Originally built in 1891 as the Merchants National Bank, the building on the corner of 11th and Pacific Avenue became home to Pacific First Federal Savings & Loan in 1939. When the building was remodeled in 1949 many innovations were added to the venerable structure including Tacoma's first escalator. Both the Pacific First Federal building at 1102-04 Pacific and the Bernice Building next to it were torn down shortly after this photograph was taken in 1961; a new, larger Pacific First Federal Savings & Loan Association building was built on the site. The new savings and loan had its grand opening in September 1964. Today it is home to Washington Mutual Bank. (Photograph ordered by Pacific First Federal Savings & Loan Assn.)
Pacific First Federal Building (Tacoma); Bernice Building (Tacoma); Bender's (Tacoma);
On Sunday, April 16, 1961, a Richards Studio photographer journeyed to the third floor of the Washington Building to snap photos of the soon-to-be demolished Bernice Building and Pacific First Federal Savings. Bender's Ready to Wear fashions for men and women appears to already have vacated the premises; windows are either boarded up or empty. A modern Pacific First Federal Savings & Loan would emerge in 1964. The new building, designed by Tacoma architects Lea, Pearson & Richards, would cost $1,500,000, and more than double the present size of the savings and loan. (TNT 1-12-61, p. 1)
Bernice Building (Tacoma); Pacific First Federal Building (Tacoma); Bender's (Tacoma);
Streets of downtown Tacoma appear quiet on a Sunday in April, 1961. A few people stand near Bender's Ready to Wear clothing store for women and men located in the Bernice Building in the 1100 block of Pacific Avenue. Both the Bernice and the adjoining Pacific First Federal Building would be but a memory shortly as they would be torn down to make way for a modern Pacific First Federal Savings location. Photograph taken from the third floor of the Washington Building on behalf of Pacific First Federal Savings & Loan.
Bernice Building (Tacoma); Pacific First Federal Building (Tacoma); Bender's (Tacoma);
Downtown Tacoma at night, vicinity of 10th & A Sts, on September 1, 1964. The Tacoma Building, headquarters of the Weyerhaeuser Co. and the Perkins Building are on the left along with Tacoma Office Supply. Modern Wide-Lite pole-mounted floodlights help to illuminate one of the primary business areas of downtown Tacoma. Connors Electric Co. demonstrated for area merchants the advantages of having buildings take on glowing white color and making streets and sidewalks "as bright as day." Photograph ordered by Wide-Lite Corp., Houston, Texas. (TNT 9-2-64, A-16) TPL-10578
Commercial streets--Tacoma--1960-1970; Tacoma Building (Tacoma); Perkins Building (Tacoma); Tacoma Office Supply (Tacoma); Lampposts--Tacoma; Lighting--Tacoma;
Exterior of Puget Sound Bank Building showing offices of Hansen and Rowland, Inc., Insurance. A wrap around arrow is used to advertise the location. Pacific Avenue, both north and south of the bank building, is shown as well as automobiles on the street. TPL-8688
Commercial facilities--Tacoma--1940-1950; Business districts--Tacoma--1940-1950; Puget Sound National Bank (Tacoma); Banks--Tacoma;
Exterior of Westinghouse Building. View from west side of two story building shows low relief terra cotta frieze near cornice of brick building. A neon sign hangs below the wooden sign board. TPL-6387
Commercial facilities--Tacoma; Westinghouse Electric Supply Co. (Tacoma); Signs (Notices);
Sears Window, Mr. Moor. Toys fill the window display including a fantasy model train, PT boat, tank, toy soldier and sailor, dolls, stuffed animals, Dumbo, and a clown. A poster of animals playing table tennis and others line the back of the display.
ca. 1943. Sears window, Mr. Moor. Servistan Inlaid Linoleum is advertised at "$9.88 Covers average kitchen". Rolls of samples stand in the window. A sign indicates the store is open until 9 p.m. Monday nights to accomodate shoppers working in the war industry.
Friden-Raymond Building. Charles T. Uhlman Block (Market Block) at South 9th and A Street, home of the Butler Hotel. This three story brick building has ornamental brickwork at the cornice, arched windows with Gibbs surrounds. The first story houses a barber shop, the Seattle Times, the Army Aid station, Friden Calculator Agency and Allen-Wales Adding Machine Agency. The upper stories have leaded-glass windows. Building by Pickles and Sutton, Architects, 1899. The building was razed in 1951.
Charles T. Ulhman Building (Tacoma); Hotels--Tacoma--1940-1950; Butler Hotel (Tacoma);
Exterior of Rhodes Store, Olympic Ice. A five-story brick department store. Window displays of women's clothing are shown. Signs advertise War Bonds being sold at Rhodes. Miller's Furs and the Olympic Ice Cream stores are seen up the street on 11th. Pedestrian's images are blurred because they are walking and the camera's lens is open for a long time to get a good image of the building. Corner of 11th and Market.
