LPB 325/13

REPORT ON DESIGNATION

Name and Address of Property: Union Stables

2200 Western Avenue

Legal Description: Lots 9 and 12 in Block 40 of A.A. Denny's Sixth Addition to the Town of Seattle as laid out by A.A. Denny (commonly known as A.A. Denny's Sixth Addition to the City of Seattle) according to the plat thereof recorded in Volume 1 of Plats, Page 99, records of King County, Washington.

At the public meeting held on June 5, 2013 the City of Seattle's Landmarks Preservation Board voted to approve designation of the Union Stables at 2200 Western Avenue as a Seattle Landmark based upon satisfaction of the following standards for designation of SMC 25.12.350:

C. It is associated in a significant way with a significant aspect of the cultural, political, or economic heritage of the community, City, Station or nation.

D. It embodies the distinctive visible characteristics of an architectural style, or period, or a method of construction.

E. It is an outstanding work of a designer or builder.

F. Because of its prominence of spatial location, contrasts of siting, age, or scale, it is an easily identifiable visual feature of its neighborhood or the city and contributes to the distinctive quality or identity of such neighborhood or the City.

DESCRIPTION

Urban Context and Site

Situated at the northeast corner of Western Avenue and Blanchard Street, the subject property is located in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood, northwest of the downtown retail core, two blocks north of Pike Place Market and approximately two blocks east of the waterfront. Presently, the Alaskan Way Viaduct / Highway 99 and its Western Avenue off-ramp are approximately half a block west of the subject building, and separate it from the waterfront. (These highway elements are scheduled for removal as part of the proposed waterfront tunnel and will be demolished ca. 2016.) Nearby buildings are of a broad range of ages and sizes, with some properties occupied by surface parking. Visually, the surrounding structures include a number of brick masonry buildings from the early 20th century as well as newer brick veneer-clad buildings from the 1980s to 1990s.

The block on which the building is located is bisected by a 16'-wide alley that runs north-south along the east side of the building. Immediately north of the subject property is a two-story brick commercial building constructed in 1913. The remainder of the west half of the block is surface parking. East of the alley, there are five separate buildings on the block facing east onto 1st Avenue. These are mixed-use structures, each with a commercial base and apartments above. Three of these are three-story, bearing brick masonry buildings dating from 1909-1911, contemporary with the Union Stables. The other two are the 16-story concrete-frame Bell Tower Apartments (1970) at 2215 1st Avenue, and an eight-story building at 2233 1st Avenue, presently under construction.

The 120' by 120' subject property consists of two 60' by 120' parcels---Lots 9 and 12 on Block 40 of the A.A. Denny's 6th Addition. The building faces west onto Western Avenue and extends to the property lines on all four sides; there is no landscaping on the site. The site slopes significantly from east to west, with an overall grade change of approximately 12'. The grade change is expressed along Blanchard Street and on the building's south facade. This topography allows for ongrade entries to both the first and second-floor levels of the building.

The Building Structure and Exterior

The four-story, flat-roofed, 120' by 120' building has a concrete foundation and bearing brick masonry perimeter walls. On the interior, the concrete foundation extends to serve as the perimeter wall on the east and portions of the north and south sides. The structure consists of heavy timber posts and beams and timber girders. Posts are 14x14 on the first floor, 12x12 on the second floor, and 10x10 on the third floor. Structural columns are 20' on-center each way, with heavy timber girders running east-west. There are two cast iron columns near the east end of the first floor, which appear to correspond with the location of a concrete electrical vault on the floor above. Floors are timber decking over heavy timber purlins and girders, with the purlins on approximately 5' centers. (Coughlin Porter Lundeen, p. 5.) The exposed decking and stacked framing members are visible at each floor level and the roof level.

The primary facade faces west onto Western Avenue, with a similar street-facing facade on the south along Blanchard. Both facades are characterized by their brick walls; arrangement into six evenly-spaced bays; large, regular window openings; and some brick and terra cotta detailing at the fourth story and parapet. Window openings are rectangular, with the exception of the four central openings at the fourth story on both of these facades, which are Roman-arched (semicircular arches). A slight setback of the window bays emphasizes the brick pilasters between them.

