Well, that was quick. Walking through Bailey/Coy Books today, about ten days since the bombshell news came out that the store would close at the end of November, was much sadder than expected. While braced for something far removed from a usual bookstore visit I was surprised at the knot in my stomach at the sight of the store standing on its very last legs.

Roughly half the floor space has been cordoned off by bookshelves, leaving visible empty floor space behind. Shelves are stocked with a far smaller number of titles than you might presume and a fractional amount compared to what constituted business as usual. There’s been a mad rush to take advantage of bargains before the store closes for good. Another telling sign: The shelves themselves are for sale.

No surprise that there’s pretty much universal agreement that Bailey/Coy’s closure is a terrible thing. On Broadway for 26 years, the store has been (and still is, for the next three weeks at least) one of Capitol Hill’s signature businesses.

But sadly, perhaps not surprisingly, it’s hardly the first time a well-established independent bookstore on the Hill has closed its doors. For one example, in March of this year Horizon Books shut down on 15th Avenue East, not long after closing its University District location. In so doing, a used bookstore that had been around for more than 30 years ceased to be.

Remember also Beyond the Closet at 518 E. Pike Street. The LGBT bookstore closed in 2005; I believe it opened in the late ‘80s. Capitol Hill was obviously a natural fit for the store before vast changes to the bookselling industry led to its financial downturn. Another factor in this case was greater acceptance of LGBT titles in mass-market bookstores like Barnes and Noble. By the middle of this decade selling gay and lesbian titles was not the mark of distinction it once had been.

Going back a little further, Pistil Books held court on East Pike Street where Bimbo’s Bitchin’ Burritos now draws crowds. But in the Spring of 2001, owners Amy Candiotti and Sean Carlson closed the physical store and became an Internet-only operation. During a gathering at the store to discuss changes in the book industry, the owners bemoaned closing the shop but had to face economic realities. Carlson said he’d been making $5 per hour for years, an amount that simply wasn’t sustainable. The bright side in this case is that the online business remains; check them out at www.pistilbooks.net.

Those who’ve logged more than a decade of residence on the Hill may remember Red and Black Books on 15th Avenue East, where Shoprite currently plies its trade. The store featured a huge variety of publications simply not found in other stores. Leftist political treatises, obscure poetry, multicultural children’s books – the store’s mission was to sell non-mainstream titles. Logically located on the Hill and run as a collective of devoted members, its model worked for years. And then did not: the store closed in early 1999. Another bookstore, Pages, opened in the space briefly, focusing more on being an Internet café when such things were somewhat novel and closing shortly thereafter.

Just about everyone knows that what’s lost when independent bookstores close is more than places where one can buy books. Bailey/Coy Books helps define Broadway and Capitol Hill. No doubt the Elliot Bay Book Company, should it move to the Hill, could fill a void Bailey/Coy will leave behind. But this would come at the expense of the void its departure would create in Pioneer Square. While such a relocation would be good for the Hill, it’s probably not a great move for the city as a whole. Call it NIMBYism in reverse.

If Bailey/Coy couldn’t make it, nor the others that have gone under before it, who can? Because it’s hard to imagine a neighborhood where a niche bookstore like Red and Black or Beyond the Closet, or a well-titled independent like Bailey/Coy would fare better. And that is truly a scary thought.

Parking meter, 1951,
originally uploaded by Seattle Municipal Archives.

I stumbled onto this fascinating essay about life on Capitol Hill in the 1950s inspired by the writer's discovery of the "I grew up on Capitol Hill' Facebook group. The names and the stories have so much color -- it's a good lesson to go find out the names of those people in the world around you so you can write quality history later. The essay is also a lesson in how quickly the Hill's culture has changed while providing prologue for the family-friendliness of today's northern Capitol Hill with its mommy and daddies and daddies and daddies and mommies and mommies. There is also a taste of the clubbiness that still can pervade some Capitol Hill streets.

From Growing up on "the hill"

We did a lot of the things our classmates did: bought penny candy at the same mom-and-pop stores, took 25 cents to the Roycroft Theater every Saturday afternoon for a program that included a serial, a newsreel, a cartoon and a feature film; built wooden hydroplanes and tied them to the back of our bikes for our own versions of the Gold Cup Races run on Lake Washington.  We sometimes went to the original Red Mill on Friday night with our aunt and uncle so we could have fish and chips and not have to go home to a kitchen that smelled like fried fish.

We went to the Friday night social dancing classes when we were in seventh and eight grades, and stood on one side of the hall while the St. Joe's boys were on the other. I can still remember a couple of Jack Reilly's sequence of steps and calls from that 7th-grade square dance class where they partnered us up with the boys by marching us in intersecting lines.

more...

