Seattle Historical Sites

Summary for 116 & 118 S Washington ST S / Parcel ID 5247800525 / Inv #

Historic Name: Scandinavian Hotel and Clancy Building Common Name: 116 & 118 S Washington St Style: Queen Anne - Richardsonian Romanesque Neighborhood: Pioneer Square Built By: Year Built: 1890   Significance In the opinion of the survey, this property is located in a potential historic districe (National and/or local). This building, actually made up of two structures, was completed in 1890 and retains the scale and feel of many of the early Pioneer Square buildings, built right after the Fire of 1889. Most historical records describe the two structures as though they were one building and they now share a common parapet, as well as a lot number. The western portion, 116 S. Washington Street, housed the Scandinavian Hotel from 1912 to 1928, while the eastern one, 118 S. Washington Street, was known as the Clancy Building and housed a gambling hall and saloon, run by the Clancy brothers, Charles and Frank. The first floor of the Clancy Building was built and occupied very soon after the Great Fire, while the top floors were completed by 1890. According to the King County Assessor’s Records, the ensemble appears to have been originally four stories, but there are no records that explain when the upper floors were lost. Sometime after construction, during “Seattle’s illustrious days as a ‘wide open town,” one of the buildings is purported to have housed an opium den in its basement and a mission on its above-ground floors. By the 1940s, the entire ensemble was described as a hotel and store building. While, compared to many Pioneer Square buildings, it is not masterfully designed, it represents some of the earliest construction right after the Fire of 1889.   Appearance This is a simple two-story brick clad building, which is actually made up of two separate, but similar structures. It has a common replacement parapet and cornice, but retains significant architectural detailing. The only street elevation faces Washington Street and is divided into two bays at the ground level by brick piers with cast iron bases set into the brick and rusticated stone capitals, also visibly attached to the brick as a veneer. In fact, each bay corresponds to what was originally a separate building. On the second floor, each window frame consists of a pair of double- hung windows. The west bay has two sets of windows separated by a brick pier or thickening in the wall. The east bay has three sets of double-hung windows

Detail for 116 & 118 S Washington ST S / Parcel ID 5247800525 / Inv #

Status: Yes - Inventory Classication: Building District Status: NR, LR Cladding(s): Brick, Metal, Stone - Cast Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured Roof Type(s): Flat with Parapet Roof Material(s): Asphalt/Composition, Unknown Building Type: Domestic - Hotel Plan: Rectangular Structural System: Masonry - Unreinforced No. of Stories: two Unit Theme(s): Commerce Integrity Changes to Plan: Intact Changes to Windows: Slight Storefront: Moderate Changes to Original Cladding: Slight Major Bibliographic References King County Tax Assessor Records, ca. 1932-1972. Brians, Ann Elizabeth. Indomitable Pioneer Square. Master of Urban Planning Thesis, University of Washington, Seattle, 1973. Lange, Greg and Tim O’Brian. “Virtual Pioneer Square,” unpublished manuscript, 27 October 1996. City of Seattle, Department of Neighborhoods, Historic Preservation Program files.

Photo collection for 116 & 118 S Washington ST S / Parcel ID 5247800525 / Inv #

Photo taken May 24, 2004