A String On Spring

BARELY DETECTABLE, John E. Kelly Jr., the youngest of the then-nine Kelly kids, here sits on the lowest of the steps that lead up to 1019 Spring St., the center address for this triplex of Victorian row houses. It is a short row, and compared to some it displays only a modest face of ornaments, latticework, shingle styles and recessed balconies. Taking the Northern Pacific route in only its 10th year as a transcontinental, the Kellys moved here from Waterford, N.Y., in 1893 — just in time for the national depression of that year. Still, the Kellys continued to prosper and multiply as John Sr. opened a popular dry-goods store downtown. John Jr. soon rose from these steps to nurture a Seattle career as an architect.

The architect's son, John E. Kelly III, continued the family's talent for professional handiwork with a long career as a naval architect, and a valued activist for heritage with the Sea Scouts, the Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society and the Southwest Seattle Historical Society as well as Kelly-Gailey family history.

John "the third's" mother, Eileen, was the daughter of another First Hill household, the David and Elisabeth Gailey family. While Eileen was attending Broadway High School the Gaileys bought a hotel, the Knickerbocker, at Seventh Avenue and Madison Street, and moved in. The maturing Eileen's creative calendar included piano lessons with Nellie Cornish and courtship with John E. Kelly Jr.

It was during their dating that the couple shared a moment of amusement when they determined that four years after the Kelly family moved out of 1019 Spring St. in 1896, the Gaileys moved in — and kept it for 11 years before they left to care for their big hotel.

Paul Dorpat specializes in historical photography and has published several books on early Seattle.