Profile: O’Dea H.S. & Cathedral School

March 11th, 2009 @ 12:38 am by Cliffe | Sorted Historic Buildings |

When you’re on First Hill admiring St. James Cathedral (see my photo profile here) be sure to head one block east to see O’Dea High School. Ground was broken in March 1923 and school was in session by the next year. The school was the last major project in Seattle for architecture firm Beezer Brothers.

The Cathedral School, located on the same block as St. James and now closed, opened in 1911 and moved into their new building in 1912. This website has some history and photos:

The Cathedral School opened in fall of 1911, with 100 students and 5 Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary working out of four spare classrooms in St. Rose’s Academy on Broadway. Just after Easter, 1912, they moved into their brand-new, spacious and state-of-the-art facility. The four-story building featured an indoor gymnasium and playground (in the attic), a large hall with a stage, and two floors of classrooms. The Sisters were astonished the following September when enrollment jumped from 100 to 256, and, two years later, to more than 300. In their brand-new school building, finding space for all the children was already a problem!

Click on the photos for higher res copies.

O’Dea High School. 802 Terry Ave. Front.

O’Dea High School. 802 Terry Ave. Side.

O’Dea High School. 802 Terry Ave. Alternate angle, front.

O’Dea High School. 802 Terry Ave. Alternate angle, front.

Cathedral School. Front.

O’Dea High School. 802 Terry Ave. Alternate angle, south side.

6 Responses to “Profile: O’Dea H.S. & Cathedral School”

1. didi says:

   March 11, 2009 at 2:04 pm

   I love the ornate details on this one. Nice job with the pictures. They are stunning.
2. Jana says:

   March 11, 2009 at 4:15 pm

   Beautiful shots!!
3. matt wright says:

   March 12, 2009 at 2:38 pm

   Incredible stuff. Just love the stonework there. It however doesn’t even begin to compare to:

   http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=pioneer+square,+seattle&ie=UTF8&split=0&gl=us&ei=PIC5SdaJKYGStQPDzrw8&ll=47.601765,-122.333708&spn=0.01117,0.052485&z=15&iwloc=addr&layer=c&cbll=47.601765,-122.333688&panoid=Ct7_9yOHTy6iyd2-ztEpOA&cbp=11,73.9309498200532,,0,-4.198691741618969

   Awesome photos mate.
4. Cliffe says:

   March 12, 2009 at 3:27 pm

   Matt: I don’t like your sodding humor.
5. Jeff Weimer says:

   May 17, 2009 at 9:49 am

   O’dea still uses the cathedral school cafeteria in the basement. Also, until the late 70′s/early 80′s, the top floor of the school was where the gymnasium was. When the added the new wing with a new gymnasium (seen in the left of the 3rd picture), they converted the old space into the library, vaulted ceilings and all. Since THEN, they remodeled the third floor to add classrooms and created a new, 4th floor for the library.
6. Marty Dawg says:

   May 17, 2010 at 4:24 am

   We used to love the Friday night sock hops in the old O’Dea gym….we caught Bread there, and bought their first album on the way out, before they became easy listening