Common Nighthawk, originally uploaded by kingernorth.

It has been a busy week at CHS with lots of big news -- some of it quite heavy. Thanks goodness for this lovely little essay which fluttered in from CHS history contributor Dotty DeCoster. Even if the nighthawks were still living in Seattle, they'd have already migrated away from this wet and dreary Pacific Northwest weather until spring -- when they used to return and, now, you can miss them like Dotty does. We're glad the swallows still come back to keep us company.

I’ve been reading Edward B. Dunn’s memoir called 1121 Union recently, and he asks a question:  “We always had nighthawks in summer on First Hill and in the country, too.  Where can they have gone? . . . Anyway  I miss them.  They can outdive any airplane, and I used to love watching them swooping over the housetops and abruptly coming out of the dive with a thrilling roar." (p. 53) 

Dunn was born in 1904 at 1121 Union and lived there for several decades. (southwest corner of Union and Minor.)  My old friend, who lived as a child near Lake Union and most of her adult life near 17th and Denny, taught me to go looking for nighthawks at dusk above the rooftops near the top of Capitol Hill during the 1960s. They are gone now, gone completely from King County and only found rarely in Western Washington.

The Seattle Audubon bird web describes the common nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) as “a cryptic bird most often seen in flight, when it can be easily identified by the white bar across each long, pointed wing.  This mottled gray and black bird has large eyes.  It also has a tiny beak with a large gape. .  .”  They forage in flight on flying insects.  They have a loud, distinctive call.  At about 9 inches, common nighthawks are bigger than swallows and spectacular flyers.  They also have an odd habit while perching.  Rather than sitting on tree limbs or wires or rooftops facing you (with the perch on the horizontal) they sit sideways, aligned along the perch.  Called “goatsuckers” some places, they used to be a delightful addition to the August falling star show viewed from the Capitol Hill ridge crest.

They are odd birds that like open country (with lots of flying bugs) and don’t nest – they lay their eggs on gravel.  Both male and female birds help feed the young and care for them.  In the cities, they tended to like gravel or pebble roofs for reproducing, or infrequently disturbed gravel piles or alleys.  They seem to have been birds of a certain city development period.  They appeared here when the forest cover was opened up and disappeared once the gravel was smoothly paved over, the swampland drained, and the flying insects greatly reduced.  Peterson’s Western Birds says they winter in Argentina.  Apparently, nighthawks still are fairly common in eastern Washington, if you have an opportunity to go for a walk at dusk on the other side of the mountains you might see some.

In the meantime, swallows remain. They swoop over the large lawn in Volunteer Park between the art museum and the conservatory and you can see them during the day diving nearly to grass height as they catch insects mid-air.  At dusk they appear out of the ravine when one is standing at the overlook across from the cemetery entrance on 15th Avenue East.

With Seattle Central's fall classes starting at the end of this month, here's the tale of one of SCCC's buildings that is off the main campus and right in the heart of the Hill. The history of the building also includes plagues, a famous art school and an equally famous ghost. Capitol Hill historian Dotty DeCoster originally wrote this article for the Capitol Hill Times where it appeared in 2007 but it is not available on the Web. She is able to share her work with CHS and we're happy to feature her take on the Hill's history. We last featured DeCoster's work in this piece: A Piggly Wiggly history of chain stores on 15th Ave

Have you ever noticed the building on the southeast corner of Broadway and Pine Street? That's the Booth Building, now Seattle Central Community College's South Annex. The college recently celebrated the 100th anniversary of the building with repairs and repainting. The Booth Building, permitted in 1906 and likely constructed in 1907, was an early mixed-use brick and concrete building constructed on Broadway. Designed by the architecture firm of Thompson & Thompson (CL and CB Thompson); constructed by Layton & White, Contractors, the building was the creation of the doctors John R. and William G. Booth.

View Larger Map | Picture: the building in its Cornish School of music days

1907 was a banner year for building construction in Seattle, part of the building boom that really gave us the shape our built environment here on Capitol Hill. The Booth Building was typical of the neighborhood in offering homes, studio, and performance spaces upstairs to musicians and artists for a large part of it’s history while providing groceries, banks, and automobile parts at the street level. Now one of the oldest mixed-use buildings on Broadway, it still provides shelter for students through Seattle Central Community College, its current owner.