Decorative brickwork includes corbelling above the rectangular window openings at the end bays and at the penthouse level, a simple cornice band formed by a slightly projecting rowlock course above and below a soldier course, and the large arches of the central four openings at the fourth story. The arches are formed of four rowlock courses and two slightly projecting header courses along the outer edge, and appear to spring from the pilasters. "Capitals" for the pilasters are provided by a projecting rowlock course with alternately projecting headers below. A buff-colored, circular terra cotta medallion with a diamond shape in its center is set in each spandrel between the arches. Another buff-colored terra cotta decorative detail is provided above the fourth-story opening on each end bay, where there are two individual diamonds, each flanked by a pair of squares---a deconstructed version of the spandrel detail.

Originally, the central four bays of the primary west facade culminated in a tall, peaked parapet. (The parapet was cropped by one bay at either end at some point, likely in the 1970s and clearly by 1975.) A large, cream-colored glazed terra cotta detail in the center of the parapet prominently identifies the original function of the building---a horse's head projects from a round medallion, which has a garland of fruit cascading over the bottom edge. A rectangular window opening is located to either side of this detail. Originally, terra cotta panels reading "UNION" (on the left) "STABLES" (on the right) flanked these windows. Scrollwork bracketed the ends of the raised parapet. Due to the cropping of the parapet, only the last "N" of Union and the first "S" of Stables remain.

Windows on the primary west facade and similar south facade featured multi-light wood windows, ganged together in the large openings. The openings in the end bays typically contained three nine-light windows, each window topped by a six-light transom. The four center bays contained the same windows, in groups of four. The windows were likely casement type, with operable hopper transoms for ventilation. Each window measured approximately 3'-5" wide by 6'-5" tall, including the transom. The grouped windows in the large, semicircular arched openings at the fourth story followed the line of the arch. Due to the sloped site, the first-story windows along the south facade are smaller and limited to the western bays, while the window at the south end bay on the west facade has a raised sill.

Full-width doors were placed in the two central openings of the west facade at the first story, and another at the east end bay of the south facade, where grade aligned with the second floor of the building. The 1937 tax record photo also shows a person door in the bay north of the large central openings on the west facade, and a pair of wood doors with glazed upper portion at the west end bay of the south facade. Presently, the two central openings on the west facade contain contemporary aluminum storefront assemblies, each with a pair of doors surrounded by wide sidelights and glazed transoms. The east end bay on the south facade contains an overhead door, and a person door has been inserted in the bay immediately west of that.

The east (alley) side of the building is finished with common brick. Due to the topography, the first story is below grade at this side and alley entries provide access to the second floor of the building. Regular, rectangular wall openings indicate the six-bay arrangement of the structure. Many of the original divided-light wood windows remain in place at this elevation, with three and four windows ganged into each large opening. Each of the nine-light windows has a six-light transom. A metal fire escape ladder with two shallow landings is located approximately centrally on the east wall.

The north side of the building, also finished with common brick, abuts the adjacent two-story property. There is no fenestration on this elevation.

The 1937 property record card indicates two penthouses, "both shiplap covered with corrugated steel." In a ca. 1970 aerial, a single penthouse appears as a two-bay-wide gabled structure that extended back from the front roof parapet, with a northern ell at the east end. Much of the penthouse was destroyed by fire in 1978. Presently, a partial penthouse roof and supporting structure are visible at the roof level, behind the remaining raised portion of the parapet.

Interior Plan and Features

According to a feature in a local newspaper, the Union Stables once accommodated 300 horses and was constructed so that "...every stall is well lighted and ventilated, there is absolutely no possibility of loss by fire, and the sanitary equipments of the building throughout preclude the possibility of contagious diseases doing any extensive damage..." (Seattle Daily Times, February 27, 1910, p. 55).

