Category Archives: Historic Sites

Hello, Cupcake

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It’s my dear daughter’s birthday and instead of a cake she wanted a cupcake from Hello, Cupcake in the University of Washington, Tacoma area. They have the best cupcakes that any of us have ever had! Dear daughter prefers the red velvet, I like the vanilla on vanilla and my husband likes the carrot cake version. But, really, you can’t go wrong!

They are located at 1740 Pacific Avenue, Tacoma, WA 98405. A single cupcake, which is large enough to share, costs $2.55.

Their website is here
http://www.hello-cupcake.com/

Hello, Cupcake is located in a building owned by the University of Washington. The property had originally been known as the Birmingham Hay & Seed Co. Warehouse and was constructed in 1903.

Ford Building and Crescent Ballroom

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Originally uploaded by Gexydaf

 

The Ford Building and Crescent Ballroom have always been a mystery to me. They are located on the edge of downtown, but not on a main drag and have been beautifully restored. According to the Tacoma Public Library the Ford Building portion of the structure was built in 1918 with E.J. Bresemann as the architect. The building originally housed the Manley-Thompson Ford Agency.

The Auditorium (that was its original name) had opened January 11, 1922. The Gothic structure was designed by Roland Borhek. It was the home to many dances, as well as appearances by such diverse performers as Rudolph Valentino, Duke Ellington, Paul Revere and The Raiders, Soundgarden and Nirvana. In 1931, the two buildings were remodeled, combined and renamed the Crescent Ballroom. This part of the property now functions as a warehouse. The mirrored ball from the original ballroom has been restored and now hangs in the South Park Community Center.

The importance of the Crescent Ballroom can be gleaned here.
http://pnwbands.com/crescent.html

TRA Medical Imaging purchased the property in 2007 for $2,500,000, and after considerable renovation opened it as their administrative office in July 2008.

McMenamins Grand Lodge

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There are eight McMenamins hotels and last night we stayed at the Grand Lodge in Forest Grove, Oregon.

http://www.mcmenamins.com/426-grand-lodge-home

This lodge features a full restaurant, a movie theater where food and drink from the restaurant are offered, a soaking pool, small bars and 77 European style guest rooms. The building was constructed in 1922 as an Masonic and Eastern Star home. In 2000 the building was renovated and opened as a McMenamins. The history of the building can be seen in the historic photos and original art hanging on the walls.

We checked into the Lodge around 4:00 and had dinner, watched the most recent Harry Potter movie (yes, it is that dark) and enjoyed the soaking pool. This morning there was a Continental breakfast. All in all, a delightful, relaxing time away.

This morning I was traipsing around taking photographs and the desk clerk noticed me. He asked if I had a shot of the theater and I said kind of (I took a cell phone photo during the movie, really it was an awful photo!). He said it was much better to take a photo during the day with the lights on and then he took me upstairs and unlocked the theater for me! How nice is that!

Hilltop Mural

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At 1012 South 11th Street in Tacoma’s Hilltop area there is a mural of four individuals against the background of Mt. Rainier. Per the Tacoma-Pierce County Public Art Tour website (Taylor.http://wspdsmap.ci.tacoma.wa.us/website/Art2/viewer.htm), “This mural memorializes key contributors to the Hilltop Community. Including, Alberta Canada, Ernest E. Brazil, Frank Russell, and Virginia Taylor”. It was created in 2004 by Bob Henry, who has other mural around town.

The artist’s website can be found here:

http://www.muralmastersnw.com/index.html

   

Camp 6 Logging Camp, another victim of the economy

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When we first moved to Tacoma over 20 years ago I remember visiting the Camp 6 Logging Exhibit in Point Defiance Park. Then, as in now, I love that this little slice of history had been preserved. Since that first time, I’ve gone back a couple of times a year, often seeing deer and once a fox. Once we took my young daughter on the Santa Train, which basically went into the forest a ways and then out again with, of course, Santa. It is an interesting, peaceful place. So it saddened me to learn that the exhibit might not reopen from its winter hiatus this year.

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/6420ap_wa_logging_museum.html

The Camp 6 Logging Camp’s website states “Our mission is to preserve and present to the public a portion of Washington State’s history from the 1880’s through the 1940’s as it pertains to the “Steam Era of Logging”. With photographs, paintings, artifacts and equipment displays, Camp 6 takes the visitor back in time from when horse and ox teams hauled out the timber up through the last days that steam powered “Donkeys” and Railroads worked the woods. Visitors will see first hand what life in the logging camps and woods of Western Washington was like.”

Update 5/9/2011http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/05/09/1658977/point-defiance-parks-camp-6-closed.html  Looks like they are closing for good.  It’s a shame.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/05/09/1658977/point-defiance-parks-camp-6-closed.html

Wainwright School, under 300 students

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Tacoma Public School has announced that it may close schools in order to save money. Foss is the high school they are considering and elementary schools with less than 300 students are also possibilities. These elementary schools are Franklin, Lyon, Roosevelt, Stanley, McKinley, Wainwright and Geiger. Geiger has had a program change and has been taken off the table. Wainwright, in Fircrest, is the last of the elementary schools that I am writing about.

Read more about possible school closures at : http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/01/19/1509242/foss-students-fret-over-possible.html#ixzz1Bn2OnEp6

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/01/26/1517312/school-cuts-worry-parents.html

Today’s school is Wainwright Elementary at 130 Alameda Avenue. Their mascot is the wildcat. The original school opened in 1911 and was called Regents Park. There was one teacher, Mrs. C.D. Bangs and she taught 1st through 3rd grades there. The one room school closed in 1914 because of lack of students. But it reopened in 1915. It almost closed in 1917, when there were 13 students. A new school opened there in 1924 and was named FIrcrest. In 1948 the school wa added on to and renamed Wainwright after a famous general in World War II. General Wainwright traveled from Texas to Fircrest to be at the school’s dedication. The school was again added on to in 1957 adn remodeling was done in 1971. In 1984 the school had a student population of 292 students and the Citizen’s Committee for School Facilities Planning recommends that Wainwright be closed.

