When it was constructed in 1909, the Club Stables was home for the horses of the Frederick & Nelson department store's crack fleet of teams and wagons. Long since converted from caring for horses to warehousing, the big brick structure at 415 Boren Ave. N. survives.

	PAUL DORPAT

When it was built, the Club Stables was one of the very few brick buildings north of Denny Way. The Seattle Times reported in a large headline over a picture, "Club Stables Now In Finest Quarters in West." The Sept. 26, 1909, article describes it as standing "in the very heart of the city . . . These up-to-date stables contain ample accommodations for 250 horses, with every safeguard and comfort in the way of ventilation, cleanliness etc. that modern sanitary science can provide . . . An elaborate sprinkler system of the most approved and efficient type . . . is practically an absolute guarantee against serious damage by fire. The management solicits an inspection at any time."

I answered the solicitation 93 years later and found the sturdy brick shell tightly closed except for the many broken windows at the rear. A faded sign on the front of the building reads "C.B. Van Vorst Co." The name has been associated with the structure since at least the late 1930s. Actually, the building's role as a livery stable cannot have lasted very long after it was built. By 1909 trucks were beginning to take the place of wagons, especially on the increasingly paved city streets. For a time, teams were left to the tougher deliveries over rutted dirt streets and outlying roads.

Vol. 1 and a new edition of Vol. 3 of Paul Dorpat's books, "Seattle Now & Then," are $19.95 each from Tartu Publications, P.O. Box 85208, Seattle, WA 98145.