View of Saint Helens Ave. sometime in the 1930s. The Allyn Hotel (726-28) is on the right, next to the Medical Arts Building (747 Market St.). Many cars parked outside both buildings and across the street.

Commercial streets--Tacoma--1930-1940; Allyn Hotel (Tacoma); Medical Arts Building (Tacoma);

View up Saint Helens Avenue from about Market Street. Tacoma News Tribune building in right foreground, Webster Apartments beyond. Allen Motor Company, Studebaker garage a block up on left, Walker Apartments beyond that. (filed with Argentum)

Business districts--Tacoma--1930-1940; Commercial streets--Tacoma--1930-1940; Walker Apartments (Tacoma); Automobiles--Tacoma--1930-1940;

View of downtown Tacoma taken from rooftop of building. Businesses along Saint Helens Avenue showing the Medical Arts Building (left at 747 Market), Allen Motor Company Studebaker, and the Walker Apartments. (filed with Argentum)

Business districts--Tacoma--1930-1940; Medical Arts Building (Tacoma); Walker Apartments (Tacoma); Allen Motor Co. (Tacoma);

ca. 1935. General view of the Rust Building at 11th and Pacific Avenue. Sandstone clad steel framed 12 story business block for William R. Rust by Sutton, Whitney and Dugan, Architects, 1920. (Argentum)

Business districts--Tacoma; Office buildings--Tacoma--1930-1940; Rust Building (Tacoma);

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);

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;

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);

ca. 1887. This view of Pacific Avenue, looking north from 10th, was taken in 1887. Horse drawn carriages and wagons fill the unpaved street. The Fife Hotel, 742-50 Pacific Avenue (at left background), was still under construction with scaffolding visible. The building at 930 Pacific Ave. was home to the Tacoma News. The News and The Daily Ledger, both founded in 1883, were the two biggest newspapers in Tacoma at this time. The Ledger was a morning paper; The News was an evening paper. Some years later, both papers were bought by Sidney A. Perkins. Ultimately, they were taken over by The News Tribune. Copy made August 31, 1950. (TPL-2297 and TPL-8147)

Commercial streets--Tacoma--1880-1890; Carts & wagons--Tacoma; The News (Tacoma); Newspapers--Tacoma--1880-1890; Fife Hotel (Tacoma); Hotels--Tacoma--1880-1890; Building construction--Tacoma--1880-1890;

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;

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.

Commercial streets--Tacoma--1950-1960; Cities & towns--Tacoma; Clocks & watches;

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.

Commercial facilities--Tacoma; Mercantile facilities--Tacoma; Architectural decorations & ornaments--Tacoma; Commercial streets--Tacoma--1950-1960;

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.

Commercial facilities--Tacoma; Mercantile facilities--Tacoma; Mezzanines--Tacoma; Showrooms--Tacoma; Interiors--Tacoma; Stairways--Tacoma;

Broadway Furniture has vacated their premises at 1117-19 Broadway between Ted Brown's Music Company and GallenKamp Shoes. The building had six stories. The exterior of the ground floor was decorated with bas-relief stone carving framing the display windows and main entrance.

Commercial facilities--Tacoma; Mercantile facilities--Tacoma; Architectural decorations & ornaments--Tacoma; Broadway Furniture (Tacoma);

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;

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.

Buildings--Tacoma--1950-1960; Stores & shops--Tacoma--1950-1960; Paints & varnishes; General Paint Corp. (Tacoma);

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.

Buildings--Tacoma--1950-1960; Stores & shops--Tacoma--1950-1960; Paints & varnishes; General Paint Corp. (Tacoma);

Exterior of Pacific First Federal Building, home of the Savings and Loan Association, at the corner of 11th and Pacific Ave. Gerrit Vander Ende, President. This Romanesque style building was originally built in 1891 and designed by Proctor & Dennis, Architects. It was demolished and replaced by the current First Federal Building in the sixties.

Pacific First Federal Building (Tacoma);

The exterior of the reconditioned General Paint store. This nighttime view shows the illuminated neon sign in the shape of a toy soldier. O'Connell-Regan company is located on the second floor of the building.

Buildings--Tacoma--1950-1960; Stores & shops--Tacoma--1950-1960; Paints & varnishes; General Paint Corp. (Tacoma); Window displays--Tacoma--1950-1960; Electric signs--Tacoma--1950-1960; O'Connell-Ragan Co. (Tacoma);

Exposure from Lloyd Suiter Tire Co., 1955 Pacific Ave., looking each way down Pacific Ave. On the right hand side of the picture is Hunt and Mottet Co. wholesale hardware (2112), Coast Auto Wrecking (2120) and Tacoma Junk Co. (2128). On the left hand side of the street is the G.L. Walls Gas Station (2101), the Bone Dry Shoe Manufacturing Co. occupies 2113-2115 Pacific Ave. The city bus headed for Manitou occupies the foreground.

