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Summary for 804 6TH AVE / Parcel ID 7666202695 / Inv # 0

Historic Name: NePage McKenney Co. Common Name: Pacific Fish Co. Bldg /Wan Hua Foods
Style: Other - Industrial Neighborhood:
Built By: Year Built: 1924
 
Significance
In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance.

This factory warehouse was constructed in 1924 by the Austin Co. for the NePage McKinney Co., electrical products manufacturers, suppliers, and contract engineers. Located in the former Seattle tidelands area, it is associated with the final phase of the historic era of development of the area (Post World War I up to 1930) as a transportation-related industrial and commercial warehouse district. 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 20th century.

The NePage McKenney Co. was organized in 1910 and by 1929 had offices and warehouses in Seattle, Portland, Oakland and San Francisco. They produced industrial electrical equipment such as switchboards, panel boards, electrical cabinets, control apparatus, footlights and street lighting standards. They performed construction contract services in Nevada, Montana, the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. They occupied this building until at least 1945. The ABC Fish Corp and the Pacific Fish Co. occupied the building in the 1970s and 1980s. Wan Hau Foods has occupied the building since 1994.

The Austin Company was founded in Cleveland, Ohio in 1878. In 1904, the company became the first to offer architectural design, engineering, and construction management services as a complete contract package. They pioneered the use of standardized and modular pre-fabricated building technology which they successfully implemented as a significant military contractor during Word War I. They quickly became an international leader in automotive and aviation facilities construction and pioneered the use of electric welding techniques to build the first all-welded steel frame building in Cleveland in 1928. They continued their success providing significant construction services for military and industrial facilities during World War II in both the U.S. and abroad. The firm currently maintains numerous offices worldwide and its Seattle office continues a long-standing relationship with the Boeing Company. Examples of extant buildings in Seattle designed by the firm include the Frye Warehouses in the Seattle Tidelands area, the third addition to the Metropolitan/ Richmond Laundry (Seattle City Landmark) in the Cascade neighborhood, and the cold storage warehouse for the U.S. Navy Supply Depot (now CityIce) in Interbay.

 
Appearance

This two story building is clad in patterned brick veneer and is relatively intact. It measures 81 feet wide at the 6th Ave elevation and 119 feet deep. It is simple, flat-roofed and rectangular in form with articulated bays divided by cast stone-capped piers on north and west street elevations, which are similar in character. The repeated bays contain large vertical multipaned industrial steel sash windows with cement sills at the second story. Windows at the first story are also steel sash, but somewhat smaller and more square, except for the west elevation, where the first story window openings are covered by painted wood panels. The entry is a contemporary door set within the left side of a pair of arched bays centered  on the 6th Ave. elevation topped with cement coping. The east, alley, elevation is utilitarian in character has painted brick cladding, industrial steel sash windows and a single loading bay with a roll-up door. The south elevation is also utilitarian and has been altered to some extent. Three large windows are contemporary. An original ramp leads to a small covered loading bay that is somewhat modified from the original.

Detail for 804 6TH AVE / Parcel ID 7666202695 / Inv # 0

Status: Yes - Inventory
Classication: Building District Status:
Cladding(s): Brick Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured
Roof Type(s): Flat with Parapet Roof Material(s): Unknown
Building Type: Commercial/Trade - Warehouse Plan: Rectangular
Structural System: Concrete - Poured No. of Stories: two
Unit Theme(s): Commerce, Manufacturing/Industry, Transportation
Integrity
Changes to Plan: Slight
Changes to Windows: Slight
Changes to Original Cladding: Intact
Storefront: Slight
Major Bibliographic References
King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972), Washington State Archives.
Polk's Seattle Directories, 1890-1996.
Kroll's Atlas of Seattle. Seattle: Kroll Map Company, 1920 & 1928.
Bagley, Clarence. History of King County. Chicago: S. J. Clarke, 1929.
City of Seattle Department of Planning and Development Microfilm Records.

Photo collection for 804 6TH AVE / Parcel ID 7666202695 / Inv # 0


Photo taken Mar 04, 2007

Photo taken Mar 04, 2007
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