The "Doctors Booth," as they are called in the historical records, arrived in Seattle about 1900, practiced medicine for some years in the Alaska Building, and speculated in real estate along with numerous other people at the time. They were both trained in four-year medical colleges (unusual at the time) and took an interest in public health. Dr. J.R. Booth, for instance, visited San Francisco to study bubonic plague in 1903 and made a report to the City Council and Health Department.  Dr. W. G. Booth was involved in the continuing effort during the early part of the 1900s to ensure a healthy (tuberculosis free) milk supply.  Both doctors were active in the King County Medical Association, and Dr. J.R. Booth was it’s president in 1909.  Dr. William Booth and his wife raised two children here in Seattle and lived the rest of their lives here.  Dr. J.R. Booth returned to the Bay Area where he had gone to medical school and his family settled there.

While Seattle was growing and abuilding in 1907, bubonic plague did strike here.  On October 19, Seattle resident Leong Sheng died of Bubonic plague and there were two other plague-related deaths that year.  A massive round up of rats was conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service and in November, 1907, Seattle passed two ordinances to address sanitary conditions and combat the plague.  Rats, and the plague itself, were one of the prices paid for becoming an active Port – neither were known in the Seattle area until after the 1850s.

Sources:  Historylink.org Essay 418; Seattle Municipal Archives; Seattle Daily Bulletin.

The debut of a Starbucks-backed brand experiment on 15th Ave E wasn't the first time that this Seattle commercial strip saw a large chain with an innovative retail concept move in. Capitol Hill historian Dotty DeCoster originally wrote this piece for the Capitol Hill Times where it appeared in early 2008 but it is not available on the Web. She is able to share her work with CHS and we're happy to feature her take on the Hill's history.

The former home of Piggly Wiggly as it appears in 2009 (Photo: Lucas Anderson)

At first glance, one sees the delightful canopy along 15th. It is almost as wide as the sidewalk, wide enough for two people to stroll together without getting soaked by the canopy drip. This building at 401 15th Avenue E (on the northwest corner of 15th and E Harrison) has been with us since 1930. Walking along, one might pause and peruse the intriguing house wares and gifts in the windows of Tilden, or go into 22 Doors and see what’s on offer. It’s not really until you see the building from across the street that the terra cotta ornaments on the front of the building are noticeable, although the lively brick design along E. Harrison still looks pretty flashy.

From 1930 until about 1938, this masonry building was 15th Avenue’s Piggly Wiggly store. The canopy wrapped around the building covering all the big windows just below the transoms. Originally a Piggly Wiggly/MacMarr store, the sign seems to say simply “Piggly Wiggly” in the 1937 photograph at the State archives. A grocery ad in the Seattle Daily Times, January 10,1930, shows a banner “MacMarr/PigglyWiggly” announcing the “first birthday sale” for all the stores in Seattle, and the ad looks much like grocery ads today. It also dates the merger between the two chain store companies.

View Larger Map

Piggly Wiggly stores have a fascinating history. Clarence Saunders invented the self-service supermarket, patented the system in 1914, and franchised it nationwide. He’s the person who came up with the name “Piggly Wiggly”. His first store was opened in Memphis, Tennessee in 1916. But he lost control of the company in the early 1920s.

In 1921, William Louis Avery came to Seattle from Boulder, Colorado, and established the first Piggly Wiggly store in downtown Seattle. As the self-service method of shopping became popular, he opened stores in other parts of the city. He remained president and manager of the company until 1925, when Harry A. Ruff took charge here in Seattle. Mr. and Mrs. Ruff lived near the University of Washington, where their son, Harry A. Ruff, Jr., was a student.

Also during the 1920s, Charles Merrill (Merrill, Lynch) became interested in grocery stores and drove the development of the Safeway chain which originated in southern California. By the end of the 1920s, many west coast grocery store chains, including the MacMarr and Piggly Wiggly chains, had been consolidated into the Safeway system. In some cases, and 15th Avenue was no exception, Safeway and Piggly Wiggly stores existed for a brief time within a block of each other although they were owned and operated by Safeway. In 1932, Piggly Wiggly and Safeway stores in Seattle were consolidated under the direction of John L. Heathcote, District Manager. By 1935 George M. Mangan was the District Manager and in 1938 the former Piggly Wiggly at 401 15th Ave. E. became a Safeway.

Grocery store chains were big business in the 1920s and 1930s. While the Depression encouraged consolidation and delivery of less expensive food, in general the grocery business thrived. Financiers were willing, as Charles Merrill was, to invest heavily in new stores, new warehouses, and expansion of grocery chains. Wheeling and dealing, merging and consolidating retail and warehousing, were continuous.

