COURTESY OF PHINNEY NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

Named for John Beard Allen, the first U.S. senator from Washington state, the eight-room wooden schoolhouse, and now community center, at the northeast corner of Phinney Avenue and 67th Street celebrates its centennial this year. Both views look north at the school's façade, although the contemporary photograph looks up an alley and between a screen of trees and apartments.

	PAUL DORPAT

In line with its varied service to the neighborhood, today the association opens the big wooden doors of the 1904 structure from 1 to 4 p.m. for the centennial reunion of all former Allen Elementary students. Of course, everyone is welcome, especially the neighbors who, while they may never have attended the school before it closed for good in 1981, may have since then used the community center to attend classes, its preschool co-op or community meetings, or merely to borrow a tool from the association's tool-lending library.

If it is dated correctly, this historical scene was photographed either during or soon after the construction of the new brick school (out of the frame to the right) in 1918. It is one of several school photographs that have been informally collected by the Phinney Neighborhood Association. Many of these scenes — including this one — will be on display during the old school's centennial. Those attending will find, for instance, photos of the 1953 installation of the civil-defense siren tower that is still a fixture — and for some a puzzling one — at the old school's corner.

The centennial is a good time to call out for more historical photographs of Allen Elementary and its several lives. If you have any to share for copy, please contact the association's Ann Bowden at 206-783-2244. Or bring them with you today for a "show and tell."