Photo shows aerial view of the Denny Regrade neighborhood in Seattle with the recently opened Orpheum Theater. Circa 1928. Image courtesy Washington State Digital Archives.
Denny Regrade View 1928
October 6th, 2011 @ 12:12 am by Cliffe | Sorted Miscellaneous |
Photo shows aerial view of the Denny Regrade neighborhood in Seattle with the recently opened Orpheum Theater. Circa 1928. Image courtesy Washington State Digital Archives.

Refresh my memory…what was a photoplay, exactly?
It’s one of those newfangled contraptions that today’s youth are so infatuated with.
Would the small wooded area on the right be Denny Park?
According to Merriam-Webster, it’s a moving picture. The first known use of the word was in 1910. Movies pretty much killed off Vaudville, and this was clearly during the transition between the two.
Repost: http://www.vintageseattle.org/2010/08/26/triangulating-the-denny-regrade-1928/
Thanks, I thought I had seen this view before and am certain I wasn’t around to see it live.
New Orpheum Theatre opens in Seattle on August 28, 1927.
http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=4260
Looks like the Orpheum was still pretty new in this photo.
@Matt the E, just like video killed the radio star!
@Allen, yes that’s the area that became Denny Park. I believe it was a low hinter part of Denny Hill and thus left untouched, At the time of this photo it was like a patch of primeval Seattle flora sticking up through the grid.
Wish they never cut down Denny Hill. That housing density never grew back.
Jensen: Whoops! Good catch.
Did a little research on the marquis postings: Ada Reeves was a middle-aged stage actress and vaudevillian. And the movie/photoplay “Wallflowers” was based on a popular novel by a lady named Irene Temple Bailey. The book came out in 1927, so it’s likely the movie was out in 1928 or 1929. The Paramount is indeed almost new. It’s not clear who Johnny Burke is. There are two to choose from, both were songwriters. One would have been close to 80 in the late 20′s, the other would have been about 20 years old. Or maybe it’s neither.
update: The movie “Wallflowers” the movie came out in 1928. Jean Arthur was in it.
further update: “Wallflowers” the movie was released in February 1928, so the picture is likely from late winter or early spring. Makes the sunshine all the more impressive.
It sure feels strange to see how the old hill completely cut off Lake Union from the downtown area. And other than the alignment of the roads – there is hardly anything left from the old shot. The whole area looks so completely different now. That old Northern Pacific billboard is kinda neat.
So completely different than today! @Jim – good job on the research.
FYI, if you go down Westlake to the right, the small triangle block is now McDonalds, and the lighter bldg with the doorway on the corner further down is now Fantasy UnLtd and the Larned Apts, still standing. Some bldgs to the left on fifth are still standing along the monorail route, but the Orpheum went down for the WA PLaza. Progress? Debateable, although it does look like a lot of rotten old tenements filled this area. Probably home to a million fascinating stories.
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