| Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
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| Style: |
Colonial - Colonial Revival, Vernacular |
Neighborhood: |
Beacon Hill |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1937 |
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| Significance |
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Built in 1937, this residence was purchased by Yasukechi and Chiyo Chiba in November of 1937. Mr. Chiba operated Main Drug Company at 514 Main Street. By 1943, James D. Morrison lived in the residence through 1954. John S. Aramaki moved into the house in 1958.
Many Japanese came to Seattle as part of the second wave of Asian immigration to Washington State starting in the 1880s. The Japanese immigrants came to work on farms, in logging operations, and in canneries.
In about 1920, Japanese-Americans began to move to areas like Beacon Hill from their initial settlement of Japantown. Beacon Hill was affordable and close to their core area on the southeast edge of downtown. Beacon Hill did not have restrictive covenants found in more exclusive neighborhoods like Mount Baker, which precluded Japanese-Americans and other minorities from purchasing homes in the area.
The Japanese Language School (Kokugo Gakko) was located at 1414 South Weller Street just north of Beacon Hill and was a central cultural institution for Seattle’s Japanese community. The proximity of the language school to Beacon Hill was also a factor in attracting Japanese-Americans to the neighborhood.
Only three Japanese families, including Frank Miyamoto’s family, lived on Beacon Hill around 1920. During the 1930s, there were quite a few Japanese businesses on Beacon Hill, including several Japanese grocery stores, such as Toyo Grocery at Fourteenth Avenue South and South Walker Street. Following the internment of the Japanese during World War II, many Japanese-Americans moved back to the Beacon Hill area. The Asian population and the number of Asian-owned businesses on the hill have continued to grow during the last fifty years. Today, there are more Asian Americans than any other single racial/ethnic group on Beacon Hill.
The percentage of Japanese students at Beacon Hill Elementary increased from less than 1% in 1910 to 22.2% in 1964. Today the combined Asian percentage of students at Beacon Hill Elementary is 50.2%.
Beacon Hill is a long north-south tending ridge located southeast of downtown Seattle and stands 350 feet at its highest point. The hill’s steep topography deterred substantial Euro-American settlement through the early 1880s. Then, development of the area was stimulated by the introduction of streetcar lines in the 1890s, its proximity to Seattle’s main industrial area to the west, and the regrading of the hill’s north end in the early 1900s.
Originally acquired by the City in 1898, Jefferson Park was integrated into Seattle’s Olmsted system of parks, and the Olmsted Brothers prepared a plan for the park in 1912. The first public golf course west of the Mississippi opened at Jefferson Park in 1915. Jefferson Park has exerted a profound positive influence on the development of the Beacon Hill neighborhood.
Because of its proximity to the International District, Japanese and Chinese families moved to Beacon Hill starting in the 1920s. World War I and II stimulated a surge in housing development associated with wartime industry. The construction of Interstate 5 in the 1960s and Interstate 90 in the 1980s sliced through the neighborhoods and contributed to Beacon Hill’s relative isolation. Today, Beacon Hill is an ethnically diverse working class community, which has a mixed Asian, Chicano, African American, and Caucasian population.
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| Appearance |
| Built in 1937, this Colonial Revival style, single-family dwelling stands on a rectangular lot. The building is oriented to Fifteenth Avenue South on a flat site at street level. This 968 square foot, one-and-a-half story house with a full basement features a rectangular plan, measuring approximately 27’ by 39’, with an 8’ by 3’ front stoop. A poured concrete foundation supports the wood frame, brick-clad superstructure. Asphalt composition roofing covers the side gable roof and dormers. Nearly flush eave and gable overhangs with boxed soffits, cornice returns and prominent fascia and rake trim define the roofline. Wood sash multiple-pane windows with painted wood casings provide day lighting. A direct flight of stairs leads to the front stoop. A restrained, Classically-influenced surround accents the front entrance. A brick chimney services the building. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Brick |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Gable |
Roof Material(s): |
Asphalt/Composition |
| Building Type: |
Domestic - Single Family |
Plan: |
Rectangular |
| Structural System: |
Balloon Frame/Platform Frame |
No. of Stories: |
one & ½ |
| Unit Theme(s): |
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| Integrity |
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Changes to Windows: |
Intact |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
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Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
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| Major Bibliographic References |
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City of Seattle DCLU Microfilm Records.
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King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972), Washington State Archives.
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Polk's Seattle Directories, 1890-1996.
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City of Seattle. Survey of City-Owned Historic Resources. Prepared by Cathy Wickwire, Seattle, 2001. Forms for Ravenna Park structures.
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Tobin, Caroline. (2004) "Beacon Hill Historic Context Statement."
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Dubrow, Gail with Donna Graves. Sento at Sixth and Main: Preserving Landmarks of Japanese American Heritage. Seattle: Seattle Arts Commission, 2002.
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Miyamota, Shorato Frank. “Social Solidarity among the Japanese in Seattle.” University of Washington Publications in the Social Sciences, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 57-130, December 1939. Seattle: University of Washington, 1939.
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