City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Historical Site Record Summary for 401-405 15th AVE / Parcel ID 3303700190 / Inv # CH009

Historic Name: Piggly Wiggly Market Common Name: none Style: Commercial Neighborhood: Capitol Hill Built By:   Year Built: 1927 Significance In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. This is an unusually ornate and intact small commercial building in the Fifteenth Avenue East business district. Residential development of this part of Northeast Capitol Hill flourished in the early years of the 20th Century, when the developer James Moore platted and sold lots around 15th Avenue North (now East). A streetcar line was built on 15th, and by 1910 several groceries and drugstores were located in his area. This is one of the second generation of buildings, constructed in 1927. It originally housed a Piggly-Wiggly Market. The extensive terra cotta ornamentation and decorative brickwork distinguish it from surrounding buildings, no doubt a method of attracting shoppers away from the numerous nearby stores. Since grocery stores consolidated into large facilities, this building has housed a variety of restaurants and small retail and service businesses. Appearance This small one-story building is clad in brown and tan brick, laid in a decorative X pattern on the south wall. The main entry is denoted by an arch in the terra cotta belt course above the transoms. The center storefront and the corners are delineated by ornate terra cotta pilasters with large finials. The pilaster design is repeated in the medallions descending from the terra cotta cornice. The storefronts have their original recessed entries, large display windows with transoms, black tile bulkheads and a suspended canopy.

Detail for 401-405 15th AVE / Parcel ID 3303700190 / Inv # CH009

Status: Yes - Inventory Classication: Building District Status: Cladding(s): Brick Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured Roof Type(s): Flat Roof Material(s): Unknown Building Type: Commercial/Trade - Specialty store Plan: Rectangular Structural System: Masonry - Unreinforced No. of Stories: one Unit Theme(s): Commerce Integrity Changes to Plan: Intact Changes to Windows: Intact Changes to Original Cladding: Intact Major Bibliographic References Williams, Jacqueline B. The Hill with a Future: Seattle's Capitol Hill 1900-1946. Seattle: CPK Ink, 2001. King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972), Washington State Archives. Polk's Seattle Directories, 1890-1996.

By 1941, 401 15th Avenue E was vacant. In 1942, briefly, it became the Capitol Hill Evangelistic Church, Rev. Thorfin Brocke, Pastor. A year later, it became a grocery again, a service grocery run by John D. Shea. About 1953, Capitol Hill Furniture and Appliance Company took over the premises and remained there until about 1976. For a brief time in the late 1970s, the Capitol Hill TV store was there and then Tilden moved in from across the street. The store was divided in half and a restaurant has been in the space now at 405 15th Ave. E since Speedy’s, sometime in the 1970s or so.

While a history of Piggly Wiggly stores in the Northwest remains to be written, it is likely that the Piggly Wiggly at 401 15th Avenue E. was the last to be built in Seattle.

On the other side of the rope at Thursday's 500 Pine party

We sent the Neighborlogs intern out to try to get some shots of the 500 Pine party. Only one problem. He didn't have an invite. He got to experience the party like plenty of other people did tonight -- outside with the signs and legal notices about film and photography. Meanwhile, Seadevi was on assignment for CHS with a +1 and full admittance. We haven't heard from her yet. Good times, we assume.

The Stranger's Lineout blog featured this set of pictures of the 'movie set'-style recreation of the old 500 Pine watering holes that were part of tonight's party scene. This picture of a cool projection of the block somehow escaped Jansport's clutches and made it onto Twitter:

Photo: xaotica

According to the DJC, the Ballard-based developer Pryde + Johnson has filed plans to redevelop the old Precision Auto Building at the corner of 11th and Pine st. The proposal calls for a 6-story building with 84 apartments, artist lofts, and ground-floor retail. The facade of the original building will remain intact (think Packard Building).

P+J prides itself on thoughtful urban renewal. According to their website their projects implement, "building practices that protect and care for the environment, support a healthy lifestyle, bring out the beauty in nature, strengthen community ties and provide for the needs of generations to come." They recently received media attention for The Ashwood Cottages up in Green Lake, the first LEED platinum project in Washington State. The cottages, finished in 2007, have since gone into foreclosure due to the Great Recession. They also recently finished Hjarta in Ballard, a LEED silver condominium project with resident P-Patches on the roof. P+J will be working with GGLO to design the new building although it is unclear what LEED level, if any, they will be designing towards. Pryde + Johnson declined to comment at this time.

According to King County Records, the original building was constructed in 1926 as an Auto Paint Shop and Garage. The building is a quintessential illustration of Pike/Pine Auto Row history but it is unique in having a very early style of skylights on its roof. Interestingly the building is not included in the city's historical survey.

