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Summary for 1115 HARVARD AVE / Parcel ID 197820-1210 / Inv # 0

Historic Name: Minor Private Hospital Common Name: Spring Street Early Learning Center
Style: Colonial - Georgian Revival Neighborhood: First Hill
Built By: Year Built: 1910
 
Significance
This building was constructed in 1910 as the Minor Private Hospital, operated by the St. Anthony Association. Minor Hospital, founded in 1906, closed in 1928.  At that time the adjacent Seattle First Baptist Church, also built in 1910, acquired it.  It has been used as the church's education building since that time, and now also houses a nursery school. It is probably the only remaining early hospital  building on First Hill.   

The year 1910 was the beginning of the period during which First Hill, came to have the city's major concentration of hospitals.  The area, located just east of downtown Seattle, was one of the city's early expansion areas for both residents and institutions.  Construction of grand homes began here in 1885, and the neighborhood quickly became a premier residential district, with the wealthy seeking larger lots and a refuge from the crowded downtown.  The inauguration in 1889-90 of cable car lines on Madison and James streets encouraged development of more modest homes and multifamily buildings.   By the 1920s, the wealthy homeowners had largely moved elsewhere, and First Hill filled with apartment buildings, hotels, hospitals and other institutions.  Minor Hosptial was founded in 1906, Swedish Hospital in 1910, Cabrini Hospital in 1915, Virginia Mason Hospital in 1920 and Maynard Hospital in 1929.  Many of these early institutions closed or were merged with others. Today, three medical centers (Swedish, Harborview, and Virginia Mason) and their related buildings occupy most of First Hill.   

 
Appearance
This building is of wood frame construction clad with dark red brick.  It has a shallow U-shaped plan with a center wing and two side wings, all with hipped roofs.  The building is two stories tall, but has numerous hipped dormers to add nearly a full story at the upper level.  The two side wings each have three bays on the end walls, five bays on the exterior sides and two on the inner courtyard.  Each bay has a dormer and a single window on each of the first and second stories. The center section of the building has additional dormers.  Each dormer has a three-over-nine window and is clad with wood shingles. The other windows have newer dark aluminum casement sash that is compatible with the building; the original four-light transoms have been retained.  The three dormers on the end of the west wing have been converted to a shed dormer. The other alteration is that the original portico has been removed from the front entry, which is now hidden beneath a tree. 

Detail for 1115 HARVARD AVE / Parcel ID 197820-1210 / Inv # 0

Status:
Classication: Building District Status:
Cladding(s): Brick, Shingle Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured
Roof Type(s): Hip Roof Material(s): Asphalt/Composition
Building Type: Health Care - Hospital Plan: U-Shape
Structural System: Balloon Frame/Platform Frame No. of Stories: two & ½
Unit Theme(s): Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Health/Medicine, Religion
Integrity
Changes to Plan: Slight
Changes to Windows: Slight
Changes to Original Cladding: Intact
Major Bibliographic References
King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972), Washington State Archives.

Photo collection for 1115 HARVARD AVE / Parcel ID 197820-1210 / Inv # 0


Photo taken Jul 12, 2010
App v2.0.1.0