CONTEXT
Constructed 1926, the Vik Apartments is one of the most architecturally distinctive historic buildings within the Ballard Avenue Landmark District. The Ballard Avenue Landmark District encompasses a particularly well preserved section of one of several successful small towns that flourished around the perimeter of Seattle in the late nineteenth century and would be subsequently incorporated into the metropolis. Ballard Avenue is lined with an intact collection of modest scale commercial buildings that reflect the development of the community’s main commercial street between 1890 and 1930. The character of this distinctive historic streetscape was primarily preserved because it was by-passed by Post-War era development that instead occurred along modern arterials - Market Street and 15th Avenue, to the north and east. In 1976, the Ballard Avenue Landmark District was formally designated a local historic district by the City of Seattle and was also listed in the National Register of Historic Places (Ballard Avenue Historic District).
This historic property is directly associated with the post annexation era of commercial and industrial development (1908-1930) when after the annexation of Ballard to Seattle, substantial construction continued to occur along Ballard Avenue and it remained the commercial center of the community. However, commercial development occurred at a slower pace and was more concentrated near NW Market Street. Three distinctive reinforced concrete buildings were built early in this period; the Hyde & Fitzgerald Building (aka Eagles Building, 1908), the O’Donnell Hotel Building (1909) and the Ballard Savings & Loan Building (1914). Gradually new construction and business activity became much more concentrated near Market Street.
During this era Ballard, and Seattle as a whole, became more auto-oriented and associated businesses, including a Ford showroom, were established on Ballard Avenue. The streetscape changed significantly after 1916 when prohibition was instituted and long-established local saloons were converted to tobacco, candy, ice cream and soft drink businesses. The 5-year long construction and the completion of the nearby Hiram Chittenden Locks and the Lake Washington Ship Canal in 1916 also spurred major changes within the local community and increased industrial and commercial fishing activity. Prior to the construction of the locks, barges and ships could only dock at Salmon Bay during high tide, whereas after the construction the waterway remained at a much more constant lake level, which was conducive for shipping and product distribution purposes. The creation of the ship canal also required the construction of a new Ballard Bridge (1918) and spurred associated road improvement and paving projects. With traffic revisions and roadway improvements, Market Street (formerly Broadway Street) began to be developed as the principal commercial thoroughfare. In 1927-28, the completion of the massive Ballard Building established Market Street as the modern commercial center in Ballard. However, numerous distinctive commercial buildings continued to be built along Ballard Avenue up until the onset of the Depression era.
HISTORY
Prior to the construction of this concrete/structural tile commercial and residential building in 1926, an older one-story, wood-frame structure housed commercial businesses at this location. It is known to have housed various grocery businesses. Efforts to identify the original developer, owner, builder and/or architect associated with the construction of this distinctive commercial and residential building have been unsuccessful. The building was designed in the popular Mission Revival style; it included six individual apartment units on the upper floor level and was the first true “apartment” building to be constructed along Ballard Avenue NW. A news article published in the Seattle Times (May 19, 1929) reported that the Ajax Investment Co. (L.C. Allison and Hazel B. Garfield) had sold the building to Ira Cohen for $45,000. [It seems likely that the building was developed by the Ajax Investment Co.; however, permit records for construction could not be located.] The article included a photograph in which the European Bakery sign is visible. A records search did not uncover the proprietor or history of the bakery business. A large electrified sign “European Bakery” distinguished the business, which appears to have operated here from the 1926 until c.1945. Tax and permit records indicate that the property was subsequently owned by Mons I Vik, who purchased it in 1940. Mons I Vik was first enumerated in the 1940 US Census as a “fisherman” working in the “fishing” industry and residing at the Oxford Hotel near the Pike Place Public Market. He was a Norwegian immigrant born c.1895. Mr. Vik only owned the building until 1945; however, it became commonly known as the Vik Apartments.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Property Record Cards (1937-1972). Washington State Regional Archives, Puget Sound Regional Branch, Bellevue, WA.
“Ballard Avenue Historic District” National Register of Historic Places – Nomination Form (Prepared by Elisabeth Walton Potter, OAHP, April 1976.)
Baist’s Real Estate Atlas of Surveys of Seattle, Wash. Philadelphia: W.G. Baist, 1912.
Sanborn Insurance Maps, 1884-1951. Digital versions available via Seattle Public Library - www.spl.org.