Commercial buildings--Tacoma--1940-1950;Department stores--Tacoma--1940-1950; Rhodes Brothers Department Store (Tacoma); Miller's Furs (Tacoma); Olympic Ice Cream Co. (Tacoma);
Exterior of Rhodes Store, Olympic Ice Cream. A five-story brick department store. Window displays of women's clothing are shown. Miller's Furs and Olympic Ice Cream stores are up one block. Corner of 11th and Market.
Commercial buildings--Tacoma--1940-1950; Rhodes Brothers Department Store (Tacoma); Department stores--Tacoma--1940-1950;
Grafton, A.E. & Co. Exterior of warehouse. 1938-30 Pacific Avenue, the Reese, Crandall & Redman Building. This brick, four-story commercial building has a highly decorated cornice. Signs painted on the front of the building read, top to bottom, YOUNGLOVE GROCERY CO., United PURITY Stores. A.E. Grafton & Co. was a real estate, mortgage, fire and auto insurance, and rental office. Signs in the windows of the building indicate it is "For Rent". TPL-6391
Refrigerator Supply - interior of retail store. A man and a woman are ready to assist customers from behind the counter. Supplies are stacked on open shelves.
General Electric Supply Corp, exterior of the building. This was a new wholesale district office for General Electric. Tacoma was considered a good central location for their regional distribution. Six salesmen covered southwestern Washington and the Olympic peninsula from this location.
Commercial facilities--Tacoma--1940-1950; General Electric Supply Corp. (Tacoma);
Exterior view. Irwin-Jones Motor Company held an open house for their new truck building on October 7th, 1948. The new facility contains 65,000 square feet with a new-truck showroom, showroom for used cars, large service and parts department, offices, a body shop and a paint shop. The building has six entrances and exits for quick truck service. A railroad spur and unloading dock at the rear of the building provides easy access to railroad cars and the delivery of new Dodge engines and trucks. Ordered by Irwin-Jones, Walt Dunlap. (T.Times, 10/7/1948, p.13) TPL-9227
Commercial facilities--Tacoma; Irwin-Jones Motor Co. (Tacoma); Automobile dealerships--Tacoma--1940-1950; Dodge trucks;
January of 1949 view of building construction on Market Street; Wild Cat Bargain Center and Neal's Radio Sales Company are located next to the construction site; the building site is marked with a Roy T. Earley Company "Engineers -- Builders" sign. Neal's Radio Sales Company advertises their electric appliances; Wild Cat Bargain Center appears to be a grocery store and soda fountain; an "Olympia Beer" and West Coast Grocery Company truck is parked in front. TPL-10534
Commercial facilities--Tacoma; Commercial streets--Tacoma--1940-1950; Building construction--Tacoma--1940-1950; Business enterprises--Tacoma; Neal's Radio Sales Co. (Tacoma); Wild Cat Bargain Center (Tacoma); Automobiles--Tacoma--1940-1950;
The Equitable Building, later known as the Commonwealth Building, was completed in 1948. It was a completely modern office building, twelve stories high, built in the International style, but was called "distinctly American". Aerial view of Portland's downtown business district; the Willamette River separates the downtown and Old Town area from the east side of the city; view of Mount Hood in background.
Commercial facilities--Oregon--Portland; Office buildings--Oregon--Portland; Architecture--Oregon--Portland; Architects; Belluschi, Pietro; Equitable Building (Portland, Or.); Commonwealth Building (Portland, Or.); Hood, Mount (Or.);
Pietro Belluschi amazed the world with his modern office building in Portland, Oregon. The Equitable Building, later known as the Commonwealth Building, was an ethereal tower of sea green glass and aluminum. This was the first skyscraper to be built in over twenty five years in Portland. Aerial view of Portland's downtown business district.
Commercial facilities--Oregon--Portland; Office buildings--Oregon--Portland; Architecture--Oregon--Portland; Architects; Belluschi, Pietro; Equitable Building (Portland, Or.); Commonwealth Building (Portland, Or.);
ca. 1937. View of Bone Dry Shoe Company location in Rust Building. "Forced to Vacate - Removal Sale" signs on transoms. Ordered for designer to illustrate proposed alterations for Lundquist-Lilly Company.
Office buildings--Tacoma--1930-1940; Rust Building (Tacoma); Bone Dry Shoe Store (Tacoma); Shoe stores--Tacoma--1930-1940;
Skyline from 11th Street Bridge, Condon Company, Judy. This view of Tacoma from the tideflats shows the roof line of the Wheeler Osgood Company. The 11th Street Bridge spans City Waterway leading into the heart of Tacoma's financial and business district. The Washington Building is just to the right of 11th Street on the other side of the bridge. The Rust Building is seen just beyond it. The tower of Central School shows over the top of the Washington Building and the next tall building on the right is the Medical Arts Building. This view also shows the various structures and commercial facilities along the waterfront of City Waterway with the railroad tracks behind them.
