Seattle Historical Sites

Summary for 500 1st AVE / Parcel ID 7666206830 / Inv #

Historic Name: Mueller Wholesale Block/ Norfin Block/ Nortin Block Common Name: "101 King Street" Style: Commercial, Modern - Postmodern Neighborhood: Pioneer Square Built By: Year Built: 1910   Significance In the opinion of the survey, this property is located in a potential historic districe (National and/or local). The building was designed by architect F. A. Sexton and completed in 1910. It replaced several two and three story frame lodgings with restaurants. This building is typical of the kind of warehouse buildings that were constructed at a time of explosive growth for Seattle’s original commercial center. It was built for warehouse and wholesale use with steam heat, electric freight hoists and a sprinkler system. This may have been one of the last parcels on the block to be developed, since, for a long time, the Northern Pacific Railroad tracks also crossed the site. The building, formerly known as the Mueller Wholesale Block, was commissioned by John Mueller, former Mayor of Georgetown and vice-president of the Seattle Brewing and Malting Company. F. A. Sexton was the architect of the distinctive Annie Russell House, of numerous apartment buildings in the First Hill and Capitol Hill neighborhoods and of the Georgetown City Hall, now all in Seattle. Subsequently the building was known as the Norfin Building and then housed the local DSHS, the Department of Social and Health Services. The building was included in the 1976 Amendment to the National Register Historic District Nomination and in the 1986 Boundary Increase for the National Historic District.   Appearance The original portion of the building consists of the first four stories of the present structure. The original structure combined reinforced concrete with interior steel frame construction over wood piling. On the exterior, the original walls have a brick veneer. The building was designed so that three floors could be added. This was finally taken advantage of in 1990-1991, when two additional stories were added. The building footprint is approximately 79 feet by 180 feet. There is frontage on First Avenue, King Street and Occidental Avenue. These elevations are divided vertically by recessed bays, which typically accentuate individual pairs of double-hung windows with cast-stone headers and sandstone sills, at each floor. A central entry bay on King Street, however, is slightly wider and has three windows per floor. The base of the building, which features trabeated storefront windows on King Street and on First Avenue, is emphasized by a glazed terra-cotta belt-course with dentil moldings. The east elevation on Occidental Avenue includes multi-light, industrial sash windows without headers. The original terra-cotta cornice, which terminated the original parapet, now acts as a belt-course. It includes egg and dart molding and flush terra cotta cladding. Storefront windows and doors have been altered. The 1990-1991 two-story addition replicates the composition and detailing of the original bays, but is faced in dryvit. There is also a modern terminating cornice, which rises over the central entry bay to form a rectilinear parapet crest.

Detail for 500 1st AVE / Parcel ID 7666206830 / Inv #

Status: Yes - Inventory Classication: Building District Status: NR, LR Cladding(s): Brick, Other, Stone, Stone - Cast, Terra cotta Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured Roof Type(s): Flat with Parapet Roof Material(s): Asphalt/Composition Building Type: Commercial/Trade - Warehouse Plan: Rectangular Structural System: Concrete - Poured No. of Stories: six Unit Theme(s): Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Commerce, Manufacturing/Industry Integrity Changes to Original Cladding: Slight Changes to Plan: Intact Changes to Windows: Slight Storefront: Moderate Major Bibliographic References Bagley, Clarence. History of Seattle from the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1916. Potter, Elizabeth Wdalton. “Pioneer Square Historic District Expansion Amendment.” December 1976. “DSHS Building, formerly Norfin Building, 101 King Street, Seattle, Historic Preservation Application, Part 1.” 20 August 2001. Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation, State of Washington, Olympia, Washington, Microfiche File. City of Seattle, Department of Planning and Development, Microfiche Library (Especially, drawings and “white cards.”) Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 6 March 1910.

Photo collection for 500 1st AVE / Parcel ID 7666206830 / Inv #

Photo taken May 24, 2004