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Reframe Archive

Reframe: West Seattle’s Halleck and College

May 5th, 2008 by Cliffe | Sorted Reframe | 1 Comment » border

Just into year 2 here and Chainsaw Riggins, Vintage Seattle reader of superior name, requested more Reframes for the coming blog year. And really, how can you say no to someone named “Chainsaw Riggins”? So I loaded up my gear and headed down toward Alki in my new home, West Seattle. See the Reframe comparisons — Seattle Municipal Archives photos from 1933 and present day. We have these vintage photos because of a mud slide that year. If there are any other requests, just call it out like Chainsaw did.

Dec 22, 1933: Halleck Ave. SW and SW College St. slide. Photograph courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives, Water Department Photographic Negatives Collection.

May 4, 2008: Looking down Halleck at present day. You’ll notice that many of the structures from the 1933 photo still exist.

Dec 22, 1933: Halleck Ave. SW and SW College St. slide. Photograph courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives, Water Department Photographic Negatives Collection.

May 4, 2008: Looking up Halleck Ave toward SW College St at present day. The home at the intersection is still standing and now has a deck.

Reframe: 23rd And Marion

January 11th, 2008 by Cliffe | Sorted Reframe | 4 Comments » border

I’m very pleased to be posting the first user submitted Reframe feature! Ever since I started Vintage Seattle, I’ve been hoping that people would write in with bits of history from their neck of the woods and now this is starting to happen in earnest. Great stuff. Scott Durham of the Central District News Blog wrote in with this Reframe of 23rd and Marion. Take it, Scott:

I’m also a Squire Park resident and thought you might be interested in this picture I found a while back. It shows the building at 23rd & Marion that is currently all boarded up and recently posted “For Sale”. That property was a functional barber shop in OK shape until an out of control car ran into it one night 3 or four years ago. It’s been a mess ever since, and now I assume it and the neighboring property will sell and be replaced by townhomes.

And now that I look at the picture more closely, I see something in the distance that doesn’t exist in our current world. If you look up Marion, you see the Immaculate Conception Church as it exists today. Move across the horizon to the left and there’s an outline of a large building, directly above the white awning of the grocery. I can’t imagine what that could be. Perhaps it existed on the property that now has the DSHS complex across Cherry from Providence Hospital.

Here’s two pictures - one repeats the historical scene, and one focuses on the grocery property itself. Why would anyone ever remove the nice high gables from the attached house? It boggles the mind, especially since the original house appears to have matched the row of historical Victorians that still exist on the west side of 23rd.

Scott Durham
January 7, 2008

Marion St. looking west from 23rd Ave., June 12, 1920. Image courtesy Library of Congress, U.S. Copyright Office. University of Washington Libraries. Special Collections Division.

The same shot reframed in January 2007. Image courtesy Scott Durham.

Close-up of what used to be a corner grocery store, more recently a barber shop. Image courtesy Scott Durham.

Reframe: 50 Years Of Boren And Marion

December 17th, 2007 by Cliffe | Sorted Reframe | 1 Comment » border

I’ve always been interested in how a particular landscape changes over time. Since we haven’t done a Reframe comparison in quite a while, let’s bust it back out. This Reframe takes a look at the intersection of Boren and Marion looking West. The first shot is from 1955 and the second is present day, with this area being just one block away from the First Hill Painted Lady. Give the images a click for closer inspection.

December 6, 1955: The City of Seattle responds to some fallen trees from a windstorm on Boren and Marion. You can see the St. James Cathedral towers in the background. Photograph courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives.

November 3, 2007: The same frame at present day. The empty parking lot has been replaced with a rather ugly building and the trees replaced with younger models. New skyscrapers also fill the skyline.

Reframe: 20th Ave and Roy 1925

July 18th, 2007 by Cliffe | Sorted Reframe | 2 Comments » border

Well folks, sometimes a Reframe just doesn’t work out. You can file this one under blunders. It’s the southwest corner of 20th Ave. and Roy St, looking south, but you probably couldn’t tell from the modern day shot. Trees and other vegetation make this one nearly impossible to compare. Oh well, we can still take a closer look at some of the houses captured in the January 27, 1925 photograph. Click on the thumbnails for a closer look, a closer look at some completely unnecessary and obvious arrows.


The streetscape as it appeared on January 27, 1925. Looks as though the road was dug up due to some piping work. Photograph courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives.	The same shot, Reframed. Though it is difficult to tell from the photo, this street has changed little. I will need to revisit the scene in winter when leaves are in short supply.

The building materials on this home seem to have stood the rigors of time. In fact, the house as a whole looks very well kept.	A classic early 1900’s bungalow. Most of the architectural details remain unchanged, though it does look like the brick has been painted over. Notice the decorative vertical and horizontal supports.

Reframe: 14th and Madison 1944

June 15th, 2007 by Cliffe | Sorted Reframe | No Comments » border

Today we’re going to reframe 14th and Madison. The original photograph was taken on April 1, 1944 just after channelization of the streets. Most of the surrounding buildings have undergone changes, yet the trees in the far center and building in the upper right remain. Notice the dramatic increase in traffic signage. Click on the images for a closer look:


14th and Madison in April 1944. Photograph courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives.	The streets cross in May 2007. Royal Cleaners have taken the torch from Madison Cleaners.

Reframe: Former North Broadway

May 19th, 2007 by Cliffe | Sorted Reframe | 7 Comments » border

More Capitol Hill?! Yep, maybe I’m a sucker for it since it’s the first area of Seattle that I lived in. We’ll move on to other areas soon enough. Until then, let’s take a look at a reframe (vintage photograph, present day) of what used to be known as North Broadway (now East Broadway). The first reframe set shows the Albatross Apartments, which now look shockingly similar to the old times in Nov 1932. Not only has the parking garage stuck around (sans doors), but it looks like the curb may even be original. The old brick street gutter was a nice touch, now sadly gone. The second reframe shows just down the street past the Albatross. The large apartment building to the far left seems to be the most noticeable change. So, Vintage Seattle readers (all 5 of you), which areas of the city are you most interested in seeing here in the future? Just please don’t say the triangular area bounded by Yesler, James, and 2nd. That’s just cruel.


The Albatross apartments on 756 N. Broadway as they stood on November 30, 1932. Photograph courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives.	The street as captured on April 28, 2007. Sorry if it was your garage sale sign that I took down. I hear they only had Donny Osmond LP’s left anyway.

726 N. Broadway on the same day in 1932. Photograph courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives.	The 2007 version, now with landscaper! Maybe modern times aren’t so bad. The house on the left remains relatively unchanged, except for the landscaping. Hmm…

Reframe: Seattle Fire Station No. 7

May 4th, 2007 by Cliffe | Sorted Reframe | 10 Comments » border

Well let’s start things off with a feature called Reframe. You’re smart, you probably know what that means. But in case you don’t, these are photograph comparisons with the vintage shot on the left and the updated present day frame on the right. I go out into the field and frame the shot just as it was, literally standing in the footsteps of the original photographer from years ago. This first Reframe features Capitol Hill’s Seattle Fire Station No. 7. You can find it on Fifteenth Ave. East and Harrison Street. The original photo was taken on March 24, 1921 and the present day shot taken April 28, 2007. The building is now occupied by a video rental store, On 15th Video. So now you can go check out this vintage building and rent Big Momma’s House all at the same time! Click on the thumbnails for a larger view.


The old Fire Station as it stood in 1921. You can see two Ford Model T’s parked on the side of the building. Photograph courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives.	As she stands today, a DVD rental joint. Notice the “Engine Company Seven” facade inscription has been stripped, yet most architectural details remain.