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Summary for 5439 BALLARD AVE / Parcel ID 276700-2700 / Inv # 0

Historic Name: Jernigan Grocery Common Name: Ballard Smoke Shop
Style: Spanish - Mission Neighborhood: Crown Hill/Ballard
Built By: Year Built: 1903/1929
 
Significance

CONTEXT

Constructed in 1903 and remodeled in 1929 to its current form, this building is among the oldest wood-frame structures 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 a crucial era in the commercial and industrial development of Ballard (1900-1907) when the commercial district along Ballard Avenue was fully established and a significant number of permanent buildings were constructed. By the early 1900s Ballard became known as the “Shingle Capital of the World” with approximately twenty lumber and shingle mills in full operation. In addition to the mill operations the industrialized shoreline included iron foundries, machine shops, paint manufactures, shipyards, pipe making plants and boiler works. Substantial commercial buildings were constructed along Ballard Avenue as the local population grew to over 10,000 residents (including 3,400+ school age children) by 1904. During this era Ballard Avenue functioned as a full service commercial street populated by numerous boarding houses, hotels and lodging houses, clothing merchants, banks, hardware dealers, druggists, dry good stores, laundry businesses, meat markets, restaurants, theaters and saloons. Gradually, the earliest wood-frame structures were replaced by more permanent – often architect designed – commercial buildings.  Among the distinctive masonry and stone buildings that date from this era and most of which continue to characterize the streetscape are the G.B. Sanborn Block (1901, Portland Building (1901), Felt Block/Jones Building (1901, demolished), St. Charles Hotel (1902), Deep Sea Fisherman’s Building (1902), Scandinavian American Bank (1902), Matthes Block (1903), Kelsey Block (1903), Junction/Lombardini Block (1904), Kutzner Block (1904), Barthelemy Bros. Hardware Building (c.1904), Ernst Brothers Hardware Building (1904, demolished), A.L. Palmer Building (1905), Theisen Block (1905), Ballard Hardware Supply (1905), Peterson Hardware Co. (c.1905), Markussen Building (1905), and the Enquist Block (1906). In late 1906 Ballard residents approved annexation and the town became part of the City of Seattle on January 1, 1907. The boom era of major commercial construction began to lessen after the annexation.

 

HISTORY

[aka 5435-5441 Ballard Avenue NW] Believed to have been built in 1903. Efforts to identify the original owner and builder of this historic property have been unsuccessful. According to historic 1905 insurance maps its original address was 345-347 Ballard Avenue. By 1905 it functioned with a basement level, two storefront level shops oriented to Ballard Avenue and had dwelling units (accessed by a central stairwell) at the second floor level and a large stable at the alley side.  One of the earliest known tenants were a grocer (John A. Jernigan) and a shoemaker (Wm. Adair). According to tax records, the original wood-frame structure was remodeled by 1929 at which time the façade was reconstructed in a Mission style manner and a small addition was built along the southeast side of the building. Noah Bourque (retail grocer) was located at 5439 Ballard Avenue and Olepha Doelker (retail grocer) was located at 5435 Ballard Avenue in 1920. By 1937, the storefront businesses were Lindauer Eyesight Specialists/Jewelers (proprietor Gustaf A. Lindauer) and the Looking Glass Parlor (a beer parlor). The northern commercial bay was remodeled in 1960. During this era it began to house the Ember Room and then the Ballard Smoke Shop.

 

INFORMATION SOURCES

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, 1905, 1912.

Sanborn Insurance Maps, 1884-1951. Digital versions available via Seattle Public Library - www.spl.org.

 
Appearance

Rectangular footprint. Two story, two-part commercial block façade composition. One story 9’ wide bay at SE side. Narrow one-story projection at storefront; second floor and attic level setback from storefront façade. Wood frame structure with concrete basement/foundation. Stucco cladding.  Arched central entry. Bracketed shed roof clad with mission tile at façade roof cap. Main original (?) hipped roof form visible from alley and from views south of current facade. Curved Mission style parapet roofline accentuates projecting storefront level. Storefront bulkheads, entry doorways, display and second floor level windows appear to have been replaced with modern units. Fanlight decorative elements and shutters at second floor level windows have been removed. 

Detail for 5439 BALLARD AVE / Parcel ID 276700-2700 / Inv # 0

Status: Yes - Inventory
Classication: Building District Status: NR, LR
Cladding(s): Stucco Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured
Roof Type(s): Flat with Parapet Roof Material(s): Unknown
Building Type: Commercial/Trade - Business Plan: Rectangular
Structural System: Balloon Frame/Platform Frame No. of Stories: two
Unit Theme(s): Commerce
Integrity
Changes to Plan: Slight
Changes to Original Cladding: Slight
Storefront: Moderate
Major Bibliographic References

Photo collection for 5439 BALLARD AVE / Parcel ID 276700-2700 / Inv # 0


Photo taken Jan 14, 2016

Photo taken Oct 08, 2015

Photo taken Jan 14, 2016
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