This home at 802 North Yakima Ave. was described by its architect, Kirtland Cutter, as a "quaint cottage in the German style of architecture" and not a design commonly seen in the Pacific Northwest. It was built originally for David K. Stevens in 1891. By 1925, it was the residence of civic leader and prominent businessman, Henry G. Shaw who had purchased the home from another pioneer businessman, John H. Scott. The house had been nominated as one of the most beautiful in the city in 1920. The apartment house in the background at 801-07 North "I" St. would be renamed the Biltmore Apartments in 1926. G28.1-129; BU10, 175
The intersection of North Prospect at North 15th, looking east, was photographed for court evidence on February 8, 1926. The streets were paved and homes on both sides appear large and well maintained. House on the right corner is 1501 North Prospect; house on the left corner is 1502 North Prospect. Sidewalks and curbs were installed which was not a feature in all neighborhoods. Ornamental street lamps were spaced evenly along both sides of the street. The "90 ft" noted in the photograph's lower left corner is believed to be the distance to the intersection from the camera's viewpoint. G58.1-061 (photograph has been damaged)
Residential streets--Tacoma--1920-1930; Streets--Tacoma--1920-1930; Houses--Tacoma--1920-1930; Street lights--Tacoma--1920-1930;
One of downtown Tacoma's prime commercial streets was Broadway. This is Broadway looking north from 11th St. in March of 1926. On the right is the 12-story brick Fidelity Building (949-55 Broadway) with the Bank of California as one of the tenants. The Bank of California would build its own Italian Renaissance building of Wilkeson sandstone and granite at 1011-13 Pacific Avenue in 1928. On the photograph's left is a portion of the Fisher Co. department store (1104 Broadway) and the Rhodes Brothers Department Store at 950 Broadway. G59.1-021
Commercial streets--Tacoma--1920-1930; Streets--Tacoma--1920-1930; Business districts--Tacoma--1920-1930; Fidelity Building (Tacoma); Office buildings--Tacoma--1920-1930; Rhodes Brothers Department Store (Tacoma); Fisher's Department Store (Tacoma);
This damaged print is of the Puget Sound National Bank Building (1117-19 Pacific Avenue-formerly the National Realty Bldg.) taken from the 12th St. viewpoint on June 25, 1926. On its right at the corner is the National Bank of Tacoma. Looking northbound, buildings right to left are: the barely visible one-story structure at 1115 Pacific Avenue which had been built as an annex/addition to the National Realty Bldg., then the Bankers Trust building at 1109-13 Pacific, Peoples department store (1101-07 Pacific) with the 17-story Washington Building skyscraper at the far left (1019 Pacific). Flags and bunting decorate both Peoples and the Puget Sound National Bank Bldg. G61.1-043
Commercial streets--Tacoma--1920-1930; Business districts--Tacoma--1920-1930; Puget Sound National Bank (Tacoma); National Bank of Tacoma (Tacoma); Banks--Tacoma; Peoples (Tacoma); Washington Building (Tacoma); Office buildings--Tacoma--1920-1930;
Photographer Marvin Boland took a series of pictures of Tacoma's downtown business district on August 22, 1924 where he focused on the numerous business establishments, large and small, packed into a few city streets. This view is of Pacific Avenue near South 11th Street. L-R are the 12-story Rust Building (950 Pacific) with one of their tenants, Lundquist-Lilly (men's clothing store); Scobey's Cigars at 946 Pacific with the Naubert & Manning Billiard parlor upstairs; Davis Men's Shop, M&M Hat, Friedman's (Jewelers) all at 942-44 Pacific with Peterson & Cooksie Billiards above; and the Regal Shoe Co. at 938-40 Pacific. TPL-225; G61.1-016
Horse-drawn mail carts and 19th Century houses, seen in the background, were still prevalent in Tacoma's Central Business District when a postal employee posed with his rig in front of the 12th Street entrance to the Federal Building in June of 1921. The Federal Building housed the Main branch of the U.S. Post Office. The horse-drawn carts transported mail prior to the advent of motorized vehicles. TPL-164; G42.1-114
Commercial streets--Tacoma--1920-1930; Federal Building (Tacoma); Mail wagons--Tacoma--1920-1930; Postal service--1920-1930; Postal service employees--Tacoma--1920-1930; Letter carriers--Tacoma--1920-1930;
Hampshire Arms Apartments. Work has been completed in September of 1921 on the new Hampshire Arms Apartments located at the corner of 4th & North Yakima Ave. D.P. Nason was listed as the structure's builder and Albert Miller, its contractor. The three-story brick veneer apartment house was completely all-electric. TPL-4578; G16.1-007
