Hopefully you all made it through Snowmageddon 2.0 last week. It’s back to work as usual.
We start things off this week with Max R.
Jensen’s look at the Y.M.C.A. Who can date it
? Click for higher res.
Seattle Downtown Y.M.C.A., 909 Fourth Avenue, Seattle 4, Washington.
257 rooms offering comfortable living, including barber shop, dry-cleaning service, complete athletic facilities and coffee shop, topped by a central downtown location which brings Seattle’s recreational, shopping and office areas to Y.M.C.A. residents. Color photo by Max R. Jensen.
that light blue Chrysler-made car in the middle of the block looks like a ’57 (maybe a DeSoto) and I don’t see anything newer, so that’s my guess.
Could someone please ensmarten me about this nearer building? I started working downtown just before the IDX tower was built on that site, and if this old brick beauty was still standing I don’t remember it. It carries a large cursive Y above the doorway… was it related to the YMCA in some way? I bet that angled door sure startled a lot of people. “Whoa! Jet Age entryway!”
Anyone know what year 4th Ave became one-way? This was taken after that.
according to the Metro Employees Historic Vehicle Association, the conversion to one-way streets downtown happened in 1955 (in conjunction with the move of Highway 99 onto the viaduct, I think), so 1957 still works as a date for the picture
@Mat, It was the original YMCA building built about 1914 (or earlier, I’m not sure but that year just sticks out in my head). The building to the left was built in 1930 as the annex known as the YMCA Dormitory. It replaced the Stander Hotel which was about the same size.
Can you imagine a Texaco in that location?
I-5 was approved to cut through Seattle at the end of 1957, so it couldn’t be long after that (or that Texaco would be gone and there’d be no shadow of a building on the road).
(researches further) Ah, construction didn’t actually begin until 1963 (finished 1965). So that doesn’t narrow it down too much. But at least that’s an upper bound.
The Texaco is where the Bank of California building is now. I-5 wouldn’t have affected it.
So would this view have been taken from the old library or the one that replaced it?
I think the Carnegie-sponsored avatar of our library came down in ’51, so this view would be from the roof or the upper (5th aveneue) patio of the “modern” (mid-century) library.
Actually the “modern” library that replaced the downtown library that opened in 1906 did not open until 1960. The old 1906 library might still have been standing when the picture was taken, although the books had been moved to a temporary location uptown in preparation for the demolition.
@Jim, I’ll be darned. You’re right. I don’t know why I had 1951 in my head — unless it’s because that was the year that Rosemary Clooney’s “Come On-a My House” spent six weeks at the top of Billboard magazine’s music charts.
That’s not just the best aensrw. It’s the bestest answer!
I rememeber very well the Y, my parents farmed me out thier in the summers of the 50s/60s lots of outings and fun in those days. I rememeber very well inside the Y
cleaners,cafe,USO,swimming pool and the old gym where we kids would play. the Y also had a neat crafts shop and lots of prodjects.so many good memories, I said “GOOD
Back then the downtown had character with lots to see and learn about, so sorry to see what it is now
colin, back in those days thier was nothing but the old library on the corner which looks like where the shot was takin from.kitty corner from the Y
JIM B…….THIER WERE SEVERAL GAS STATIONS DOWNTOWN IN THOSE DAYS, JUST LIKE ALL AROUND THE SEATTLE NIEHBORHOODS
WHEN EVERYONE STARTED TO BITCH THEY WERE GONE,JUST LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE THAT WAS GOOD..SEATTLE IMO IS DEAD
JOURNEYMAN MATT.THAT Y EMBLEM ABOVE THE MAIN ENTRANCE WAS ALWAYS THIER.IM SURPRISED THE BALL HASNT MET WITH THAT BEAUTIFUL OLD BLDG, THEY SEEM TO RUIN EVERYTHING ELSE