 |
  | June 3, 2007 |
Now & Then By Paul Dorpat
A Rare Rear View
This delightful view of the Pike Place Market is a rare early record of its back side. Vintage motorcar expert Fred Krueger of Granite Falls dates this scene along Western Avenue at about 1916. All the headlights here appear to be electric, so that puts it after 1914. But none of the cars is closed, so that dates the photo before 1920. The photograph was taken from an upper floor of the old Miner Hotel, which was one lot north of the northwest corner of Pike Street and Western Avenue, where today stands the shorter brick Fix/Madore building. By 1912 the hotel had been converted into a furniture warehouse. One block north is another big wooden box with a tower. The Seamen's Home, left of center, was built in 1910, became a waterfront hotel run by the YMCA and survived into the early 1970s when it was razed for construction of Market parking. Over the top of the Seamen's we can detect the roofline of the old Armory at Virginia Street and Western Avenue. Dedicated in 1909 and razed in 1968, it was a fort for drills but also for balls, car shows and dance marathons. Mostly hidden behind the modern sky bridge over Western is the back of the Market's North Arcade, which runs nearly to Virginia Street. The north "Virginia Street Portal" to the railroad tunnel can also be seen in part on the far left of the "then" photo. The small homes below the historical photographer are the last remnant of the modest dwellings and squatter's shacks that through the 1890s crowded this western slope of Denny Hill. Readers interested in the Market may wish to attend a lecture by author Roger Sale. A University of Washington professor emeritus, Sale will appear in the Friends of the Market free lecture series at the downtown public library at 6 p.m. June 14. Paul Dorpat specializes in historical photography and has published several books on early Seattle.
|
|
PREV
Back to top