Original drawings of the building do not survive, but the interior materials and character of the former stable appear largely intact. Perimeter walls are exposed brick, and there are very few partitions. Because of the steep slope of the site, the first floor is below grade toward the eastern portion of the building. The floor at this level is a concrete slab, and there is no sub-grade basement. On the upper stories, unfinished timber decking provides the floor surfaces. Some of the floor areas are raised with sloped boards that indicate the original locations of stalls and aisles, and some of the posts appear to have been chewed by horses. There is no longer any visible delineation of stalls, nor are there indications of original location of tack storage or other related functions. Ample operable fenestration would have provided ventilation for the horses.

The interior brick face of the perimeter walls at the upper stories appear to have been white-washed originally, although the white is faded in many locations. A freight elevator is located near the center of the east end of the building. The location of the shaft appears to be original, although the elevator itself is not. The metal doors open vertically rather than horizontally, and on the upper floors, the hoistway is clad with whitewashed vertical boards.

The 1937 property record card provides some additional details. Ceiling heights were noted as follows: 15'-6" at the first floor, 12' at the second floor, 12'-3" at the third floor, 11'-6" at the fourth floor, and 10'-8" and 12' at the two penthouses. The earliest drawings on file at DPD are remodeling drawings from 1942, which are very scratched and difficult to read. They do note "hay loft in this space [penthouse?] to be vacated, ladder to be removed" and "remove ramp & restore well over to normal framing" at an internal ramp at the southeast corner of the building. A "shadow" of the southeast ramp is visible in this location on the interior brick face of the south wall. The 1942 drawings also indicate that an enclosed stair at the southwest corner of the building was inserted at the time. This enclosed stairwell served as an exit route and has a sheet metal-clad door at each level.

Changes to the Building

The building is largely intact and conveys its original design and use as a heavy timber and bearing brick multi-story stable building. Windows at the upper stories on the primary south and west facades are no longer extant, and the openings are presently covered with plywood panels that are painted to mimic the original window divisions. At some point, likely in the 1970s, the north and south ends of the tall western roof parapet were removed. A fire burned the penthouse level in 1978. On the interior, the open volume of the building has been maintained.

Permit records and drawing available from DPD microfiche files indicate the following changes:

Date Description

1909 Build 5-story brick stable, 120x120 (estimated cost $55,000)

1942 Remodeling of warehouse building for Grunbaum Furniture Co. (Marcus Priteca)

1943 Warehouse improvements---new chimney, Grunbaum Bros. Furniture Co. (Atherton Construction Co.)

1944 Construct office partition

1949 Alter building at 2200 Western Ave (owner Mrs. Augusta Henry, architect R.H. Peck)

1949 Automatic Sprinklers, Bill's Towing Garage

1952 Sprinklers, Bill's Towing

1966 Paint spray booth

1967 Sprinklers, Metro Volkswagen, Inc.

1968 Alter portion of building (warehouse, storage garage, body & fender shop)

1971 Erect & maintain sign

1978 Repair fire damage to penthouse of existing warehouse building, Continental Furniture Co. (architect Whiteley Jacobsen & Associates)

1979 Erect & maintain printed sign

1979 Erect non-illuminated awning over public property

1987 Erect & maintain 6'x22' illuminated sign on wall, Continental Furniture Co.

1995 Interior non-structural alterations to retail space, 1st floor (architect Gordon Walker)

1995 Reconfigure storefront and install awnings to retail tenant space (architect Gordon Walker)

1995 Erect & maintain two awnings over public property with graphics, Continental Furniture Co.

1996 Erect & maintain one double-faced sign over public property

2002 Sign/awning permit

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

Historical Overview of Belltown

Seattle's Belltown neighborhood is named for William Bell, one of the city founders who landed at Alki with the Denny Party in 1851. Historically, the neighborhood encompassed the western portion of Bell's claim, west of 2nd Avenue and approximately between Lenora Street and Denny Way, although the neighborhood name today commonly refers to an area as far east as 5th Avenue.

Belltown was isolated from the earliest settlement of Seattle farther south, due to distance and to the steep grades of the neighborhood. Prior to regrading efforts to level Denny Hill, "the greatest activity was along the waterfront and on the steep slope west of 1st Avenue, which was a pioneer industrial center focused on lumber and fish processing" (Sheridan, p. 3). The neighborhood also incorporated modest dwellings, stores, and a hotel. In 1889, electric streetcar service arrived in Belltown, with a line along 2nd Avenue from James Street to Denny Way.

