Category Archives: Historic Sites

Bair Bistro in Steilacoom

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Today I had lunch with my dear friends at Bair Bistro (Living Museum, Restaurant & Country Store) at 1617 Lafayette Street in Steilacoom, WA 98388, (253) 588-9668. Everyone in the group seemed to enjoy their meals and the service was good.

This building, which was constructed in 1895 used to be Bair Drug and Hardware. Information provided by the business via Yelp states “The Bair Drug and Hardware building has been in existence since 1895. Since that time, it has been a post office, drug store, hardware store and restaurant. Currently, the Bair Drug and Hardware building is home of The Bair Bistro. However, the dining area is full of relics, tools and gadgets from its earlier days.”

The newest use, The Bair Bistro, opened on Mother’s Day in 2010
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/02/18/1075176/historic-bair-drug-to-reopen-as.html

Their Facebook page is here
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1247456349#!/pages/The-Bair-Bistro-at-The-Bair-Drug-and-Hardware/372346062940?v=info

Tacoma Firestation #11

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Today I took a moment to photograph Tacoma Fire Station No. 11 at 3802 McKinley Avenue. It is a relatively small, two story fire station and was placed into service on April 17, 1909. Looking at a photo of the station from 1910 (http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/buildings/bldg1image.asp?j=3&o=3&n=20900&i=6243#text), it looks much the same, though of course nowadays the fire trucks aren’t pulled by horses!

The particularly nice weathervane was dedicated on October 28, 1978.  The station was place on the National Historic Register on May 2, 1986.

There are 17 fire stations in Tacoma.
http://www.cityoftacoma.org/Page.aspx?hid=8023

The City of Tacoma placed 11 individual fire related properties (9 stations, 1 ship and an alarm system) on the national historical register in 1983. The nomination form is located here:
http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/64000904.pdf

 

Tacoma Water Works

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 Today I drove by and checked in to the Tacoma Water Works Building at 3501 South Union Avenue (previous address 3506 South 35th Street). Tacoma, WA 98409 (253) 502-8384. I’ve often admired the architectural style of this industrial building, which contains almost 40,000 square feet of space per the public record.  The building was constructed in 1937 at a cost of $137,000.  It is occupied by the Tacoma Water Department.  A photo of the building from 1977 can be found here:

http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/buildings/bldg1image.asp?j=2&o=2&n=27596&i=8923#text

And a photo of the building under construction can be found here:

http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/images/dt6n.asp?un=6&pg=1&srequest=Municipal+services–Tacoma&stemming=&phonic=&fuzzy=&maxfiles=

A big thank you to Brian at the Northwest Room of the Tacoma Public Library and also my friend Mary! 🙂

Lincoln Pharmacy

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The Lincoln Pharmacy building was constructed in 1939 and from what I can glean the building was originally a grocery store, Totem and then Safeway. In 1953 Failor’s Pharmacy opened in the building and now, of course, it is Lincoln Pharmacy, an independent pharmacy with specialty compounding.

821 South 38th Street
Tacoma, WA 98418-5089
(253) 473-1155

Corina’s Bakery

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It must be a weekend for going to nice bakeries, because today’s new place is Corina’s Bakery at 510 6th Avenue in the Merlino Art Center Building. It is a wonderful bakery with cakes, cupcakes, scones, coffee drinks, etc. There are tables and a saw folks visiting, knitting and working on laptops.

http://www.corinabakery.com/

Here is a great article about the bakery.
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/a-piece-of-cake.htm

The building was constructed in 1924 as an Odd Fellows Hall. If you want to see a photo of the building from 1977, look here:

http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/buildings/bldg1image.asp?j=2&o=2&n=14172&i=1856#text

 

Flying Boots Restaurant & Spur Room

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Flying Boots Cafe and Spur Room, so tonight I stopped to take a photo and consider it as my new place of the day. Tacoma Public Library shows the Flying Boots Cafe opening in 1930 and the new cafe opening in 1955 after remodeling. The bar part of the restaurant is called the Spur Room, and yes they have Karaoke. At night the neon wings on the boot turn on and off.

