Seattle Historical Sites

Summary for 1741 S Hanford ST S / Parcel ID 0606000005 / Inv #

Historic Name: Common Name: Style: Modern Neighborhood: Beacon Hill Built By: Year Built: 1954   Significance In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. Built in 1954, this apartment building contained twenty-four rooms comprising eight units with four units per floor. Kitchens and bathrooms were arranged along the party walls. The first Beacon Hill streetcar line was constructed in the early 1890s, operated by the Union Trunk Line, one of Harwood Young’s business interests, and stimulated early growth on the area. The route ran south on Broadway from James Street to Main Street, then to Twelfth Avenue South. It ran south along Twelfth to South Massachusetts Street, then east to Fourteenth Avenue South, and south on Fourteenth to College Street. By 1896, it ran south to Hanford Street. Later the route followed Beacon Avenue south of the intersection of Fourteenth and Beacon Avenue. In 1906, the streetcar line was operated by the Seattle Electric Company. By 1929, the route, then known as #12 East Madison-Jefferson Park, had been extended along Beacon Avenue to South Spokane Street. A shuttle bus connected the south end of the Jefferson Park line with areas to the south as far as Thirty-Ninth Avenue South and South Cambridge Street on Beacon Hill. In the 1920s and early 1930s, brick apartment buildings were constructed near the Beacon Hill streetcar line. Some of the major stops on the Beacon Hill line included the “Junction,” at Fourteenth-Fifteenth South and Beacon Avenue, Hanford Street, and Spokane Street (Jefferson Park). Beacon Hill streetcar service ended in 1941 when buses replaced streetcars on the route. 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.   Appearance Built in 1954, this pair of horizontally-emphasized, Modern style apartment buildings stands on a rectangular lot. The buildings are oriented to an internal courtyard area between the two buildings on a sloped site. These two 4550 square foot (total floor area), two-story apartment buildings with full basements feature rectangular plans, measuring approximately 70’ by 33’, with a two story 5’ by 70’ porch on the inner courtyard side of each building. Poured concrete foundations support the wood frame, brick veneer-clad superstructures. Asphalt composition roofing covers the hipped roofs. Unadorned overhanging eaves define the rooflines. Triple metal sash windows consisting of a large central fixed lite flanked by smaller operable lites punctuate the outer exterior walls. Corner windows on the inner sides with larger triple windows having operable transoms provide day lighting off the courtyard area. Solid doors provide access to individual first and second story units. Direct flights of exterior concrete stairs with metal railings along the ends of both buildings provide access to the second story. Metal railings line the second story balconies.

Detail for 1741 S Hanford ST S / Parcel ID 0606000005 / Inv #

Status: Yes - Inventory Classication: Building District Status: Cladding(s): Brick Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured Roof Type(s): Flat Roof Material(s): Asphalt/Composition Building Type: Domestic - Multiple Family Plan: Rectangular Structural System: Balloon Frame/Platform Frame No. of Stories: two Unit Theme(s): Integrity Changes to Plan: Intact Changes to Windows: Intact Changes to Original Cladding: Intact Major Bibliographic References City of Seattle DCLU Microfilm Records. King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972), Washington State Archives. Polk's Seattle Directories, 1890-1996. City of Seattle. Survey of City-Owned Historic Resources. Prepared by Cathy Wickwire, Seattle, 2001. Forms for Ravenna Park structures. Tobin, Caroline. (2004) "Beacon Hill Historic Context Statement." Blanchard, Leslie. The Street Railway Era in Seattle: A Chronicle of Six Decades. Forty Fort, PA: H.E. Cox, 1968. Merrell, Frederica and Mira Latoszek. Images of America: Seattle’s Beacon Hill. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2003.

Photo collection for 1741 S Hanford ST S / Parcel ID 0606000005 / Inv #

Photo taken Sep 24, 2003 Photo taken Sep 24, 2003 Photo taken Sep 24, 2003 Photo taken Photo taken Mar 12, 2004 Photo taken Mar 12, 2004 Photo taken Mar 12, 2004