Commercial streets--Tacoma--1950-1960; Business districts--Tacoma--1950-1960; Buses--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Exposure from Lloyd Suiter Tire Co., 1955 Pacific Ave., looking each way down Pacific Ave. On the right hand side is Union Station (1735 Pacific Ave.), Schoenfelds and the Eleventh Street bridge. On the left hand side is Harry Brown Confections Inc. Wholesale (1932-34), Westinghouse Electric Corporation (1930), Webster-Robinson Machinery and Supply Co. (1924), Johnson Brush Co. (1920), American Plumbing and Steam Supply Co. (1908-16) and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. is on the corner of Pacific and 19th. Streetlights are on either side of the wide thoroughfare. TPL-9382

Commercial streets--Tacoma--1950-1960; Business districts--Tacoma--1950-1960; Union Station (Tacoma);

This photograph of the recently completed million dollar F.W. Woolworth Co. building, 955 Broadway, was taken from across Commerce St., for the Roy T. Earley Co., engineers in January of 1951. The Woolworth store replaced the Fidelity Building that had stood at the corner of 9th and Broadway from 1890 until it was demolished in 1949. The News Tribune called the new building "the most up-to-date beautiful store of its kind in the world." After the store closed in 1993, it was sold and transformed into a giant telephone switching station with no public access, and its people-oriented uses limited to the art gallery space created in its street level windows.

Commercial facilities; F.W. Woolworth Co. (Tacoma); Variety stores--Tacoma--1950-1960;

The exterior of the old B.F. Goodrich building. B.F. Goodrich moved to their new location at 707 Pacific Avenue in May 1950. Lloyd Suiter Tire Company had taken over this location by 1951. Lloyd Suiter had formerly been located at 2302 Pacific Avenue. Lloyd Suiter died in April 1949. Ted L. Fix served as president of the Lloyd Suiter Tire Company in 1951. Wesley Maitland served as secretary. Ordered by Lloyd Suiter Tire Company, Mrs. McGorran.

Commercial facilities--Tacoma; Lloyd Suiter Tire Co. (Tacoma); B.F. Goodrich Co. (Tacoma);

An elevated view of Pacific Avenue looking south from the 900 block. The Riviera Theatre is shown on the lower right corner at 906 Pacific Avenue. Ghilarducci's California Florists is seen across Pacific at 909. The Provident Building is at 915 Pacific. The Bank of California and the Washington Building are prominent in the next block. Peoples Department Store was on the corner across 11th Street. Bankers Trust Building at 1111, the Puget Sound National Bank Building at 1119 and the National Bank of Washington at 1123 Pacific filled most of the following block. Shoenfeld's Furniture is seen prominently at 1423 Pacific Ave. TPL-2299

Business districts--Tacoma; Commercial streets--Tacoma--1950-1960;

This photograph of the west side of the 900 block of Pacific Avenue, looking south, was taken for a full page ad that ran in the December 13, 1950 Tacoma News Tribune. Sponsored by the Pacific Avenue Progress Club and the merchants of Pacific Avenue, the advertisement extolled the virtues of their street and stores for Christmas shopping. Many of the stores stayed open until 9 p.m. every evening from December 15 through the 24th. Pacific Avenue offered one-level shopping with "no hills to climb." Except for the Rust Building on the corner, all the buildings in the 900 block were torn down in the 1960s and replaced with a parking lot. (TNT 12/13/1950 p.B-1)

Commercial streets--Tacoma--1950-1960; Rust Building (Tacoma);

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.

Commercial facilities; F.W. Woolworth Co. (Tacoma);

A view of the exterior of the F.W. Woolworth Company building recently completed in Tacoma from across Commerce Street. The store's escalator can be seen through the large window on this side of the five-and-dime's building. TPL-4551

Commercial facilities; F.W. Woolworth Co. (Tacoma);

ca. 1951. Tacoma's Broadway in 1951 was a bustling, busy location. The Sears, Roebuck store was a major cornerstone on 11th and Broadway. It had recently opened a free parking lot for customers to alleviate parking congestion. Tacomans could also view a movie at the Blue Mouse theatre, spruce up their homes with supplies from Johnson Paint & Wallpaper, have their hair done at the Modern Beauty Academy, or fill their prescriptions at Savon or Smith Drug Stores. Those seeking to quench their thirst could visit the Happy Days tavern or Pat & Mike's. View of Broadway looking northward. TPL-1449

Business districts--Tacoma--1950-1960; Business enterprises--Tacoma; Commercial streets--Tacoma--1950-1960; Sears, Roebuck & Co. (Tacoma);

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;

Looking north on Jefferson Avenue at South 25th Street, Pacific Refrigeration Company Ice Plant in right foreground, Columbia Brewing Company in right background. This view of a well-traveled city street was taken on June 5, 1951.

Commercial streets--Tacoma--1950-1960; Pacific Refrigeration Co. (Tacoma); Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Automobiles--Tacoma--1950-1960;