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;

Congested traffic 1948 style. A view of Broadway showing stalled traffic. The man driving the car in the left lane has his door open and is trying to park in the space in front of Burnetts Jewelry Store. A woman driving the car on the right is holding her baby while she waits her turn to drive on. The Roxy Theater is seen on the right and the Hotel Winthrop is across 9th Street from it. Beyond Burnetts on the left is the Telenews Theater and beyond that is the Bostwick Building where Saint Helens Avenue joins Broadway. The Tacoma Times invited opinions from readers on how to obtain more parking for Tacoma shoppers. They had been suggesting building municipal parking lots or garages. Taken for Buzz, Tacoma Times. (T.Times, 12/12/1948, p.10) TPL-8545

Commercial streets--Tacoma--1940-1950; Traffic congestion--Tacoma--1940-1950; City & town life--Tacoma--1940-1950; Business districts--Tacoma--1940-1950;

The rigid window pattern of the Equitable Building allows for more interior flexibility in the office space. The building was originally twelve stories high, an additional floor has since been added. Interior view of office space, possibly a conference room, in Portland's Equitable Building, now known as the Commonwealth Building; downtown Portland view through office window.

Commercial facilities--Oregon--Portland; Office buildings--Oregon--Portland; Architecture--Oregon--Portland; Architects; Belluschi, Pietro; Equitable Building (Portland, Or.); Commonwealth Building (Portland, Or.);

The Equitable Building is said to be Oregon's first International style commercial building. This building gained architect, Pietro Belluschi, worldwide fame. Interior view of office space, in Portland's Equitable Building, now known as the Commonwealth Building; view of two unidentified office workers, downtown Portland view through office window.

Commercial facilities--Oregon--Portland; Office buildings--Oregon--Portland; Architecture--Oregon--Portland; Architects; Belluschi, Pietro; Equitable Building (Portland, Or.); Commonwealth Building (Portland, Or.);

The Equitable Building was built in 1948 in Portland's downtown business district. This building was designed by architect, Pietro Belluschi, it is said to be the building that gained Belluschi national prominence in the architecture world. The original owner of the Equitable Building was Equitable Savings and Loan Association. Interior view of office space in Portland's Equitable Building, now known as the Commonwealth Building.

Commercial facilities--Oregon--Portland; Office buildings--Oregon--Portland; Architecture--Oregon--Portland; Architects; Belluschi, Pietro; Equitable Building (Portland, Or.); Commonwealth Building (Portland, Or.);

The new and modern Equitable Building was designed by Portland architect, Pietro Belluschi. In 1950 Belluschi left Portland to become Dean of the School of Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; a position he held until 1965. Exterior and evening view of the Equitable Building, now known as the Commonwealth Building in Portland, Oregon.

Commercial facilities--Oregon--Portland; Office buildings--Oregon--Portland; Architecture--Oregon--Portland; Architects; Belluschi, Pietro; Equitable Building (Portland, Or.); Commonwealth Building (Portland, Or.);

View of South 56th Street and Pacific Avenue intersection, Cosmic Cleaners, gas station, Pacific Hardware and Bi-Rite Drug Store with a Medosweet Ice Cream sign are on right side of the street. This intersection has one traffic signal light directing traffic. Photo ordered by Henry Arnold Peterson, a prominent Tacoma lawyer, his offices were in downtown Tacoma in the Rust Building. TPL-9280

Commercial streets--Tacoma--1940-1950; Commercial facilities--Tacoma; Signal lights--Tacoma; Neighborhoods--Tacoma; Utility poles--Tacoma--1940-1950; Automobiles--Tacoma--1940-1950;

View of A Street and South 9th Street, Bowes Building (foreground) houses the Tacoma Savings and Loan and the Savage-Scofield Building houses the Tacoma Hotel. The Bowes Building was built in 1908 in Italian Renaissance style, Heath and Twichell were the architects. The Savage-Scofield building was also built in 1908 by the same architects. The main building was destroyed by a fire in 1935. Photo was ordered by March & Smith real estate agency.

Business districts--Tacoma; Tacoma Savings & Loan Association (Tacoma); Tacoma Hotel (Tacoma); Real estate business--Tacoma; March & Smith, Inc. (Tacoma); Bowes Building (Tacoma); Savage-Scofield Building (Tacoma); Banks--Tacoma;

Tacoma Transit had ordered 85 new buses to accommodate larger numbers of bus riders. The new modern buses would join 35 buses bought in 1941 and 1942, making it a 120 unit fleet. The new buses were either 40 passenger or 34 passenger capacity buses. View of intersection at South 26th Street and Pacific Avenue, Tacoma Transit bus on left side, photo ordered by Tacoma Transit Company (T.N.T., 1/1/48, p. 1).

