Seattle Historical Sites

St. Peter’s Catholic Church is significant due to its association with the Italian American community in Beacon Hill and the Rainier Valley and functioned as a harbinger of the diversity that would predominate in South Seattle.

This religious property was built in 1931 for St. Peter’s Catholic Church. The property is located on the northern end of Beacon Hill, near the area nicknamed “Garlic Gulch,” and the early congregation was predominately Italian American. Reverend John Murphy was Senior Pastor from the time the congregation occupied the building in 1931 through 1969.

Substantial residential and commercial development in Beacon Hill occurred when a transportation corridor connecting the Rainier Valley to Downtown Seattle and Seattle’s industrial district was constructed along Rainier Avenue. Development in the valley was facilitated by logging during the 1880s, the operation of the Rainier Valley Electric Railway in the 1890s, and the Jackson and Dearborn Street re-grades in the 1900s. Milling was the primary commercial industry during the last part of the nineteenth century although some agricultural activity existed. As residential development increased, Rainier Avenue gradually became the principal commercial corridor connecting the residential neighborhoods of South Seattle to downtown, the International District, and Seattle’s industrial districts. World War II brought additional building growth related to the wartime industry, as well as the influx of defense workers to nearby Boeing and the Duwamish shipyards. 

Beacon Hill has historically been a more economically and socially diverse neighborhood than Mount Baker to its east. There was less enforcement of residential deed restrictions and a greater availability of smaller, more affordable housing. One of the first land owners of Beacon Hill was George Riley, an African American from Portland, Oregon. George Riley, organizer of the Workingmen’s Joint Stock Association in Portland, arranged the organization’s purchase of property on Beacon Hill, which was platted in 1871 as Riley’s Addition. Furthermore, the northern end of Rainier Valley, which was originally settled by German immigrants, acquired the historical nickname “Garlic Gulch” during the early twentieth century due to the growing strength and predominance of its Italian American community. 

Early Italian migrants moved to the Northwest to work at the coal mines in Renton, Newcastle, and Black Diamond. Once settled, Italian Americans began operating farms, including Fred Marino and Joe Desimone, who were involved in organizing the Pike Place Market. During the growth period from 1900 to 1910, additional Italian migrants moved to Seattle for jobs in building and road construction as well as the re-grading activities. During this period, the Italian American population grew, and the 1910 census documented approximately 45 percent of Italian Seattleites who lived in south downtown and north Rainer Valley. North Rainer Valley and north Beacon Hill became known as Garlic Gulch, and the community was centered on Rainier Avenue, between Massachusetts and Atlantic Streets. This block was the principal commercial area, while residences and institutional buildings, such as Colman School, Mount Virgin Roman Catholic Church, and St. Peter’s Catholic Church, were located more south on Rainier Avenue, as well as in the nearby Beacon Hill and Mount Baker neighborhoods.

Beacon Hill’s diverse beginnings were reinforced by its landscape features, including Jefferson Park located at the center of Beacon Hill. Originally named Beacon Hill Park, Jefferson Park has exerted a profoundly positive influence on the development and social cohesion of the Beacon Hill neighborhood through its sustained use by local residents. Originally acquired by the City of Seattle in 1898, it was integrated into Seattle’s Olmsted system of parks. In 1915, the first public golf course west of the Mississippi opened at Jefferson Park. From 1919 to 1941, the year before many Japanese Americans were interned in the Northwest, the Japanese-American Language School in Seattle used the park for its annual picnics. Japanese Golf Association held annual tournaments beginning in 1931. African Americans, Japanese Americans, and Chinese Americans organized golf clubs during the 1940s and 1950s because they were excluded from white clubs; they used Jefferson Park as their home course.

The Jefferson Park community center and golf course remains open to the public and the Beacon Hill neighborhood continues to be an ethnically diverse, working-class community. Its businesses and public spaces, including Jefferson Park and Dr. Jose Rizal Park, reinforce this diversity.

The rectangular, sloping lot for this church is located between South McClellan Street and South Forrest Street and is oriented eastwards onto 15^th Avenue South. Constructed in 1931, this one-and-a-half story, Gothic Revival church has a T-shaped floor plan and poured concrete foundation, which support its platform-framed superstructure. The American common bond brick cladding incorporates both standard and clinker bricks to create a textured appearance. Fenestration is characterized by tracery windows with stained glass glazing and is protected on the outside by semi-transparent coverings. The front-gabled roof has a slight eaves overhang and is covered by asphalt composition shingles. A parapet and bell-cote extend from the front gable end. The parapet and bell-cote have raked copings of cast stone while the bell-cote has a molded apex stone, pointed arch opening, and a simple, thin cross at its finial. The bell of the bell-cote is missing. A large, pointed-arched transept window is located above the front entrance, and smaller pointed-arched windows are located on either side of the first story. A series of concrete stairs rise to the front entrance. The door surround is a pointed segmental arch of cast stone, and transom windows are located above the paneled double-door. Five dropped-arch windows are spaced along the north elevation. The north elevation also has a second entryway. It repeats features of the main entrance, such as its parapet gable, the pointed-arched window above the doorway, and a pointed, segmental arched door surround of caste stone. The south facade mirrors the north facade with the exception of a gabled roof dormer that punctuates the south slope of the main roof. This is an excellent, well-intact, example of the Gothic Revival style and remains a significant architectural feature in the Beacon Hill neighborhood.