By 1899, Seattle City Engineer Reginald Heber Thomson had completed the first phase of the Denny Regrade, the intent of which was to encourage development through the construction of straight, level roads and water systems. This initial phase of the project leveled 1st Avenue from Pine Street to Denny Way. A second phase was carried out between 1903 and 1911, covering the area between 2nd and 5th Avenues from Pike to Cedar Streets. (The final phase of the Denny Regrade, which reduced the hill's eastern slope between 5th and Westlake Avenues and between Virginia and Harrison Streets, did not occur until 1928-30.)

As Seattle's population grew, so did the Belltown neighborhood. The nearby Pike Place Market was established at the corner of 1st Avenue and Pike Street in 1907 and presently stretches north to Virginia Street, two blocks south of the Union Stables. Development of stores, taverns, and cafes along 1st Avenue followed the establishment of the Market. In 1909, when the subject building was constructed, Western Avenue was rapidly developing. It was increasingly built up with modest apartment houses and wholesale or livery businesses. A feature in the newspaper, "Western Avenue Enjoying its Share of Progress," described some of the new projects, including Union Stables (italics added):

[Western Avenue's] progress is seen by taking a trip down the thoroughfare, starting at the north end. The first new structure encountered is a three-story frame apartment house at the southeast corner of Western Avenue and Cedar Street, costing $25,000...It will contain twenty-four apartments of three and four rooms each, each one heated with steam and having hot water to all sinks and a toilet and bath. Telephones will connect each apartment. It is not an elaborate nor expensive building. It is a good one for that part of the town. The next building is a three-story brick hotel on the west side of Western Avenue near Wall Street for Capt. John Flynn, a retired sea captain, who is spending at least $35,000 on this structure, a building that seems a little better than necessary. It contains fifty-seven rooms and will be completely equipped for hotel and storage purposes...This is the best improvement on the north end of Western Avenue. Across the corner from this hotel...[is] a two-story store and apartment house...of frame construction, [that] will have six stores on Western Avenue and six apartments on the upper story...Several blocks south of this building, on the corner of Lenora and Western Avenue, the Angeles Brewing Company has erected a three-story store and rooming house...

The biggest improvement in that section of the street will be a monster five-story brick stable on the northeast corner of Blanchard and Western Avenue to be built by Scott Benjamin and V.D. Maddocks...[W]hen completed, the owners assert, it will be the most modern stable west of the Mississippi River...[It] will occupy a corner where now grows all old orchard...The new state armory is the most elaborate improvement on the street and by far the most expensive. One of the conspicuous buildings of the street is The Bon Marche stables, built on the east side of Western Avenue between Bell and Battery Streets...Doubtless other improvements are planned and will develop soon, but to say the least, Western Avenue is having its share of the prosperity that is sweeping over the city. (Seattle Daily Times, August 29, 1909, p. 34)

A fire started at the Galbraith Bacon stable on the night of June 10, 1910, and burned nine square blocks---beginning at Railroad Avenue and Battery Street and up to 2nd Avenue and Vine Street. The Union Stables building was spared, located two blocks south of the fire. Rapid rebuilding followed, and neighborhood growth in Belltown continued into the 1920s. Seattle's first zoning ordinance, in 1923, designated most of the area, including the subject property, as a Commercial District; across Western Avenue, the west side of the street to the waterfront was designated a Manufacturing District, consistent with its early industrial uses.

Livery Stables in Seattle

Urban livery stables were common in the late 19th and early 20th century, but there are few research sources that explain the history of the building type. Horses were used to draw early streetcars and fire engines in Seattle as well as in other cities. Horse-drawn delivery wagons were used by wholesalers, railroad companies, service businesses such as commercial laundries and newspapers, and retailers such as Frederick & Nelson and the Bon Marche. A traffic count on December 23, 1904, at the corner of 2nd Avenue and Pike Street cited 14 automobiles and 3,945 horse-drawn vehicles (Lange). The automobile's presence increased rapidly, however, and by 1915 numerous distributors, repair shops, and other autorelated businesses had been established. That same year, 6,979 residents of Seattle were issued automobile licenses (Dorpat).