Commercial streets--Tacoma--1940-1950; Automobile service stations--Tacoma; Utility poles--Tacoma--1940-1950; Buses--Tacoma; Mass transit--Tacoma; Pierce Transit (Tacoma); Tacoma Transit Co. (Tacoma);

Aerial view of downtown Tacoma and the City Waterway, view of businesses between South 7th Street and South 12th Street; Medical Arts Building, Music Box and the Roxy Theatre, Lerner Shops, Rust Building and the Washington Building are located on the foreground of photo. The South 11th Street Bridge takes you over the City Waterway and connects you from downtown Tacoma to the industrial area; Norwood Plywood Company on right side of image.

Business districts--Tacoma; Waterfronts; Cityscapes; Cities & towns--Tacoma; Aerial photographs;

Aerial view of Tacoma's downtown business district and Port of Tacoma area. View of City Waterway, Middle waterway, St. Paul waterway, Puyallup Waterway, Milwaukee Waterway and Sitcum Waterway. South 11th Street Bridge connects downtown business district to waterways and Port of Tacoma. George-Ann Company logo, advertising frozen food lockers on upper left corner of photo.

Business districts--Tacoma; Waterfronts; Cityscapes; Piers & wharves--Tacoma; Cities & towns--Tacoma; Aerial photographs; Aerial views; Port of Tacoma (Tacoma)--1940-1950;

Tacoma had two insurance brokers for Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, Mitchell & Erdahl and Busselle & Company. View of Tacoma Avenue South and South 9th Street intersection; Ballou and Wright, a wholesale auto parts store is located on right side, pedestrians are crossing the street and automobiles are parked along Tacoma Avenue. Photo ordered by Firemen's Fund, possibly for a traffic accident.

Commercial streets--Tacoma--1940-1950; Business districts--Tacoma; Automobiles--Tacoma--1940-1950; Insurance; Insurance companies--Tacoma; City & town life--Tacoma; Firemen's Fund Insurance Co. (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;

Holroyd Co. was a concrete block and building material manufacturing plant. The company had concrete blocks and bricks, masonry units, sand and gravel and many other building materials available on site. Exterior view of recently built building located on North 1st Street and Tacoma Avenue North. Building materials were provided by the Holroyd Company, and the building glass is from Tacoma Glass Company; photo ordered by Holroyd Company.

Commercial facilities--Tacoma; Building materials industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Construction industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Concrete--Tacoma; Reinforced concrete construction--Tacoma--1940-1950; Automobiles--Tacoma--1940-1950; Holroyd Co. (Tacoma);

This elevated view nouth along Broadway shows, from the left, the Winthrop Hotel on the north side of North 9th Street; The Roxy Theater south of North 9th; Pacific Outfitting Company at 913 Broadway; Pessemier's Bootery at 915; Helen Davis women's clothing shop at 917; Mahncke & Company jewelers at 919; Oakes Apparel at 921; Weisfield's jewelers at 925; Arden's women's clothing at 927, and Lerner Shops at 931 Broadway. A water tank can be seen on the roof of the Jones Building.

Commercial streets--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Looking south on what is believed to be Jefferson Ave., south of 19th Street. Columbia Brewery is in left background. Photograph was taken in June of 1951.

Commercial streets--Tacoma--1950-1960; Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960;

The old switchboard at the Jones Building, also known as the Pantages Theater, at 909 Broadway. Ordered by Westinghouse Electric Supply Company, Van Hodgins.