This is the home of Harry V. Smith as pictured in September of 1921. Mr. Smith and wife Mabel resided at 1909 North Oakes St. The 1922 City Directory lists Mr. Smith as being in the real estate business with an office in the Provident Building downtown. About 1918, Mr. Smith purchased a tract of land on North Oakes which ran through to North Fife St. One end of the property was a point extending into a gulch where he built his home with detached garage. The ground sloped abruptly on three sides to the bottom of the gulch. Several years later Mr. Smith would perform extensive landscaping to the property which turned the slope into 2000 feet of pathways. By 1929, a rustic bridge and miniature 9-hole golf course had been added. (TDL 8-25-29, D8-article)
Smith, Harry V.--Homes & haunts; Houses--Tacoma--1920-1930;
This is South "J" Street near 8th St. looking north as viewed on a wet February day in 1922. Trees in the foreground are bare and the roadway is void of traffic. Decorative street lamps are spaced evenly down the block. G60.1-061
Residential streets--Tacoma--1920-1930; Street lights--Tacoma;
Tacoma Street Scene. This is Tacoma Avenue North at 2nd looking north. This photograph was taken in February of 1919 and shows bare trees and wide empty streets. There are only two cars in view and both appear to be parked. Houses in view are large and there is a four-story apartment building on the right. G62.1-070; TPL-858 (print is speckled)
An unidentified party of four from Bremerton posed in front of a parked automobile on the east side of Pacific Avenue near South 8th St. in May of 1919. The well-dressed couples were perhaps out on a Sunday drive. In the background looking north are the Eau-Claire Apartments, Auto Parts Supply Co., D.C. Modrall & Co., Jim's Place (restaurant) and a tailoring establishment. TPL-1640; G61.1-009
Commercial streets--Tacoma--1910-1920; Business districts--Tacoma--1910-1920; Couples--Tacoma--1910-1920; Automobiles--Tacoma--1910-1920;
This wide street was South Union Ave. (later to be known as South Tacoma Way), part of South Tacoma's business district, as viewed in late May of 1924. A few cars are rolling down the street apparently being monitored by a lone traffic policeman in the distance. Flags are flying in honor of Memorial Day. The flags and poles on both sides of the street had been purchased by individual merchants from a company that manufactured them to be of uniform size. The flags were to be dedicated by the South Tacoma merchants on Flag Day. Residents in South Tacoma had ready access to bakeries, drugstores, grocery stores, candy shops and even pool halls on this stretch of South Union, close to South 52nd St. G62.1-005; TPL-2539 (TNT 6-4-24, p. 13)
Commercial streets--Tacoma--1920-1930; Business districts--Tacoma--1920-1930; Flags--United States;
This view is of Broadway at 9th looking south in August of 1924. On the right foreground is a portion of the massive Tacoma Theater building (902-14 Broadway) with new tenant Frank C. Hart & Sons (jewelers) sign and the Electro Dental Parlors (former practice of dentist John Austin). The Colonial Theater (916-18 Broadway) is next, then showing for the second week the movie "The Covered Wagon." The Pythian Temple (924-26 Broadway) and Burnett Brothers jewelry store (932 Broadway) follow. At the end of the block is the Rhodes Brothers Department Store (950 Broadway). On the left side of Broadway several businesses are visible: the Hotel Illington and the McMillan Bros. Drugstore in the Jonathan Smith Bldg. (911-13 Broadway); Lou Johnson (ladies apparel) in the Collier-Hardenberg Bldg (915-17 Broadway); Pierce Hotel (912 1/2 Broadway); and further down the street, the Lewis Brothers clothing store (935-41 Broadway). G59.1-030
This is 11th St. at the bridge looking west as pictured on August 22, 1924. On the left is the Perkins Building at 1101 A Street, Tacoma's first fireproof building; on the right is the Tacoma Building, 1017-21 A Street, home to the Weyerhaeuser Timber Co. The unfinished Scandinavian-American Bank building (later known as the Washington Building) is in the distance also on the right. G57.1-133
Commercial streets--Tacoma--1920-1930; Business districts--Tacoma--1920-1930; Perkins Building (Tacoma); Tacoma Building (Tacoma); Washington Building (Tacoma);
