Seattle Historical Sites

This building consists of a c.1911 freight shed and an attached operations headhouse constructed in c.1923 at the north end. The headhouse was constructed to serve as office space for the terminal facilities constructed by the Oregon and Washington Railroad & Navigation Co., a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Railroad. It was designed by J. R. Holman, Chief Engineer of construction, O.W.R.R. & N. Co. The buidling was constructed to expand facilities on the site that were initially developed in circa 1911 with the construction of the attached freight sheds. The site also originally included a rail yard and a covered platform that once stood approximately 30 feet to the west of the sheds has been removed. After the decline of rail freight, the building served the Washington-Oregon Shippers' Cooperative (WOSCA). More recently the headhouse has served as offices for non-freight businesses and the attached sheds have served as warehouse or office space for a variety of tenants.

The building is directly associated with the early development of the rail transport infrastructure in the Seattle tidelands area. Between 1906 and 1914, the Milwaukee, Great Northern, Union Pacific, and Northern Pacific, all national concerns, developed extensive rail yards and support facilities on the reclaimed tideflats. The historic Oregon and Washington Station (now Union Station, 1911), King Street Station (1906), and the railroad tunnel below downtown were also built during this time. The tidelands were filled through a series of successive grading and fill projects between 1895 and 1929, creating developable land that made the expansion of railroad and port facilities possible and fostering the development of the area for commercial use that supported significant economic progress of the city in the early 20^th century.

Sources:

“Washington State Major League Baseball Stadium Project, Vol. 3: Specialized Technical Information,” Seattle, WA: Washington State Major League Baseball Stadium Public Facilities District. August, 1996.

Both the freight house (c. 1923) and the attached freight sheds (c. 1911) on the south side of the building have been altered.The two-story headhouse is concrete construction and measures approximately 50 feet wide by 100 feet long. Although the original large dentiled cornice was replaced with painted sheet metal some time after 1996, the building's classical composition is accentuated by a strong base and continuous horizontal banding at the window sill levels. The original entry was on the east side facing First Avenue. The current entry on the north side dates to 1941 and is recessed. Windows  are mostly original one-over-one double-hung wood sash in pairs. In 1972, the freight house loading docks on the west side were enclosed with corrugated metal. In 2001the north end of the freight shed was renovated with a new modern entry, including new doors and  windows,stairs and an ADA ramp.