In the 1990s, the building was home to a second hand sporting goods store which took advantage of its proximity to of the original REI location across the street where Value Village is today. When REI moved off the Hill, so did the sporting good store and the building at 11th and Pine has been empty since.

Keith Harris of the People's Parking Lot group had been looking into the status of the property as a possible location for community use. He pointed out the building's interesting skylights that are visible on online map services.

Aerial view of the property from Bing

It's unanimous. The process to designate two Capitol Hill buildings with rich histories as official historical landmarks moved forward today when Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen -- the lone councilmember to attend this morning's session of the Council's parks committee -- approved additions to the city's municipal code that will impose restrictions on the properties to preserve their historic characters.

The designations now move on to the full Council for the final step in a mutliple-year process to achieve landmark status.

Here are details of the newest official landmarks on Capitol Hill:

• Cooper House, 225 14th Ave. E
  The 1904 building was slated to be torn down when a Capitol Hill resident named Paul Slane got involved and helped begin the historical landmark process slated to conclude with next week's Council vote. Slane died in 2006 after successfully lobbying for the Cooper House to be designated by the city's Landmark Preservation Board, the first major step for a property to become an official Seattle historical landmark. The building was sold in 2005 for $804,000 and the new owner attempted to transition the house to condos in 2008 but the economic slowdown nixed that effort. It's now home to office space. Businesses listed at the address include Global Garden Preschool. The landmark nomination document attached this post provides a lot of interesting details about the building's history and development at the turn of the 20th century on Capitol Hill.
  

  Photo: Capitol Hill Housing

• Pantages House, 803 E Denny Way
  The historic home is now integrated into a low-income apartment complex and serves as 4-unit living space and commons for the development. The $10.9 million Capitol Hill Housing project was completed in 2005, a year after the Pantages House was added to the Landmark Board's roster. The nomination document for Pantages House was not available on the city's Department of Neighborhood's landmarks site but this brief on the building provides some of the colorful history for the location.

Both properties will subject to restrictions on external changes to the structures when the Council finalizes the landmark vote. Ann Corbitt, a legislative aide in Councilmember Rasmussen's office, said beyond the restrictions, the Council's vote finalizing landmark status for the buildings is a good thing for the neighborhood. "For the community, it's a nice symbolic thing and brings the value of the building to everybody's attention."

She also added that the Department of Planning & Development and the Department of Neighborhoods will be discussing the creation of new incentives for landowners to make landmark status more desireable. "In coming months, they will bring a new set of incentives that will go along with the designation" Corbitt said. "Some property owners are not that happy when their property gets involved in the process."

With the discussion continuing about possible alignments for the First Hill/Cap Hill streetcar route, Central District News did some interesting research to illustrate Seattle's streetcar network of the past.

View Historic Streetcar Routes in a larger map

Using a 1912 map of the city, CDN documented the streetcar routes and facilities found in the city at the turn of the 20th century. Consider it a template of what was once possible and could be again. Josh will, of course, use it to further his argument for a 12th Ave route. If you agree -- or disagree -- with him, now is the time to shoot of an e-mail or three to the mayor and the city council. Send them a link to this so they know what they're aiming for.

Three years ago, early on a Saturday morning, 28-year-old Kyle Huff walked into an East Republican Street home and methodically murdered six people: Jeremy Robert Martin, 26; Melissa Moore, 14; Justin Schwartz, 22; Suzanne Thorne, 15; Jason Travers, 32; and Christopher Williamson, 21.

The 911 log from the morning:

We have also included the report produced for the Seattle Police Department by a panel of experts convened to investigate the incident. The takeaways are tragic and, simultaneously, unsurprising. An unstable and angry person far removed from his support system falls and takes innocent victims with him. Unemployment. Depression. Sex. Guns. Here is the report's summary:

In the early morning of March 25, 2006, 28-year-old Kyle Huff shot eight young men and women, six of them fatally, at a rave after-party on East Republican Street in the Capitol Hill section of Seattle. The gunman, a transplant from Montana, then committed suicide just as the police arrived on the scene.

Because of the perpetrator'...

Seattle Municipal Archives visited the CHS flickr pool and shared the cool shot below of 1111 E. Pike in 1944. History repeats. Back in '44, the sidewalk in front of Harry's Tavern was ripped up. The sidewalk and lots more have been ripped up at the same address as the soon-to-be completed Elleven Elleven East Pike condo project takes shape (hat tip to flickr user ascheele100 for the link).

Along with this cool old shot of Harry's, we've included a Google StreetView map for a look at the recent construction phase for the location and, while we wait for the Google Map to transform someday to a shot of the new condos, an artist's rendition of the project's design.

