Category Archives: Historic Sites

The Coolest Basement at Casablanca Apartments

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8486085817_f4d0cd6cce_zThe Casablanca Apartment at 720 North 2nd, Tacoma was originally constructed in 1890, but was significantly remodeled or rebuilt in 1944 by Ray Gamble. The building’s original name was the Lincoln Apartments. During the 18 year (yes, 18 years!) remodel, Mr. Gamble designed the basement level of the building based on tiles he had collected on his international travels. The three story building has 30 units. In the 1960s Mr. Gamble turned over the income from the property to the University of Puget Sound for use as scholarship money.

Tacoma Public Library’s Page on the property includes additional information and photos.

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Park Avenue School

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8438624392_a950762056_oI had an all day class at Park Avenue School at 6701 Park Avenue. The school was built in 1912 and Heath & Gove were the architects. There were additions to the original building in 1918, 1920, 1949, 1959. There is a photo of the building from 1928 here http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/buildings/bldg1image.asp?j=1&o=1&n=22846&i=4827#text

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Any movie buffs recognize this house?

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8435970655_f6e8128315_zThis lovely home at 808 North Yakima, Tacoma was used in the 1992 thriller movie, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hand_That_Rocks_the_Cradle_%28film%29. Our family had watched the movie a couple of months earlier and it has held up pretty well.

I found an interesting blog called I Am Not A Stalker, that has a very nice write up here http://www.iamnotastalker.com/2010/11/09/the-hand-that-rocks-the-cradle-house/

Also of interest, is that Tacoma Public Library indicates that President McKinley visited the house, then they go on to say that it might actually may have been President Wm. Howard Taft.

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Tacoma Elf Storage on Christmas Eve

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8305957078_463350461a_bWhat better way to celebrate Christmas Eve then to take a family photo in front of Tacoma Elf Storage at 2602 South Holgate Street  Tacoma, WA 98402. Eleven months of the year, this facility is known as Tacoma Self Storage, but in December they darken the S and make it a handy spot for Santa to store the toys and one assumes, elves. Their link is here http://www.tacoma-selfstorage.com/

The legend goes that a bird shorted out the letter S during the holiday season in 2007 when the business was new. It was so popular that the owners have purposefully recreated the dimming each year.

The building was originally Tacoma Ice & Refrigerating Co. and A.W. Sterrett was the architect. It was constructed in 1923. In 2000 it was known as Alpine cold storage. In November of 2006 it opened as its current use, a self storage facility.

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Next to Nature Pet Food

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Next to Nature at 1624 Tacoma Avenue, Tacoma, is a splendid pet supply store with friendly helpful staff. Today we stopped by with our two pups and purchased some holiday treats. Our pups were thrilled that the store had cats, though the store cats sensibly wanted nothing to do with them. I hadn’t realized that there are two other Next to Nature locations, one in Edmonds and the other in Seattle.

Per Tacoma Public Library, the building was originally the Coast House Materials Property which was founded in 1900 by Frank McHugh. In part of the 1980s and the 1990s, it was a hardware store.  It closed in 1990. In 2001 Coast House Furnishings
opened and in July Next to Nature Pet Food opened.

http://www.next-to-nature.com/

Wyland Mural on the Bowes Building

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Tacoma has one of the 100 Wyland Whaling Wall murals “Washington Orcas” around the world and its on the Bowes Building at 100 South 9th Street in Downtown Tacoma. Currently the main level of the building is occupied by Big Whiskey Saloon, but the building has a long history. The architect was Edward Heath and the building was  constructed in 1908 in white Vermont marble. The property was added to the National Historic Register and the Tacoma Register in 1979. Edward J. Bowes, the original owner, eventually gained a national reputation as an entertainment figure. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bowes

Over the years, the occupants have included: Pacific Bldg. & Loan Assoc., M. Schmidt & Son Merchant Tailors, Tacoma Savings & Loan Assoc., All About Travel, Pacific Rim Restaurant, Zeppo Italian Restaurant, and Seven Cities Restaurant.

Wylan started painting his large murals in the 1980s. This was his 21st mural and I remember taking my lunch break from my downtown job at the time to watch him paint. I was fascinated. There were four Whaling Walls in Washington State, but sadly now only the Tacoma one remains.

http://www.wyland.com/

Never Never Land Figures

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I remember taking my daughter to Never Never Land at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma when she was young. It was run down at that point, but we enjoyed it in its woodland setting. This evening our family took the Once In A Lifetime Underground Tacoma Flashlight Tour, which was offered by Angela Jossy http://www.theangelajossy.com/artbus.htm. The tour included several wonderful sites including the entrance to the underground tunnel, the soon to be filled under the sidewalk space and several historic buildings. But to me, the highlight was the chance to see the Never Never Land figures again. They are stored in the basement of a historic building near fireman’s park and I have a vague impression that the exact location is a secret. The smell of basement combined with the layer of dust provided an eerie vibe and dear daughter was more than ready to go outside, but I was happy to stretch out the time and examine each figure.

The park was created in 1964 and by the late 2000s most of the figurines had been removed. The last of the structures in the park (the stack of books entrance and the shoe/slide) were demolished in the fall of 2010.

http://www.cityartsmagazine.com/issues/tacoma/2009/12/never-again-land-0

F.S. Harmon Building

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To continue art month, I took advantage of Tacoma’s Art at Work Studio Tour. The F.S. Building at 2926 S. Steele St. had three open studios.

The large warehouse building was constructed in 1908 as the Willamette Casket Co. with Frederick Heath as the architect. It was then the Gregory Furniture Manufacturing Co. In 1944 there was a significant fire and in 1945 the plant sold to the F.S. Harmon Manufacturing Co. In 1953 and 1955 there were two fires.

This is my seventh building that was designed by Frederick Heath. The others are:

The (Haunted) Old City Hall

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Rumor has it that Old City Hall at 625 Commerce Street is haunted by a ghost named Gus.

http://www.ghostsandcritters.com/washingtonghosts.html

The building has a varied history. It was built in 1893 as Tacoma’s City Hall (E.A. Hatherton, Architect) and the original jail cells are still located in the building’s basement. In 1959, City of Tacoma offices moved and the building was vacant until 1969. In the 1970s the building was renovated into shops and restaurants and in 1974 it was placed on the historic register. In the 1980s it was converted into professional offices. I even worked there for a couple of years and enjoyed a water view! In 2005 there was talk of converting the property into condominiums. Thanksgiving week 2010 there was a flood brought on by a broken sprinkler pipe. The property is vacant.

The building has a dedicated website here http://www.thestratfordcompany.com/oldcityhall/

A wonderful post of the building when it was new can be found here http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/postcard/postcardfull.asp?db=60#Front

Belmarlow Addition, the first grocery store in UP

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I had stumbled upon the Belmarlow a few years back when I went to an estate sale at the neighboring property. Today I rediscovered it and hopped out of my car to snap a photo. Two large dogs greeted me and they didn’t look too happy. So, I hopped back into my car! But then their owner called them off and gave me permission to walk around.

I couldn’t find much about the Belmarlow Addition, so I wrote to the wonderful professionals in Northwest Room at Tacoma Public Library. They said “According to the book, “Of Lions and Dreams, of Men and Realities” by Richard D. Osness published in 1976, the Belmarlow Addition was on 19th Street West, in an area of what is now University Place, and Belmarlow Beach was near the old day island bridge. Osness says a Francis M. Stephens built a store here in 1909, thus having the first grocery, general merchandise, hardware store in University Place area…although he says he had a tent store here even earlier during the summer months. The Belmarlow addition ran from 18th to 21st streets and from the water to Crystal Springs Road.”