Downtown Tacoma street scene. Not much traffic or people visible at South 11th & A Streets on this spring day in 1920. A streetcar has just made a turn onto A Street from South 11th as it moves past the L. Schoenfeld & Sons store at 105-11 So. 11th. This would be the Schoenfeld furniture store location until 1924 when they would move to the skyscraper at 1423 Pacific Ave. To the left of the photograph is the Federal Building, home of the federal courts (until 1992) and the Main branch of the Post Office. Also on the left is a portion of the towering Puget Sound National Bank building with spire. G57.1-121
Commercial streets--Tacoma--1920-1930; Business districts--Tacoma--1920-1930; Street railroads--Tacoma--1920-1930; L. Schoenfeld & Sons (Tacoma); Federal Building (Tacoma); Puget Sound National Bank (Tacoma);
This is what the South 17th & Broadway & Jefferson area looked like in April of 1920. The 11-year-old Carlton Hotel, with the address of 1552 Jefferson Ave., is in view in the center of the photograph. A juxtaposition of old and new modes of transportation is on the left - a horse-driven cart is next to a modern streetcar. Power lines create geometric designs above. TPL-1363 G59.1-039
Commercial streets--Tacoma--1920-1930; Carlton Hotel (Tacoma); Street railroads--Tacoma--1920-1930;
ca. 1920. In 1920, Pacific Avenue was taking on a new look. Buildings had been demolished and work had begun on William R. Rust's 12 floor Rust building at 950 Pacific Ave. (under construction in this photograph.) Left to right, the buildings are 948 Pacific Ave. - home to Burnside hats on the ground floor and the Dayton Agency upstairs. The Dayton Agency, according to their signage, carried supplies for bicycles and motorcycles and did repairs. Next comes 946 Pacific with Scobey Cigar Co. downstairs and Naubert & Manning English Billiards upstairs. The following building at 942-44 Pacific Ave. included Walk Over Shoes, M&M Hat Store and Phil Friedman Jeweler downstairs with the Peterson & Cooksie Billiard Parlor above. The Shriners must have been in town at the time of the photograph because most of the buildings are decorated with bunting, Shriner emblems and American flags. G61.1-032
Business districts--Tacoma--1920-1930; Rust Building (Tacoma); Burnside Hats (Tacoma); Scobey Cigar Co. (Tacoma); Naubert & Manning Billiards (Tacoma); Walk Over Shoes (Tacoma); M& M Hats (Tacoma); Peterson & Cooksie Billiard Parlor (Tacoma);
Jefferson Avenue near Pacific. A few vehicles, including a Tacoma Power & Rail street car, are captured in motion on Jefferson Avenue in early March of 1921. The stately Hotel Carlton is on the right. TPL-5538; G60.1-075
Commercial streets--Tacoma--1920-1930; Carlton Hotel (Tacoma); Hotels--Tacoma--1920-1930; Mass transit--Tacoma--1920-1930; Electric railroads--Tacoma--1920-1930;
A streetcar climbs Jefferson Avenue as it makes its daily rounds on March 3, 1921. The Wickersham Triangle Building at 1702 Jefferson Avenue is to the far left; it was demolished in 1936. To the right of the Wickersham is the Hotel Carlton, 1552 Jefferson, now known as the Carlton Center. It was built in 1909 by Anton Huth, based on a design by C.A. Darmer, Architect. In the far background is the skyline of the 1500 block of Pacific Ave., much of which has been demolished. This curving intersection is one of the few sections of road in downtown Tacoma that resembles the unique street plan for Tacoma created by Frederick Law Olmstead; the design was rejected as impractical. G60.1-078;
Commercial streets--Tacoma--1920-1930; Carlton Hotel (Tacoma); Hotels--Tacoma; Mass transit--Tacoma--1920-1930; Electric railroads--1920-1930;
This is the view that one would see in February of 1922 of St. Helens Avenue near 7th St. looking south. The YMCA is the tall building on the right at 7th & Market. Streetcar tracks ran down the middle of the road which was not paved with smooth asphalt but more of a brick-like substance. On the left (or east) side of the street was the building housing the News Tribune and Tacoma Daily Ledger newspapers. The papers were published independently and seemed to exist harmoniously. The Daily Ledger would go out of business 15 years later. G61.1-170 TPL-10213
Commercial streets--Tacoma--1920-1930; Business districts--Tacoma--1920-1930; Tacoma News Tribune Publishing Co. (Tacoma); Street railroad tracks--Tacoma--1920-1930; Young Men's Christian Association (Tacoma);
Tacoma street scene. This is the intersection of South 56th St. and South Tacoma Way (then known as South Union Ave.), one of the area's prime business districts, as seen in March of 1922. North Pacific Bank is at the left. Northern Pacific's South Tacoma Shops were a short distance away at 52nd & South Proctor. The South Tacoma community was a thriving area containing restaurants, garages, theaters, hotels, grocery stores, real estate and other professional enterprises. TPL-2538; G62.1-003
