| Historic Name: |
Broadway Hardware |
Common Name: |
vacant |
| Style: |
Commercial |
Neighborhood: |
Capitol Hill |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1922 |
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| Significance |
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This modest commercial building, built in 1922, is typical of the many such buildings constructed in Seattle commercial districts in the 1920s. In 1937 it housed Broadway Hardware. The building was modernized in 1960, with new storefronts and a rear addition. The front was later renovated to an appearance more similar to the original. It is now used as a single retail space, with three pairs of double doors and new display windows. It has been determined not eligible for the National Register
The Boradway commercial district began developing by 1891, when a streetcar line was extended from James Street, running north on Broadway to the city limits at E. Lynn Street, with direct service to downtown added on Pike Street in 1901. Another major impetus to local development was the 1903 completion of Seattle (later Broadway) High School, the city’s first modern high school, which was located at the corner of Broadway and E. Pine Street. Students came from throughout Seattle and even from across Lake Washington to attend. Broadway, already an important street, flourished with new businesses, especially those catering to students, such as sandwich shops. By 1910 the area was largely developed, with small commercial buildings, numerous apartment buildings and single family homes. Further apartment and commercial development occurred in the 1920s, when the Broadway district boomed to become one of the city’s premier shopping venues. It was in this period that this building was constructed.
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| Appearance |
| This one-story commercial building has been extensively altered. It is rectangular in plan, of wood frame construction and clad with brick painted black. At the north end of the façade the main entrance has a pair of wood doors. To the south are two windows with fixed-light wood sash and wood bulkheads and two pairs of glazed wood doors that open to the sidewalk dining area. Above these are the original divided-light transoms. The rear elevation has an addition with vertical board cladding and a pair of glazed kitchen doors accessed by wood stairs. At the southeast corner, set back from this addition, is the original rear brick wall with a door and a steel-sash window. The building does not extend to the rear of the sloping lot, so there is a fenced open space at the rear. |
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