Seattle Historical Sites

Residential Ballard is generally described as extending from the 8th Avenue NW to the east and the bluff to the west, and from NW 85th Street on the north to NW 65th Street to the south. The area primarily contains single family houses, but also includes a collection of mutli-family dwellings, commercial buildings, schools, churches, and other buildings. Most of the historic buildings in Ballard are modest cottages and builder's houses, and were not architect-designed. Building styles include, but are not limited to, Victorian (primarily Queen Anne), vernacular, Craftsman, American Foursquare, Colonial Revival (including variations), Tudor Revival, Minimal Traditional, and Ranch. The historic building fabric of Ballard is threatened by a rapid pace of development.

The City of Ballard was incorporated in 1890. It was the first community to incorporate after Washington achieved statehood in 1889. Although population increased rapidly, north Ballard was still relatively rural. In 1907, primarily due to lack of adequate water for its population of 15,000, Ballard citizens voted to be annexed to Seattle to ensure a good water supply for the area.

After annexation Ballard’s street names were changed to conform to Seattle’s: Ship Street turned into 65th Street, Main Street became 15th Avenue.  During the Great Depression and World War II, construction in Ballard nearly ground to a halt, with the exception of some houses built by Earl F. Mench. However, following World War II, fueled by the G.I. bill and the rise of the automobile, Ballard boomed again, and new housing followed. In recent years, the demand for new housing has spurred a tremendous amount of change in Ballard, with old, modest houses being replaced by large box houses and multi-family units. These changes threaten to alter the character and feeling of this historic neighborhood.

References

Ballard Historical Society Classic Home Tour guides.

Crowley, Walt. Seattle Neighborhoods: Ballard--Thumbnail History.  HistoryLink File # 983, accessed 6/1/16.

King County Tax Assessor Records, 1937-2014.  

McAlester, Virginia Savage.

A Field Guide to American Houses (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Alfred A Knopf Press, 2013.

Oschsner, Jeffrey Karl

Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Historical Guide to the Architects. Seattle, WA: University of

Washington Press, 1994.

Passport to Ballard: The Centennial Story. Seattle, WA: Ballard News Tribune, 1988.

According to the online King County Assessor’s Report and the Property Record Card, this house was built in 1903 or 1906, respectively. It is located in the Gilman Park Addition (1889), Block 26, Lot 7.

Alfred August Bjork (1871–1947) and his wife Ellen Wilhelmina (1883–1958), satisfied a mortgage on the property in 1906 from Anna S. Brygger, an early Ballard resident. The house was built on Chestnut St. [now 61st] just west of 4th [now 24th], and Bjork, possibly the builder, lived on the adjacent lot to the South at 416 Baker St. [now 60th] in 1904, 1905, and 1907. The 1905 Sanborn atlas showed a small structure on the lot, but it’s footprint didn’t match the structure in the 1917 Sanborn atlas, suggesting the 1906 construction date may be more accurate.

Alfred and Ellen Bjork were both born in Sweden, and lived in Seattle since about 1901.  Alfred was a millwright with the Stimson Mill Company and a ship carpenter, who arrived in Seattle in 1901. The Bjorks sold the property to H. Dahlstrom in 1908. Dahlstrom appears to have rented the home until he sold it in 1919 to Herman Broberg (1880–1952). Broberg was a Swedish real estate dealer, and he sold the property six months later to Peter John Nickolson.

Peter J. Nickolson (1880–1954), a native of Sweden, and a foundry worker and cupola tender for American Foundry Co., and his wife Gerda (1889–1978) owned and resided in the home from 1919 to 1954. Peter and Gerda’s daughter, Mrs. Ruth A Green landed a 24-pound, 10-ounce king salmon, fishing out of Ray’s Boat House in 1950, qualifying her for a spot in the Times City Salmon Derby. Following Peter’s death in 1954, Gerda continued to live in the home working briefly for the Bon Marche. In 1957, Gerda remarried to John O. Jensen (1883–1962), a former commercial fisherman, and a recently retired Norwegian maintenance man for the Main Library. Jensen died a few years later, and Gerda continued living in the home until her death in 1978.  

Subsequent owners included: Robert G. Duvall and Debbie Ewing (from 197?–1980), Robert F. Pfau, landscaper, and James F. Heacock (from 1980–2002), Colin D. & Kathy M. Carpenter (from 2002–2012), Steel Homes Inc. (from 2012–2013), who removed an existing garage, subdivided the lot and built two new townhomes behind the original house, and Hilary S. Seling, the current owner, as of May 2016 (from 2013 –).

Sources:

Cole’s Seattle Directories. 2005 - 2015.

Polk’s Seattle City Directories. 1900 – 1994.

King County Department of Assessments (2016). http://gismaps.kingcounty.gov/parcelviewer2, accessed 5/31/2016.

King County Property Record Card.  Washington State Archives. Puget Sound Regional Branch.

King County Plat Maps, King County Recorder's Office. http://146.129.54.93:8193/localization/menu.asp accessed 5/31/2016.

Sanborn Map Company (Sanborn)

1905    Seattle, Washington 1904-1905. Sanborn Map Company, Seattle, Washington. Electronic document, http://www.spl.org, accessed May 31, 2016.

1917    Seattle, Washington 1916. Sanborn Map Company, Seattle, Washington. Electronic document, http://www.spl.org, accessed May 31, 2016.

The Seattle Daily Times

    Alfred August Bjork, February 11, 1947, pg. 12.

Queen of Kings, August 13, 1950, pg. 29.

Herman Broberg, January 22, 1952. pg. 25.

Peter J. Nickolson, March 21, 1954, pg. 58

Vital Statistics. Notices of Intention to Wed, May 21, 1957, pg. 40.

Mrs. Alfred Bjork, April 30, 1958, pg. 56.

John O. Jensen, August 25, 1962, pg. 9.

Gerda Nickolson, July 13, 1978, pg. 67.

Washington Birth, Marriage, and Death Indexes. Electronic document via Ancestry Library Edition, http://www.spl.org, accessed 5/2016.

United States Federal Census. 1880–1940. Electronic document via HeritageQuest Online, http://www.spl.org, accessed 5/2016.

This ca. 1903 Queen Anne house is 1.5 stories and is clad in horizontal vinyl siding. The main portion of the roof has a side-facing gable roof, but the right side of the gable is hipped and a tall, narrow wing off the front of the house has a front-facing gable end. The roof is clad in asphalt shingles. The gables feature eave returns and the front-facing gable has a small window with an ornate upper portion within the gable end. A front porch extends left of the front wing and is partially covered by the deep eaves of the main roof. An additional flat roof extends out and is supported by turned wood columns. The porch is reached by seven wood stairs and has a low, solid wall along the exposed sides. Four one-over-one light windows are located on the first floor of the front façade. The left corner, which contains one of the one-over-one light windows, is angled. The front door is located off the porch within the front wing.