- 01 HOLYOKE BUILDING | Bird & Dornbach 1890
Completed one year after the Seattle fire, this five-storey brick building stands on a sandstone and cast iron ground floor. The First Avenue façade has hardly changed and the original commercial storefronts are intact. It's listed in the National Register.
- 02 119 SOUTH JACKSON STREET | No architect or date
This, possibly, late nineteenth century three-storey brick industrial building has been home to the Stonington Gallery for almost thirty years. I liked the later and unique relief panels against the white render and the way in which they relate to the entrance door and the window openings.
- 03 119 SOUTH JACKSON STREET | No architect or date
The style of the figurative panels suggests that they, and the stucco, were added to the original brick façade at a much later date. They make this unremarkable building remarkable and a valuable element amongst the oldest architecture in downtown.
- 04 PIONEER BUILDING | Elmer H. Fisher 1892
On a granite base, this six-storey building incorporates sandstone, brick, and terra cotta, with projecting cast iron windows and cornice. In Romanesque Revival style, a rich mix of material textures and relief motifs enliven the facades. It is a designated National Historic Landmark.
- 05 PIONEER BUILDING | Elmer H. Fisher 1892
The rusticated stonework, triple arched window and the clustered columns frame this corner entrance. For a short time Elmer Fisher was a leading Seattle commercial architect, working in Romanesque and Classical Revival forms.
- 06 PIONEER BUILDING | Elmer H. Fisher 1892
The sunlight of a late September afternoon cast the entrance lobby into cavernous shade and emphasised the letters cut into the heavy masonry.
- 07 MAYNARD BUILDING | Albert Wickersham 1892 (restored 1975)
Built for the Dexter Horton Bank, the design in grey pressed brick and sandstone shows influences from the contemporary Romanesque Revival Chicago style. This imposing entrance is placed on the right of the asymmetric First Avenue South façade.
- 08 MAYNARD BUILDING | Albert Wickersham 1892 (restored 1975)
This perspective of the upper three of the 6 floors on the side of the building include some of the design forms and details typical of the whole. The colour and finish of the pressed brick works well with the carved stone: the build quality is extremely high.
- 09 BRODERICK BUILDING | Charles Saunders & Edwin Houghton 1892
This is the Second Avenue entrance to the Broderick Building. This finely detailed stonework, with its stylised plant relief carvings, is in marked contrast to the boldly rusticated masonry of the main structure. After the 1889 Seattle fire, stone was less commonly used as a primary material.
- 10 EITEL BUILDING | William Doty Van Siclen 1904
This steel-framed building on Second and Pike dates from 1904. Currently empty and in an uninviting streetscape it has been awarded City Landmark status and will be renovated as part of an area redevelopment.
- 11 COLMAN BUILDING | August Tideman 1904 Restored 1970-1990
Named for Seattle businessman James Colman, this six-storey design in the Chicago Style replaced a two-storey Romanesque building completed by Stephen Meany in 1889 to house Klondyke mining related businesses. It is listed in the National Register.
- 12 OLYMPUS CAFÉ then CITY CLUB | 112 First Avenue South 1905
This three-storey buff brick building has Art Nouveau, Beaux Arts and Classical references. The upper floors are dominated by the original ornamental window framing and cornice formed in painted metal and cast stone.
- 13 COLISEUM THEATRE | B.Marcus Priteca 1916
Opened as one of Seattle's first motion picture theatres, the Coliseum was renovated in 1995 and now houses a Banana Republic store. Although changes have been made in the past, much of the original Renaissance Revival terra-cotta façades are intact.
- 14 SEATTLE TOWER (NORTHERN LIFE TOWER) | Albertson Wilson & Richardson 1929
This very fine 27-storey Art Deco tower was built for the Northern Life Insurance Company. The strong vertical forms incorporate decorative panels set against plain brick, with bronze detailing to window frames and door cases.
- 15 SEATTLE TOWER (NORTHERN LIFE TOWER) | Albertson Wilson & Richardson 1929
This is the principal Third Avenue entrance opening into a richly detailed lobby incorporating bronze, marble and gilt and with a spectacular clock on the rear wall.
- 16 MEN'S WEARHOUSE | R. C. Reamer 1929
Built originally as a ticket office for the Great Northern Railroad, this pale grey limestone-faced building has four floors. Its severely simple flat facades are enhanced by classical details, as well as bronze relief window framing and incised stone panels in Art Deco style.
- 17 MEN'S WEARHOUSE | R. C. Reamer 1929
Classical detailing and Art Deco stylised foliage enhance the display windows. Upper floors have slender wooden glazing bars carved as skyscraper forms while Native American feathered headdress and flower motifs are carved into the pediment.
- 18 PACIFIC BUILDING | Harlan Thomas & Clyde Grainger 1920s
The Ford Pacific Building, and the adjoining Ford McKay Building, was built for one of the early Ford-Lincoln dealerships in Seattle. Currently empty, both retain much of their original structure, including the ornate terracotta exterior cladding, and are to be restored.