Builder:
George Schuehle
This
building was originally designed as a “Warehouse and Office Building” for
Nalley’s Incorporated, based on drawings, which date from September 5, 1929.
Builder George Schuehle obtained a permit to build on September 29, 1929.
Schuehle may also have been responsible for the design and drawings. Although
this information is available, microfilm copies of the original drawings are
extremely faded. The original clay tile roofs are partially visible on the
drawings and little else. Other drawings and records suggest that Nalley’s Inc.
was still in the building until at least 1956, when a south addition was made.
In fact, Nalley’s remained in the building at least until 1970. By 1980, B
& E Equipment, which specialized in auto parts, occupied the building.
Although
the north elevation has been clearly altered over time, the northern portion of
the building, aside from an office bar along 4th Avenue South, has
served as a garage at least since the 1950s; so these changes are perhaps not
that surprising. At present, the building is occupied by A. C. Automotive,
which was responsible for changes to the north façade, as well as the addition
of signage to both the south and north elevations in 2001. The previous
occupant, B & E Equipment, made some of the changes to the façade around
1979. The main elevation retains original architectural features, as well as
many vestiges of others. Despite these alterations, as a Mission Revival
Building, which originally functioned as a warehouse and office building, the
building still has a presence on 4th Avenue South.
This
appears to have been the Seattle warehouse for Nalley’s Incorporated, founded
by Marcus Nalley in 1918. Marcus Nalley, whose original name was Marko
Narancic, was from the district of Lika in Croatia. In 1903, while still an
adolescent, he followed his brothers to New York. He then worked at several
jobs – in a steel mill, as a meat packer at Anaconda, and then in several
kitchens - before making his way to the Pacific Northwest. Stories vary
somewhat as to when and where he first began to make “Saratoga chips.” In
1913, he became a chef on the first “Olympian” of the Milwaukee Railroad, which
ran from Chicago from Tacoma. He may have subsequently learned to make
“Saratoga chips” at the Bonneville Hotel in Tacoma. He later began to make the
chips at home, bag them and sell them door to door. In 1918, he rented a small
space behind his apartment, where he expanded production. The Tacoma Chamber of
Commerce named him a first citizen of Tacoma in 1931. Needless to say, Nalley’s
Fine Foods became very successful. Marcus Nalley died in 1962.
Additional
Sources
Adam
S. Eterovich, “Potato Chips, Bananas and Oranges,” 2002, database at <http://www.croatianhistory.net/etf/chips.html>,
accessed April 2, 2010.
Vladimir
Novak, Photo Collection, notes, database at <http://www.croatia.org/crown/articles/9512/2/Croatians-in-America---photo-collection-by-Vladimir-Novak,-part-2>,
accessed April 2, 2010.
Marcus
Nalley, Tacoma Public Library Photo Collection, notes, database at
http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/images/dt6n.asp?krequest=subjects+contains+Nalley's,%20Inc.%20and%20Tacoma%20,
accessed April 2, 2010.