Jones Building (Tacoma); Switchboards--Tacoma; Historic buildings--Tacoma; Westinghouse Electric Supply Co. (Tacoma);

View of Hunt & Mottet Co. building. Designed by the architectural firm of Bullard & Hill and constructed by Joseph Wells, the eight-story brick Hunt & Mottet Building was completed in 1907. Later, a smaller four-story unit was constructed to its left. The company were wholesalers of hardware and also sporting goods. Signs on the ground floor windows indicate that Hunt & Mottet also occupied space in the original Love-Johnson Co./Tacoma Grocery Co. building next door. Photograph ordered by Hunt & Mottet Co. TPL-4792

Hunt & Mottet Co. (Tacoma); Facades--Tacoma--1950-1960; Hardware stores--Tacoma;

Hunt & Mottet Co. Building and parking lot shot from the side angle at S. 22nd and Pacific Avenue on October 21, 1957. A small parking lot is available for customers of the Hunt & Mottet Co., wholesale hardware and sporting goods dealer, in downtown Tacoma. The small four-story building adjacent to the parking lot was a later addition to the original 1907 eight-story unit. The company made sure that their name was highly visible for many blocks by the use of extremely large lettering on the side of the main building. TPL-4794

Hunt & Mottet Co. (Tacoma); Signs (Notices); Parking lots--Tacoma--1950-1960;

The Bernice and First Federal Buildings on Pacific Ave. On the left is the Victorian Bernice Building, 1106-1108 Pacific Ave., build in 1890 by John S. Baker and named in honor of his first child. Located on the ground floor of the building is Bender's, men's and women's ready to wear clothing, owned by Jack R. Bender and the Tacoma Magazine and Gift Shop in the lobby of 1108 Pacific Ave. On the right is the First Federal Building, built in 1891 for Merchants National Bank and designed by Proctor and Dennis. Pacific First Federal Savings and Loan occupied the building in 1939. At this time, the ground floor was occupied by Horluck's Fountain Lunch, a fountain and lunch counter owned by Arthur Riebli and George Hoertrich. Both historic buildings were demolished in 1963 to make way for the modern and expanded Pacific First Federal Building.

Bernice Building (Tacoma); Bender's (Tacoma); Tacoma Magazine and Gift Shop (Tacoma); Soda fountains--Tacoma; Restaurants--Tacoma; Horluck's Danish Ice Cream Shop (Tacoma); Pacific First Federal Building (Tacoma);

This is how the view from St. Helens and 7th looking south appeared in January of 1955. Looking right to left, are the Berk Apartments above Don Harter's Drycleaning, Landis Shoe Repair, Trovani's Junior Bootery, and Mousley's Cantilever Shoes, followed by the new United Pacific Insurance Co. Building, and the towering Medical Arts Building. In the distance, across South 9th Street, is the Music Box Theatre. The United Pacific Insurance Company building was built in 1954 and opened in January of 1955.

Commercial streets--Tacoma--1950-1960; Streets--Tacoma--1950-1960; Medical Arts Building (Tacoma); Health care facilities--Tacoma--1950-1960; Office buildings--Tacoma--1950-1960; Berk Apartments (Tacoma); United Pacific Insurance Co. (Tacoma);

North Proctor St., at the intersection of No. 33rd St, looking north. On the left are the Richfield Gas Station at 3310, Herold's Cafe at 3312, Proctor St. Barber Shop at 3316 with apartments above and Sepich Refrigerator Service at 3318. Lauer's Texaco is at 3402, with Ryan's Confectionery at 3410. On the right are Chuck Newman's Chevron at 3301 and May's Shell Station at 3325. The Bay View Drugstore, Bay View Food Center Grocery and Proctor Inn Confectionary are at 3401, 3405 and 3407 No. Proctor. Photograph ordered by Safeway stores and labelled "congested parking." TPL-8255

Business districts--Tacoma--1950-1960; Herold's Cafe (Tacoma); Chuck's Chevron (Tacoma); Bay View Food Center (Tacoma);

ca. 1953. Built in 1907 by contractor Joseph Wells, and designed by architects Bullard and Hill, the Hunt & Mottet Co. building was located on the 2000th block of Pacific Avenue. The building was eight stories high; the company's name was in enormous letters along both the side and front of the building. Hunt & Mottet were wholesale hardware and sporting goods dealers. According to the 1953 City Directory, A.H. Heath was listed as president/treasurer with J.C. Richards as vice president and W.F. Rieflin, secretary. TPL-8790

Hunt & Mottet Co. (Tacoma); Sporting goods industry--Tacoma; Sporting goods stores--Tacoma--1950-1960; Hardware stores--Tacoma; Signs (Notices);

Interiors of the Hunt & Mottet building. Hunt & Mottet were wholesalers of hardware. This appears to be the accounting office. The women on the right work at desks with thick upright books, possibly price lists. The women on the left work on adding machines with sheets of papers, possibly orders.

