle Mariners, Pitcher, Topps, 1979.

I came across this fantastic illustration from a 1918 edition of The Seattle Sunday Times magazine. It shows a woman named “Golden Eyes” with her dog “Uncle Sam,” who is holding a liberty bond. Advertisements for bonds were common during World War I — with 17 billion dollars being raised. Ninety years on and with another war happening, bonds remain a safe bet in an unsteady market. Click on the thumbnail for the higher-res illustration.

Golden Eyes with Uncle Sam. The Seattle Sunday Times Magazine. April 21, 1918. Image courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Today the Landmarks Preservation Board met to decide the ultimate fate of the former Coca-Cola bottling plant at 1313 E. Columbia. This handsome Art Deco / Moderne facility was built in 1939 for Coca-Cola, designed by architects Jesse Shelton and John Graham Sr (the latter was also known for designing the Frederick and Nelson building, the Roosevelt Hotel, and Dexter Horton Building). In 1974 the building changed hands and was used by NW Bell Telephone Company. The site is now owned by Seattle University, who plans to use the building in the short term as a temporary library replacement. However, in the proposed Master Plan for the next twenty years, the University is proposing to raise the allowable height in the block to 65 feet — allowing a building far taller than the Coca-Cola facility. You know what that means. It reminds me of the area’s Wonder Bread Bakery building demolished last year to build a particularly atrocious apartment building — though the Coca-Cola building is in far better condition. You can read the whole nomination report here. So what did the Landmarks Preservation Board decide? As it turns out, they did vote unanimously to designate the site and the exterior of the building a landmark. This is just the first step in this process and does not, by any means, signal that the building is safe from demolition. Stay tuned.

Coca-Cola bottling plant shown in 1940. Image courtesy UW Special Collections.	The same view from the 1941 tax assessor’s photo.
North entrance to the building.	Alternate angle of north entrance.
Northwest corner.	Looking north along 14th Ave.
East entrance.	Window detail along east face.
Looking south along east facade.	Southeast corner.

You may only know Hotel Frye (or The Frye Apartments) as the subject of Juan aka crazyscreamingguy aka The Frye Apartments Guy’s wrath. But long before Juan (or Pedro, the name he uses to “throw off the CIA”) took up his sign, Hotel Frye went up in 1911 for Seattle pioneer George Frye (from architects Bebb and Mendel). The building has served as low-income apartments since the early 1970’s. Click on this postcard thumbnail for a higher-res look.

Hotel Frye. 3rd Avenue at Yesler Way, Seattle, Washington. In the heart of the evergreen playground. 325 Outside Rooms - Fireproof and Soundproof - One of Seattle’s Best. Completely equipped 24-hour garage in connection. Splendid Coffee Shop-Tea Rooms - Banquet Rooms. Located opposite City Hall Park and County-City Bldgs. Convenient to all means of transportation and accessible to Seattle’s financial, shopping and amusement centers.

This 1962 photo of the Lake Washington Floating Bridge is roughly the angle Blue Angels looked down and saw this past weekend, but a few things were different — an extra span and no bulge. The bulge was the movable part of the bridge that could retract in order to let large boats through (and caused many accidents). This was also back in the day of the “reversible lane” designed to combat Seattle’s rush hour traffic. You can see the large overhead signs by the bulge, pointing out which lane was reversed. The original bridge sank (Youtube video here) in November of 1990. Do we have any Vintage Seattle readers who remember driving on the bridge back in the time of the bulge?

Aerial photograph of Lake Washington Floating Bridge. From “Beautiful Seattle Offers A Plus Convention,” Seattle Chamber of Commerce, 1962.

It’s been a while since we’ve reported on significant local homes for sale. With this slow market there’s a whole slew of interesting houses waiting to be scooped up. While we steer clear of any Susan Picht homes, Anna and I were able to tour the 1909 gem located at 943 19th Ave. If you’ve walked around Capitol Hill’s tree lined residential areas, you know this street is straight out of the turn of the century and almost untouched. This particular 2,920 square foot, 4 bed, 2.25 bath home is going for $1,198,000. View my photos below and hit the listing if you need more information.

Looking up toward the home. This classic Capitol Hill neighborhood sports a lot of mature vegetation.	Viewing the large porch as you enter the home.
Hydrangeas around the side of the house.	Back porch. To the right is a secluded hot tub and a large garage.
Front living room.	Formal dining room with box-beam ceiling.
Kitchen with high end appliances and tasteful finishes.	Second floor bathroom.
The master bedroom is elongated with a reading area and two closets.	This front balcony is right off of the master bedroom.

Are you fixing up an old house? Do you have an old 1930’s tax record photo of your house? If so, Vintage Seattle needs you! I am looking for old houses being restored that I can document and share with VS readers. I’m also looking for old tax record photos along with modern day shots. Please don’t hesitate to head over to the submit page to get in touch with me. I’m convinced that more reader generated content is the most natural way to make Vintage Seattle better. Looking forward to hearing from you — don’t be shy.

Dilapidated house at 13th NW and 67th. Jul 11, 1956. Courtesy Engineering Department Photographic Negatives, Seattle Municipal Archives.

Way back when Vintage Seattle was a mere two days old, we reframed a 1921 photo and modern day view of Capitol Hill’s Fire Station No. 7. I wanted to add to that feature with this hi-res 1920 architectural drawing. Speaking of that post, at the time Dave wrote “Is this Paul Dorpat’s blog??” Well I know I’m 15 months late in answering this, but no it isn’t Paul Dorpat’s blog (that’s here). However, I am a fan of his work and he actually stopped by to comment earlier this month. I thought that was cool.

Architectural drawings for Capitol Hill’s Fire Station No. 7. Circa 1920. Image courtesy University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections Division.