Business districts--Tacoma; Waterfronts; Office buildings--Tacoma--1940-1950; Cityscapes; Cities & towns--Tacoma; 11th Street Bridge (Tacoma);
Exterior of F. W. Woolworth, Co. building site. Razing of the old Fidelity building to make way for the new million dollar structure was completed at the beginning of 1950. Sidewalk barriers surround the construction site. The grand opening of the new Woolworth building was 11-1-1950. Photograph commissioned by W.H. Opie and Co., real estate sales.
Office buildings--Tacoma--1950-1960; Fidelity Building (Tacoma); F.W. Woolworth Co. (Tacoma); Skyscrapers--Tacoma; Building construction--Tacoma--1950-1960;
Exterior of General Paint Corporation at 102 So.10th, Tacoma. Rolls of wallpaper are displayed in the store windows, beckoning passerbys to redecorate with the latest styles. A large sign of a uniformed toy soldier at attention, the emblem of General Paint, outlined with neon adorns the building. Above the retail space is the second floor office of O'Connell-Ragan Advertising.
Interior of General Paint Corporation retail store at 102 So. 10th, Tacoma. Paint cans, brushes and supplies line the shelves. A Clarke floor sander available for rent rests in the foreground of the picture. Bold wallpaper samples hang on the walls and decorate panels. Wallpaper books rest on stands with chairs available for comfortable perusing. Home ownership was a realistic goal in the fifties, and remodeling and decorating was a favorite pastime.
Exterior of office building at So. 13th & Broadway. The Happy Days Tavern is at 1302 So. Broadway and Dr. Steele's Dental Clinic is at 302 So. 13th St. The upper floors are occupied by the Le Roy Hotel, apartment units., 304 So. 13th St. The building is built on an incline, so that each office has a ground floor entrance on the 13th St. side, although it is on the upper floors on the Broadway side. The Le Roy has a fire escape on the 13th St. side. Street lights can be seen on both 13th & Broadway & the back of a city bus is visible in the foregound.
Office buildings--Tacoma--1950-1960; Fire escapes--Tacoma--1950-1960; Dental offices--Tacoma; Street lights--Tacoma--1950-1960; Buses--Tacoma--1950-1960; Bars; Eating & drinking facilities;
A view down the 1000 block of Broadway looking north featuring the six-story New York Building at 1117-19 Broadway where Broadway Furniture had been located. J.C. Penney and Fisher's Department stores are seen on the left in this June of 1950 photograph.
A view of the interior of the mezzanine of the New York Building where Broadway Furniture had been located. A few pieces of furniture are still stored here and on the ground floor. A wide stairway joins the mezzanine to the ground floor. The tin ceiling tiles can be seen as well as water pipes and chains and lighting fixtures.
A view along the east side of the 900 block of Broadway looking south features Oakes Apparel at 921 Broadway, Weisfield's at 925 Broadway, and Lerner Shops at 931 Broadway. Two buildings further along the street are undergoing renovations with scaffolding along their facades. In the left foreground, a large clock stands on the sidewalk in front of Mahncke & Company Jewelers at 919 Broadway.
The F.W. Woolworth Co. building was constructed on the site formerly occupied by the Fidelity Building at 11th & Broadway in 1950. Woolworth's celebrated the grand opening of store #105 on November 2, 1950. It was the end of an era when the department store / variety store closed its doors for the last time in 1993. (TNT 11-2-50, B-6)
Commercial facilities; F.W. Woolworth Co. (Tacoma); Building construction--Tacoma--1950-1960;
This photograph of the Rust Building, at the corner of South 11th and Pacific, was taken in October of 1950, thirty years after it was built. Lundquist-Lily men's clothiers, Thom McAn shoes, Regal Shoe Company and C.P. Fawcett jewelers were located in the storefronts along Pacific Avenue. The neon sign advertising the name of the building can be seen on top of the 12- story building. The new F.W. Woolworth building can be seen behind the Rust Building on the far left side of the photograph. In 2003 it was renamed The Commerce Center. TPL-9495
Office buildings--Tacoma--1950-1960; Rust Building (Tacoma); Business districts--Tacoma;
The F.W. Woolworth Company celebrated the grand opening of their store # 105 (in Tacoma) on November 2, 1950. The four-story building at 955 Broadway had entrances on both the Broadway and Commerce Street levels. It replaced the Fidelity Building which had stood on the corner from 1890 until in was demolished in 1949. Woolworth closed their Tacoma store in 1993.
