Here’s a little snip from the 1928 Argus.
It shows Second Ave as it was being extended south from Yesler to Jackson. The caption states that this work “cost more than the entire assessed value of all the property within the city limits fifty years ago.
” That would be 1878.
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| BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE. The cutting of an extension of Second Avenue from Yesler Way to Jackson Street, thus giving a “straight shoot” through the city from the depots, which entailed razing buildings seven stories in height, will cost more than the entire assessed value of all the property within the city limits fifty years ago. The Argus, 1928. |
This is most interesting. I love the trams there. The blurry one on the corner really shows how long it took to snap a photo in those days.
Hey, did you notice who took the picture?
I wonder if they had to slice some buildings up to extend 2nd Ave? It looks like the buildings on the left fit perfectly, but if you look at an aerial view, they are a strange shape and look altered. Maybe the work had been already done at the time of this photo? Also, I didn’t know that the building that now houses Barney’s Loans used to be so tall…
This project is the source of much confusion even today for people unfamiliar with the area looking for addresses on 2nd Avenue South between Yesler and Jackson. You have to be alert to whether it’s “2nd Ave S” or “2nd Ave EXT (Extension) S”. It seems like it would have been smarter to just give the extension a completely different name.
It’s so passe to give different names to streets.
We’ve got the intersections of Bellevue, Bellevue & Bellevue on Capitol Hill and every modern suburb basically uses two street names and different modifiers (place, lane, court).
Chris A., Yes many buildings were partially sliced. The building seen on the left (Masin’s) was originally the portion of a 1905 building facing an alley. Just off the right side of the photo, they did a similar treatment to the five-story Stewart-Holmes building.
Ah, except we do give streets different names — no? Boren and Rainier connect (though they didn’t always), as do Roosevelt and Eastlake, Montlake and 25th, Elliott and 15th, etc. I actually don’t mind 2nd Ave. Ext. S. so much — I find it refreshingly straightforward
I wonder if the building on the NW corner of 2nd south & WAshington had in it back then It housed the Casino & the Double Header (gay spaces) in the 20th Century…
When I worked at the Smith Tower Observation Deck I used to love giving directions to the Seattle Police Museum. “It’ where Second Ave. crosses Third Ave.”