Flying Boots Restaurant & Spur
614 South 38th Street
Tacoma, WA 98418-6716
(253) 475-9628

 

Hilltop Christian Center

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On my way to a holiday gathering, I stopped at Johnson’s Candy for treats to share. Drat, I’ve already used Johnson’s Candy! Oh, look, an interesting church just kitty corner from where I’m standing. That will do! The Hilltop Christian Center is on the corner of 10th & M.L.K. Jr. Way in the Hilltop neighborhood of Tacoma, Washington. 1016 S. 10th. Street, Tacoma, WA 98405. The assessor’s office indicates that the building was constructed in 1950.

Their website says “We are a non-denominational church that’s committed to loving Christ. Our congregation is ethnically diverse and committed to the unity of all the saints of God.”

I thought it was interesting that their website has audio sermons. This week’s sermon is “Sexual Immorality is Killing the Church”.

http://www.hilltopchristiancenter.org/

For Students that need an alternative, Oakland School

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I was driving around today, taking advantage of a little daylight and a break in the rain when I spotted this building up on the hill. I hadn’t noticed it before, but it looked interesting so I figured out how to get there. Oh! It is Oakland School! I wondered where that was. It is a 8th – 12th grade alternative school for Tacoma students.

Oakland School (3319 S. Adams Street) was built in 1912 by Heath and Gove and qualifies for, but is not yet on, the local register of historic places. The architect was F. H. Heath, who was also the architect for Stadium High School, Lincoln High School, Pythian Temple (all in Tacoma) and Paradise Inn at Mt. Rainier. The architectural style is Jacobean Gothic.

Per Wikipedia, the school served elementary students until 1988, at which time it became an alternative school for high school students. During 2009-10, approximately 250 students attended Oakland. OHS also added a middle school component in the 2009-10 school year.

According to the Washington State Report Card, the school has 235 students, with more boys (58%) than girls. The annual drop out rate is 43%, which is dramatically higher than the 7% figure for the district as a whole. The program at Oakland is designed to meet the needs of students struggling with traditional high school, through an alternative schedule and small school environment.

http://www.tacoma.k12.wa.us/Schools/hs/Pages/Oakland.aspx

Urban Grace

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We were fortunate this evening to attend a performance at Urban Grace Church in downtown Tacoma.  While I’ve often admired the Gothic Revival style church, I’d not been previously been inside.   This imposing four story building, which is on the historic register, was constructed in 1925 with F.H. Heath acting as the architect.  From 1884 to 1923, the site was occupied by the original First Baptist Church. Until 2005 the church had been know as First Baptist Church.

F. H. Heath was also the architect for Stadium High School, Lincoln High School, Pythian Temple (all in Tacoma) and Paradise Inn at Mt. Rainier.

To see a photograph of the current building when it was under construction, go to: http://search.tpl.lib.wa.us/buildings/bldgdetails.asp?id=BU-11471&vhash=M&i=3

In the Fall of 2010, Tacoma Arts Commission’s presented the 2010 “Arts Patron” award AMOCAT Art Awards to the Urban Grace Church for their support of the arts in Tacoma. The Arts Commission stated “Urban Grace’s commitment is exemplified in their establishment of the Poet Laureate position for Tacoma in 2008, their partnership with Fab-5 to create a mural for the Rialto Theater in 2010 and in providing ongoing opportunities for exhibition and performance in all artistic disciplines.”

902 Market Street
Tacoma, WA 98402-3605
(253) 272-2184 

Urban Grace’s website is at http://urbangracetacoma.org/

And a Facebook Page devoted to the building being added to the Tacoma Register of Historic Places is here.  http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=194822323896

Amazing Americano at Metro Coffee

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I had heard good things about Metro Coffee, so I stopped in this evening when I had an meeting on the University of Washington, Tacoma campus. It has a small space in one of the historic brick building and an approprately funky coffee shop feel, but mostly I’m impressed with the coffee. It was very, very good. And the service was great too!

1901 Jefferson Ave # B
Tacoma, WA 98402-1611
(253) 627-8152

http://www.tacoma.uw.edu/features/campus-culture/favorite-places-metro-coffee

Here is a fun review of Tacoma coffee shops based on the foam of their tall cappuccino. 
http://i.feedtacoma.com/Erik/blackwater-satellite-coffee-showdown-tacoma/#comments