Hunt & Mottet Co. (Tacoma); Hardware stores--Tacoma;

Richards Studio copy exposure. This copy of a photograph from the early 1900s shows Pacific Avenue, looking north from the corner of South 13th Street. Electric streetcars run down the middle of the wide street while horse drawn buggies and carts stay close to the curb. Businesses along this section of Pacific included the California Wine House at 1150 Pacific, H.V. Roberts - Dentist, the Central News Co., and the Warwick Liquor Company at 1205 Pacific Ave. A laundry wagon can be seen in the lower right corner.

Commercial streets--Tacoma--1900-1910; Street railroads--Tacoma

Traffic flashes by on busy Pacific Avenue as this May 15, 1957, photograph shows a panorama of downtown Tacoma buildings and businesses. Looking northbound, Day's Tailor is on the right; further down on the right can be spotted Schoenfeld's furniture with the Washington Building furthest north. Billboards advertising mayonnaise, Atlas, Connie's Cafe and the National Bank of Washington are scattered on the left side of Pacific. Notable businesses such as Hunt & Mottet Co., F.S. Harmon Mfg. Co., and the Rust Building all have signage clearly visible from long distances. The Heidelberg Brewery is slightly farther away toward the left center of the picture on "C" Street; smoke is billowing from the plant's stacks. Photograph ordered by Heidelberg Brewing Co. TPL-9291

Commercial streets--Tacoma--1950-1960; Billboards--Tacoma--1950-1960; Heidelberg Brewing Co. (Tacoma);

ca. 1905. Copy from glass plate, Richards Studio. View of South 11th and Pacific Ave., circa 1905. Streetcars once ran up 11th Street, an additional source of transportation besides the horse & cart and the occasional automobile. A few pedestrians are spotted crossing carefully as there are no visible "stop" signs for oncoming traffic. United Cigars, Tacoma Oyster and the Union Dental Co. are some of the visible businesses in a building on the corner of 11th & Pacific. That building was later demolished and the Rust Building constructed in its place. The building at the left foreground is the Equitable Building, 1102-04 Pacific. The Fidelity Building is on Broadway at the northeast corner of 11th. Additional stories would be added later. The tower on the County Courthouse is dimly seen to the rear of the photograph. Copy from glass plate made on October 3, 1958. TPL-9912

Commercial streets--Tacoma--1900-1910; Street railroads--Tacoma--1900-1910; Equitable Building (Tacoma); Fidelity Building (Tacoma);

ca. 1928. Broadway in the late 1920's was already known as the "heart of the shopping and theatrical district." Businesses were crammed cheek by jowl up and down the street. The New York Building at 1117-19 Broadway still listed the Horgan-Parker Department Store's advertisement of "The new daylight department store" even though the store was no longer in existence; Hotels Ritz and Warburton were doors apart; Feltman & Curme sold wonderful $6.50 and $5.50 shoes, and the Blue Mouse theater sold tickets at a mere 25 cents. Kimball's sold guns and sporting goods. The Winthrop Hotel on the right in the distance had opened in 1925. The 12-story Fidelity Building at 949-55 Broadway was also open; it was near the much smaller Hotel Warburton. More people had cars and were using them, as well as public transportation, to visit downtown. (Copy of glass plate negative made on October 3, 1958.) TPL-8477

Commercial streets--Tacoma--1920-1930; Hotel Winthrop (Tacoma); Fidelity Building (Tacoma); Blue Mouse Movie Theatre (Tacoma);

Full front of Bernice Building, Pacific Avenue side. Located on the ground floor of the Victorian era Bernice Building was Bender's, women and men's clothing store owned by Jack R. Bender. Customers seem to be flocking to the ready-to-wear store, drawn by the low prices in the quitting business sale. The Bernice Building, as well as the adjacent Pacific First Federal Savings & Loan Assn. building, would be demolished to make way for a modern, expanded Pacific First Federal structure. The new building would open in September, 1964.

Bernice Building (Tacoma); Bender's (Tacoma);

This is a March of 1929 street scene looking down 11th street toward the Eleventh Street (now Murray Morgan) Bridge. Buildings on left side of the photograph are the Rust Building (950 Pacific Ave.) and the Washington Building (1019 Pacific Ave.). On the right is a sign for Manning's Market and another sign for Merrick & Race Jewelers.

Commercial streets--Tacoma--1920-1930; Rust Building (Tacoma); Washington Building (Tacoma); 11th Street Bridge (Tacoma);