Topic: Buildings
This is a history of the Rise, Fall, Rise, and Fall of the Occidental Hotel, located in Seattle's Pioneer Square, from 1881 to the present. Written and Curated by Paul Dorpat, with Steven Leith. Prese...
The Olga Strawberry Barreling Plant, constructed in 1938, stands as a reminder of the once-flourishing strawberry industry on the east side of Orcas Island in San Juan County. Built in a cooperative e...
Modern-day visitors to Olympia's capitol campus are justly impressed by the main Legislative Building's 287-foot-high dome and the equally broad-shouldered edifices that surround that central structur...
The Fairmont Olympic Hotel, bounded by 4th and 5th avenues, and University and Seneca streets in downtown Seattle, was built in 1924 and expanded in 1928. Its construction was financed with community ...
Fondly remembered as a fixture of Seattle's downtown, the Orpheum Theatre at 5th Avenue and Stewart Street opened on August 28, 1927. Originally designed to showcase vaudeville and film, the venue was...
In 1891 Washington pioneer George Gaches and his wife, Louisa Wiggin Gaches, built a splendid 22-room home on a rocky ridge above the town of LaConner in Skagit County. It survives today as the Gaches...
Built in 1928 at 9th Avenue and Pine Street in downtown Seattle, the Paramount Theatre (originally called the Seattle Theatre) has over its long history brought to town some of the most diverse entert...
Seattle's venerable Parker's Ballroom (which opened in 1930 on the "New Seattle-Everett Highway," now known as Aurora Avenue N) held a unique place in Northwest music history. Like a few other local d...
Patos Island in San Juan County is the northernmost of the San Juan Islands and is known for its remoteness and beauty. A small light station became operational there in 1893, and a 38-foot tower was ...
Phyllis Lamphere (1922-2018), a native Seattleite, was deeply involved in the city's civic life for more than 50 years. She served on the city council from 1967 to 1978, where she was instrumental in ...
Phyllis Lamphere (1922-2018), a native Seattleite, was deeply involved in the city's civic life for more than 50 years. She served on the city council from 1967 to 1978, where she was instrumental in ...
The Pickett House, located at 910 Bancroft Street in Bellingham's Lettered Streets neighborhood, has a long and winding history dating back to the beginnings of Whatcom County. Built in 1856, the hous...
The Pierce County Courthouse designed by Proctor & Dennis and built in 1893 stood as a landmark in Tacoma until its demolition in 1959. After the county seat was moved to Tacoma in 1880, Pierce Co...
Beginning in the second decade of the twentieth century, almost all of Seattle's early automobile dealerships and related businesses occupied a few square blocks on Capitol Hill, an area soon dubbed A...
Seattle's Pioneer Building, located at the northeast corner of 1st Avenue and James Street, was the first of three legacy buildings built by Seattle pioneer Henry Yesler (1810-1892) after the Great Se...
The substation designed and built by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) near Pomeroy helped expand the spread of electricity to the far-flung residents of Garfield County in Southeast Washingto...
The National Guard Armory in Puyallup was home to National Guard units since the 1950s, beginning with Battery B, 240th Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion. It later hosted other artillery units an...
The Queen Anne Branch, The Seattle Public Library, located at 4th Avenue W and W Garfield, was the fourth of the Seattle Public Library branches built with funds from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie (1...
The history of railroad stations in Seattle reflects comprehensive changes in the overall architectural character of the city. Railroad development closely paralleled Seattle's urban development. It i...
The Rainier Beach Branch, The Seattle Public Library, is Seattle's southeastern-most branch library. Located at 9125 Rainier Avenue S, the branch traces its roots to a storefront operation that opened...
The Rainier Club is Seattle's oldest private club, established in 1888 when Washington was still a territory. A handful of politicians and business leaders met on February 23, 1888, to discuss the ide...
The Reard-Freed farmhouse in Sammamish (King County), built in 1895, has a long and rich local history, and the original farmstead on which the house was built has the distinction of being the only lo...
The Riach Honda Building was located at 1017 Olive Way on the southwest corner of Olive Way and Boren Avenue in downtown Seattle. For more than a century, the location was connected to the automotive ...
In an era when old theaters are fewer and farther between, the Ruby Theatre in Chelan, 135 E Woodin Avenue, may very well be Washington state’s oldest motion picture venue. Whereas ...