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Now & Then By Paul Dorpat
Chowder Headquarters
WE MAY celebrate photographer Werner Langenhager's sizable record of Seattle with this "golden anniversary" example of his work. With his back to Second Avenue, Langenhager looks west on Washington Street to its intersection with Occidental Avenue where, most obviously, the big block letters for Ivar's fish bar hold the northwest corner. Ivar Haglund was sentimental about these pioneer haunts. During his college years in the 1920s he wrote a paper on Skid Road for his class in sociology. To get it right, Ivar spent a week living in a neighborhood hotel, visiting the missions and betting in the Chinese lotteries. For his first try at returning to the neighborhood as a restaurateur, Ivar bought the old popcorn wagon in Pioneer Place (then the more popular name than Pioneer Square) in the early 1950s. He planned to convert it into a chowder dispensary. He then proposed building a replica of Seattle's original log cabin — also, of course, for selling chowder. For different reasons, both plots plopped, so instead he opened this corner fish house in 1954. Consulting the Polk City Directory for 1956, we can build a statistical profile of Ivar's neighbors on Occidental between Yesler Way and Main, and Washington between First and Second. Fifteen taverns are listed — including the Lucky, the Loggers, the Oasis and the Silver Star. Ten cafes (including Ivar's) are listed, too, along with six hotels, four each of barbers and cobblers, three second-hand shops, two drug stores, one loan shop, one "Loggers Labor Agency" and five charities, including the Light House. The 1956 statistic that best hints at how this historic neighborhood was in peril of being razed for parking is the vacancies. There were 12. Paul Dorpat specializes in historical photography and has published several books on early Seattle.
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