View Larger Map

The first thing to note about Horizon Books is that it will not be dying this Sunday. Only its shop on 15th Ave E will. But Horizon replicated itself months ago, the new lifeform sharing space in the basement below the new home of Atlas Clothes on 10th Ave.

But back to 15th Ave. The huge yellow banner and handmade sign do not lie. Sunday, the Ides of March, will be Horizon on 15th's final hour. Everything until then is 75% off. Or more. Owner Don says he can only take so many boxes of books to the replicated Horizon location. And he cannot take the Horizon kitty cat. Good news for the cat, too. Don says he is in the process of screening several worthy applicants to adopt the bookstore feline.

As for the old store, it was once a house, local historian and CHS contributor Dotty DeCoster told us in e-mail:

The building that houses Horizon Books was a family home until Horizon moved in. I remember this. Actually, Horizon didn't do much to it. The little storefront (Casita) has been there awhile -- it's a converted garage. This is true of a number of the buildings on that block -- you can see it in the noodle place across the street that was a home, then the Seattle Sun office upstairs and Revolution Books downstairs, the bookstore took the whole house, and it has been a restaurant ever since.

Hat tip to Diana at vermillionseattle.com for telling us she spent $50 and reminding us about Horizon's kitty

IMGP0279
Originally uploaded by jseattle.

CHS has been covering the Hill since 2006. While in the beginning our focus was extremely limited and the site was entirely a hobby, there are still some interesting markers to note from the Hill's march through time. Still, these "looking back" pieces are not the complete history of the Hill -- just as I don't expect next year's reviews that include 2009 coverage to be complete, either. We are part of a large network of people telling the stories of Capitol Hill. The difference now is our mission has grown to tell as many of the stories from the Hill as possible. With that, here's a look back at Marches past on CHS.

March 2008

• The Saint paint appears
• Manray and friends disappears
• The light rail station plans gets cooler
• There is a pillow fight
• A theater is robbed
• It snows

March 2007

• Bad news at the Country Doctor
• The BottleNeck Lounge opens
• We learn about Smith
• We lose a market

March 2006

• Liberty opens
• Kyle Huff kills

by Dotty DeCoster
Special to CHS Capitol Hill Seattle

I wonder if the folks who began the church that is now Prospect Congregational United Church of Christ knew that the property they bought for the Prospect Chapel was part of the site of the proposed state capitol. The Chapel originally faced E. Prospect Street on a lot that is now on the south east corner of E. Prospect and 20th Avenue E. The current church building, built in 1924, faces 20th Avenue E., although the address remains 1919 E. Prospect.

The site of the proposed capitol was a single large block, bounded to the north by E. Prospect Street, to the south by E. Helen Street, to the east by 21st Avenue E. and to the west by 19th Avenue E. Twentieth Avenue did not exist. It seems an odd choice, but it is documented by a map reproduced in Jacqueline B. Williams’ The Hill with a Future, and the block is also shown on the 1905 Sanborn Insurance map of Seattle. The maps show E. Helen Street going through to 19th Avenue between Prospect and Aloha Streets and a jog in E. Prospect that is not there today. House lots are mapped for the entire first Capitol Hill Addition along east-west streets with alleys going that direction as well. That didn’t happen. When houses were actually built, they were oriented along the north-south streets, just as the other blocks were surrounding the Capitol Hill Addition.

Proposed Capitol site

It is hard to know if James A. Moore, the intrepid developer who bought the property that was to become what he named “Capitol Hill”, seriously thought he could entice the State Capitol to Seattle. According to Williams, “Moore persuaded state Representative William H. Lewis, from King County, to introduce a bill in Olympia ‘providing for the appointment of a committee to consider the offer of a site and capitol building in Seattle’ .” A newspaper article of March 4, 1901, also quoted in Ms. Williams’ book, notes that Mr. Moore was offering to donate not only the site in the Capitol Hill addition but also a $250,000 building.

This may not have been an entirely far-fetched idea at the time, since the building of the Capitol in Olympia ran into snags and the actual building didn’t open until 1905. On the other hand, even suggesting the possibility of having the Capitol on Seattle’s “Capitol Hill” might have been a kind of promotion Moore wanted for the new development.

Curious, though, that the site wasn’t actually a high point. The high ridge is roughly along 18th Avenue E. One goes down, eastward, to 19th Avenue and then it is rather flat until one reaches the church corner at 20th Avenue, and up again, but not so high, between 20th and 21st Avenues. Both St. Joseph Church and Holy Names Academy, just south of E. Aloha Street, take advantage of the heights at 18th and 21st respectively, and the tower at St. Joseph and the dome at Holy Names are landmarks to all of us in the area. Since the sites for both these landmark buildings were also in the first Capitol hill addition, it seems odd to me that the proposed capitol would have been on a lower site with a less commanding view.