Commercial streets--Tacoma--1920-1930; Business districts--Tacoma--1920-1930; North Pacific Bank (Tacoma);
Both pedestrian and cars are blurred as this view of 17th & Pacific looking north was captured on May 8, 1922. This section of Pacific had at least two hotels visible with a third, the Japanese-owned Hotel Rector, on Broadway. The Savoy Hotel on the right was listed in the 1922 City Directory as being on 1535 1/2 Pacific Ave. and owned/operated by B. Bertleson. On the left side was the Hotel Lewis at 1522 Pacific Ave., owned by the Hotel Operating Co. of Seattle. There rooms advertised as "new and modern" could be had for as little as $1.00. The Hotel Rector, far left of the photograph, was listed at 1541 Broadway and owned by K. Nakatsukasa. Rooms were available for 50 cents and up. At the time, there were several other downtown hotels owned by Japanese, including the Madison Hotel, Central Hotel, Hotel Victoria, and the Hotel Dewey. TPL-5550
View of curving road in Gig Harbor, taken on October 31, 1927, for court evidence. This street has now been identified as Harborview by a reader with the nearest cross street as Novak. The small house below street level has been identified as once belonging to the Jerkovich family and is no longer there. The house on the extreme left with car parked outside was the Ancich home. The house on the extreme right belongs to the Allen/Dupelle families. The vacant property in the middle is now known as the Burton/Steele property and was once owned by another Ancich family. (Information provided by a reader)
Judge and Mrs. O.S. Galbreath gathered with their extended family on October 8, 1928, on the occasion of the couple's 60th wedding anniversary. They are posed on the front steps of the Galbreath family home at 4604 Yakima Avenue South. The five young people in the front row are probably part of the 18 grand or four great-grandchildren of Judge and Mrs. Galbreath. Judge and Mrs. Galbreath are Tennessee natives who have resided in Tacoma for sixteen years. He practiced law in both Nashville and later in Durango, Colorado. G1.1-074 (Tacoma Sunday Ledger, 10-14-28, 8-D-article & alternate photograph)
This house and surrounding structures near the Seattle highway was photographed on October 13, 1928, for court evidence. The yard next to the buildings is filled with tall grass. G28.1-061
Parked outside the John Gallucci residence of 516 North "M" St. on April 29, 1930, was a new Cord courtesy of Remmert Motor Co. Miss Florence Gallucci is behind the wheel; she was the first woman in Tacoma to drive a Cord front-drive. Miss Gallucci is the daughter of John Gallucci, local contractor. This is the second car purchased by Mr. Gallucci from Remmert Motors, distributors of Auburns and Cords. G11.1-036 (Tacoma Sunday Ledger, 5-4-30, E-5-alternate photograph)
The four-story brick and tile building in the foreground is the Roosevelt Apartments, as pictured in late July of 1930. Built in late 1929, the $125,000 structure was designed by architects Lundberg, Mahon & Ekvall and had a Philippine mahogany interior. Behind the Roosevelt is the Lauan Apartments, 818 So. 11th St., which was built in 1925 on behalf of John Buffelen and furnished with Tacoma-made products. The Lauan had its own grocery store on the bottom level and also had mahogany interiors. BU-10,440
One of Tacoma's busier intersections in 1931 was North 1st St. and Tacoma Avenue North. The San Clare Cafe (at left) featured everything from cigars to candy and Medosweet ice cream. Further down Tacoma Avenue North was the Supreme Cleaners & Dyers. Across the street was the Davis & Hollingsworth retail furniture concern at 20 Tacoma Avenue North. The First Presbyterian Church, a beautiful example of Romanesque architecture, rises high above the street at 20 Tacoma Avenue South. TPL-1605; G62.1-064
Commercial streets--Tacoma--1930-1940; Streets--Tacoma--1930-1940; San Clare Cafe (Tacoma); Supreme Cleaners & Dyers (Tacoma); Davis & Hollingsworth (Tacoma); First Presbyterian Church (Tacoma);
Tacoma Railway & Power Co. requested photographs be taken of the North 41st & Cheyenne Sts. area in late December of 1936. According to information noted on the print, the view is of "center No. 41st St. 81 ft. west from property line." North 41st appears to have been a gravel road in the north end of Tacoma with houses on both sides of the street. The church steeple up the street is believed to be part of the Bethany Presbyterian Church, 4420 N. 41st St. G57.1-043