Building Business

THROUGH THE 63 years (from 1891 to 1954) that 85th Street marked much of Seattle's northern border, its intersection with Greenwood Avenue developed from a bog enlivened with the sounds of croaking frogs to a corner bordered on all sides by shops and cafes.

This view looks north from 84th to the rear of car No. 540, one of many trolleys purchased in 1907 by the Seattle Electric Company to service the booming North End and prepare for the crowds expected at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in 1909. When the clanking on the Phinney line ceased in the spring of 1941 it was the next-to-last holdout in the citywide conversion from rails to rubber.

As a single-ender, No. 540 needed to be turned around at 85th, its terminus, to point south on Greenwood for its return downtown.

Another anomaly is the crossing track in the foreground of the historic scene. It was for the Seattle-Everett Interurban that used the Phinney line's double tracks from this point south of 84th Street. But for the block shown here between 84th and 85th, the Interurban always kept to the northbound track on the east side of Greenwood Avenue.

The shops apparent in this business strip — left to right — include a plumber, a dry-goods merchant, a shoe store, an electrician, a restaurant advertising "home cooking," the Greenwood Cleaners that will dry-clean suits for $1.25, and a pool hall. Ajax's Cut Rate Drug Store, where you can also purchase Seattle-brand ice cream, is across 85th and so are the Interurban ticket office and the Greenwood Park Real Estate office. Across Greenwood Avenue are both grocery and hardwood stores.

For a recounting of Greenwood's past, readers can check out Louis Fiset's fine thumbnail history on www.historylink.org.

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