A name, not a Capitol
The capitol in Capitol Hill never happened, but the name certainly stuck. Sometimes it is hard to remember how to spell Capitol Hill, and an easy way is to think of the State Capitol that never came to Seattle after all. If you happen to live in the northern half of the 900 blocks on the east side of 19th Avenue E., 20th Avenue E. , or the west side of 21st Avenue E., you are living on the site of the proposed capitol in Capitol Hill.
View Larger Map

Referring to a map today, the configuration of the streets and blocks allowing for the proposed Capitol site is long since gone, but looking at a 1905 Sandborn Fire Insurance map shows how the street grid was manipulated to include the site. (E. Helen Street went through, E. Prospect Street was disconnected and offset, and 20th Avenue did not go through. Proposed orientations for houses were shifted as well.) So if you happen to live in the area south of E. Highland Drive and north of E. Prospect between 19th and 21st Avenues E., you are pretty much on the proposed site of the Capitol on Capitol Hill.

If you do happen to live in the area bounded by E. Roy and E. Garfield between 11th and 23rd Avenues E. you are in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of 1907. In that year the great dome of Holy Names Academy at 728 Twenty-first Avenue East was built. And just south and west of the proposed Capitol site at 732 18th Avenue East, the spire of the first St. Joseph’s Church rose to the sky. (It wasn’t until the 1930s that the current St. Joseph’s Church, with it’s 200-foot Art Deco bell tower, was built.)

First of all, could there be a more ironic name for this beautiful structure? Today I went on a little adventure (physically and electronically) to find out more about this wonderful piece of Capitol Hill history.

The mastermind behind the building was Arthur L. Loveless (1873-1971). Raised in New York, Loveless studied architecture at Columbia University before dropping out and moving to Seattle in 1907. He worked with a number of important architects and soon gained fame for his distinct Tudor Revivalist style. Through the 1920's Loveless worked on many prominent residences throughout the Puget Sound region. He also designed more Greek Row houses at the UW than any other architect, including Zeta Psi Fraternity, Beta Theta Pi Fraternity, and Delta Gamma Sorority. [1]

But of course, his most famous work, constructed in 1930, was the Loveless building. The buildings was originally known as the Studio Building, as it was a place for Seattle artists to live and work. Notable artists who rented the building include the photographers Ella E. McBride and Myra Albert Wiggins, as well as Arthur Loveless himself.[2] In subsequent years the artist's studios were turned into apartments, and you can currently get a hold of a 1-bedroom (with working fireplace) for about $1500 a month[3]. Another of the buildings original tenants was the Russian Samovar, which commissioned the brilliant muralist Vladimir Shkurkin (who had previously painted the inside of the Seattle Civic Auditorium) to decorate the walls.  Shkurkin's murals depict a story of a swan-turned-princess, by Alexander Pushkin, and can still be viewed at Philippe Thomelin's Olivar.  In 1961 the Loveless building received recognition from the American Institute of Architects as an outstanding structure.

View of the Courtyard

More pictures of the Studio (Loveless) Building and other Loveless designed buildings here.

 ...

According to the Capitol Hill Times, baby Barack Obama lived briefly here on Capitol Hill, Seattle on 13th Ave E.

But according to the Seattle Weekly, tipper Andrew Taylor points out, baby Barack was left behind in Hawaii:

Meanwhile, Obama's mother, whose parents Madelyn and Stanley Dunham had moved here from Kansas a decade earlier, left Mercer Island in 1960. But she returned to live in Seattle around 1962, after Barack was born in August 1961, leaving her husband, Kenya-born Barack Sr., and his newborn namesake in Hawaii. She lived on Capitol Hill and enrolled at the University of Washington.

Oddly, when this article was written back in October, SW didn't find it notable that a mother would leave her infant son for 6 months. Seems remarkable. Can it be true?

So since I'm a history major (and also quite nerdy) I was going through the historic properties of Capitol Hill on the Historic Preservation site, and thought I would make a little google map out of them. All the ones in red means that there is a link to more info about them. If anyone's got info on ones that I don't please enlighten us :)

View Larger Map

So although there are a lot, I was actually surprised by what wasn't on the list. What about the Egyptian Theater, the Oddfellows Building, or the Broadway Performance Hall to name like one block? These are all on the city's list of Historic Properties, which you can check out here, but officially, they are not safe from development yet.

We were born on January 12, 2006. We were small and anonymous. We're much different now. Thanks for being part of it.