To see the school as it appeared in 1924, see this link from the Tacoma Public Library.
http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/buildings/bldg1image.asp?j=1&o=1&n=10532&i=4838#text

Mary Lyon Elementary, under 300 students

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Mary Lyon Elementary

Originally uploaded by Gexydaf

Tacoma Public School has announced that it may close schools in order to save money. Foss is the high school they are considering and elementary schools with less than 300 students are also possibilities. These elementary schools are Franklin, Lyon, Roosevelt, Stanley, McKinley, Wainwright and Geiger. Geiger has had a program change and has been taken off the table. I thought over the next week or so, I’d take photographs of the mentioned schools and use them as my new places of the day.

Read more about possible school closures at :

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/01/19/1509242/foss-students-fret-over-possible.html#ixzz1Bn2OnEp6http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/01/19/1509242/foss-students-fret-over-possible.html#ixzz1Bn2OnEp6

Today’s school is Mary Lyon Elementary at 101 E. 46th St.. Their mascot is the lion. The school was constructed in 1910 and has a student population of about 270. Their official website states “The school is named after a 19th-century farm girl who was born on Feb. 28, 1897 who eventually became a teacher and established the first women’s college-Mount Holyoke-in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Mary Lyon Elementary was originally a one-room, wooden portable and has developed into a brick and stucco structure with 18 classrooms, along with classrooms in adjoining portables that were added to accommodate Lyon’s population growth.”

A photograph of the building as it appeared in 1924 can be found here:

http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/buildings/bldg1image.asp?j=1&o=4&n=6743&i=4814#text

Over the years, the building has had extensive renovation, as can be readily seen when comparing the historic photo from Tacoma Public Library to the new photograph.

Roosevelt Elementary, under 300 students

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 Tacoma Public School has announced that it may close schools in order to save money. Foss is the high school they are considering and elementary schools with less than 300 students are also possibilities. These elementary schools are Franklin, Lyon, Roosevelt, Stanley, McKinley, Wainwright and Geiger. Geiger has had a program change and has been taken off the table. I thought over the next week or so, I’d take photographs of the mentioned schools and use them as my new places of the day.

Read more about possible school closures at : http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/01/19/1509242/foss-students-fret-over-possible.html#ixzz1Bn2OnEp6

Today’s school is Roosevelt Elementary School at 3550 E. Roosevelt Ave in Tacoma’s Eastside. Their school mascot is the Ram. Information provided by the Tacoma Public Library says the original school building was constructed in 1904 and later sold and moved to make way for the “new” building named in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt. The 1921 date can be seen clearly on the two columns on either side of the entrance. The building had major renovation, in fact looks like an entirely different building with the exception of the columns. Here is a photograph of the 1921 building

http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/buildings/bldg1image.asp?j=4&o=4&n=24285&i=4828#text

McKinley School, under 300 students

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Tacoma Public School has announced that it may close schools in order to save money. Foss is the high school they are considering and elementary schools with less than 300 students are also possibilities. These elementary schools are Franklin, Lyon, Roosevelt, Stanley, McKinley, Wainwright and Geiger. Geiger has had a program change and has been taken off the table. I thought over the next week or so, I’d take photographs of the mentioned schools and use them as my new places of the day.

Read more: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/01/19/1509242/foss-students-fret-over-possible.html#ixzz1Bn2OnEp6

The first is McKinley Elementary School at 3702 McKinley Avenue in Tacoma’s Eastside. Their school mascot is the Roadrunner. The original building was constructed in 1908 with additions in 1910 and 1954. It was designed by Frederick Heath, architect and named after the 25th President of the United States, William McKinley. Fredrick Heath was a busy architect! He also designed

http://blog.firsttries.com/?p=2012 Oakland School

http://blog.firsttries.com/?p=1961 Urban Grace

http://blog.firsttries.com/?p=1335 Titlow Lodge

http://blog.firsttries.com/?p=2370 Tacoma Public School’s CAB

McKinley School is considered a high priority to be placed on the historic register. http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=1889351&more=0

To see a darling photograph of McKinley first graders from 1927 go to

http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/images/dt6n.asp?un=2&pg=1&krequest=McKinley&stemming=On&phonic=&fuzzy=&maxfiles=5000

Note that there are 30 desks in that classroom!

For more historic photos, check out this page from Tacoma Public Library.

http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/images/dt6n.asp?krequest=subjects+contains+McKinley%20School%20and%20Tacoma

Tacoma Public Schools, CAB

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Tacoma Public Schools, CAB

Originally uploaded by Gexydaf

Tacoma Public School houses most of its administrative functions out of building at 601 S. 8th St. The original part of this building was constructed in1912 and in December 2010 it was placed on Tacoma’s historic register. For more information see http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=1889351&more=0

The architect was Frederick Heath who also designed:

http://blog.firsttries.com/?p=2012 Oakland School

http://blog.firsttries.com/?p=1961 Urban Grace

http://blog.firsttries.com/?p=1335 Titlow Lodge

http://blog.firsttries.com/?p=2370 Tacoma Public School’s CAB

The architectural style of the building is Collegiate Gothic.  The 8 story building was originally known as the Central School and it functioned as Tacoma’s first high school.

To see how the building looked in 1919, go here

http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/buildings/bldg1image.asp?j=7&o=12&n=1307&i=4785#text