Don't know what it will be like to be 3. The news and info landscape of Seattle is undergoing some major plate tectonics. While CHS eats cake, we all watch an older generation die away. Happy birthday, I guess.

Wrote recently about a Capitol Hill mystery. History records that Barack Obama spent a short portion of his infancy on Seattle's Capitol Hill. The mystery -- where on the hill did baby Barack and his mother Ann Dunham make their home? Get ready to install a historical plaque at 516 13th Ave E. Capitol Hill Times says a document in the Seattle Public Library places a "Mrs. Anna Obama" at that address in 1961.

Recently located was a listing for Stanley Ann Obama in the 1961 Polk directory at the Seattle Public Library: "Obama Anna Mrs studt h516 13th Ave. E. apt. 2"

 

The apartment house was in the 500 block of 13th Avenue East between East Republican and Mercer streets, but it no longer exists.

Here's what you'll see in the are today. Add another dot to your Capitol Hill Obama tour map.

View Larger Map

She runs Broadway's Museum of Mystery so she deals with strange reports all the time but Charlette LeFevre says she is tracking down information and pictures from the time when baby Barack made his home right here on Capitol Hill Seattle.

The possible discovery stems from this exchange on the Hill's community council web site:

Ann Dunham's apartment
Leif 13 Dec 2008, 12:54 -0-800
Hi, does anyone happen to know where the apartment is/was where B. Obama's mother lived on Capitol Hill? I'm really interested in Seattle history and have been striking out on the exact address. Apparently, before the C. Hill apt. she lived at a "Laurelhurst dormitory" near UW, but I don't know exactly where that is either, or if it still exists.

Re: Ann Dunham's apartment
Charlette 1 Jan 2009, 22:09 -0-800
Hi Leif, Interesting inquiry. If Stanley Ann Dunham was living on Capitol Hill that means our next President Barack Obama also lived on Capitol Hill as an infant. (Interesting he is going from Capitol Hill to Capitol Hill). If...

After you've weighed in on Capitol Hill 2008, leave a note about your plans for 2009.

Are you sick of 2008 yet? Here, let me help you.

2008's Most Viewed CHS Posts
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2008's Most Pondered CHS Posts
Posts with highest...

Now that we're done documenting the year that was on CHS, it's time to pick the Hill's story of the year.
The nominees:

• Shannon Harps murder (January)
  It scared, angered and left us with a lot of questions. Some were moved to get 'more involved.' Most just went back to living once James A. Williams was locked away.
• Light rail station process and jet art controversy (April)
  It scared, angered and left us with a lot of questions. Wait, same thing here -- but different as the process continues and, ultimately, is about building a great addition to life on the Hill.
• Critical Mass incident on Aloha (July)
  This moment in Hill history sparked by a run-in between a car and a pack of Seattle cyclists out to make a point gave everybody something to buzz about. Combustible engine vs. pedal power. Yuppies vs. hipsters. Reservation holders vs. the reservation-less.
• Snow and ice shuts down Hill (December)
  Of all the nicknames, I prefer Snowpocalypto for the vision of 'end times' the impact the storm and ice brought to Capitol...

We continue our backward march through 2008 with our June to April segment. It was an important period for CHS as the site moved to the Neighborlogs platform in May and expanded coverage with multiple contributors from across the Hill. It was at this time that my role in the site changed quite a bit too -- for one, I wasn't the only person writing any more. It also marked the point where I started working on the site full time and treating CHS like a business.

Part 1: CHS 08 December to October
Part 2: CHS 08 September to July

Part 3: CHS 08 June to April

JUNE 2008

• Abandoned Jack in the Box became an art gallery.
• There was still a Pride march on Broadway.
• Bus Stop found a new home.
• We uncovered some issues with Brix construction workers.
• Hill's drinking water turned orange.
• CHS redefined its neighborhood map and hosted the 1st annual Capitol Hill Community Garage Sale Day.
• We spotted the Google Street View team (finally) in Seattle and found Billg at Joe Bar.
• We introduced you to 33 other Capitol Hill web sites<...

Even though I have studded tires, I just stayed on foot most of our holiday snowstorm and walked between my house on 17th and my office on Olive Way.  One of the detours I took was on 14th Ave. E, between Prospect and Roy, down what's known as "Millionaire Row".  This promenade makes a grand entry into the North entrance of Volunteer Park and few streets in Seattle better reflect a period of time in our history than this street. Although this is not quite Seattle's (or even Capitol Hill's) most opulent or architecturally distinguished neighborhood, it remains a largely intact grouping of grand early 20th century residences.