As automobile use increased, reliance on horse-drawn vehicles diminished. Polk Directory listings note the presence of 17 livery, sale, and boarding stables in Seattle in 1890; 16 in 1895; 18 in 1900; and 20 in 1905. The number rose to 36 in 1908 and to a maximum figure of 37 by 1910, after which date the number decreased to 27 in 1915. By 1925 there were only eight stables listed. The last year that liveries were listed in the Polk Directory was 1928, when there were only three. (Private stables used by newspapers, laundries, and retail stores were not listed in the directories, so the total number of stables was consistently greater.)

Even as motor vehicles were introduced, horse-drawn wagons persisted in urban settings among some businesses and institutions through at least 1915, such as the City of Seattle's Health and Sanitation Department, as evidenced in historic photographs. The Seattle Fire Department, which had introduced motorized engines before 1900, retired its last horses in 1924. Horse-drawn delivery wagons were used in the construction of both the Smith Tower (built 1910-14) and the Lake Union Steam Plant in 1911 and 1914. A number of livery stables, including the Union Stables, were located on Western Avenue. In 1905, seven of the 20 listed livery stables were on Western Avenue, primarily in the 2100 block. Records indicate that in the 1920s, Manly Stables were located at 2103 Western Avenue, John Forrester & Son at 2109 Western Avenue, and Rainier Stables at 2114 Western Avenue (Polk directories). Stables were also present in other parts of the city, such as Ballard, South Lake Union, Georgetown, and south of downtown. As automobiles and trucks replaced horses, some stables became garages or served other auto-related uses.

Though stables were once common and essential to Seattle's daily economic life, there is little information about stable buildings when compared to those associated with automobiles. Regardless, the building designs appear to follow a vernacular pattern. A typical stable is a linear space, with individual stalls opening into a central, double-loaded aisle, with tack, carriage, and storage rooms near entry points. Stable buildings may have deep roof overhangs if there are outboard stalls, opening directly along the sides of the structure. Ventilation, light, and visibility for horses require that the interiors remain open above stall walls, which are typically 5' high. Multi-story stables are typical only in urban settings, and sometimes had elevators but typically were fitted with exterior or interior ramps. These common elements are seen in many historic photographs of stables in and around Seattle. The subject building has at-grade entry on both the first and second floors, because of the sloping topography. There are indications of ramps on the interior face of the south perimeter wall, which likely provided access to the upper two stories.

Most stable buildings were timber-framed, similar in structure to the Union Stables, but many of the early buildings featured wood siding and wood-shingled roofs, typical of vernacular and rural construction. There appear to be few remaining wood-clad stables in Seattle, probably due to their vulnerability to fire as well as obsolescence. At least two other brick masonry livery buildings have persisted: one is the Van Vorst Building, a locally-designated landmark structure at 415 Boren Avenue North in South Lake Union that was used by Frederick & Nelson for its delivery division; the other is the former Rainier Stables, a two-story brick masonry building that dates from 1902 and is located a block south of the subject building. The Union Stables building was identified in a 1975 Historic Seattle inventory of buildings and urban design resources as "significant to the city" (Nyberg and Steinbrueck).

A review of some extant former livery stables in other cities indicates that these buildings ranged from completely straightforward, modest structures to more high-style examples with copious architectural detailing. All of them featured at least one large opening at grade, but other elements varied greatly.

Early History of the Union Stables and its Original Owners, Benjamin & Maddocks

The City of Seattle Department of Buildings issued a permit on September 9, 1909 to "build [a] 5-story brick stable, 120' x 120'" at 2204-06 Western Avenue. The cost was estimated at $55,000. The owner was listed as Benjamin & Maddocks, and the designer and builder was George C. Dietrich. The new Union Stables building at the corner of Western Avenue and Blanchard Street, was completed in January 1910.

A local newspaper item describing the new Union Stables building referred to it as "the development of the old Pony Stables" and explained how the business got started:

In 1890 Scott W. Benjamin embarked in the livery, feed and sale stable business on [the corner of Fifth Avenue and Pine Street], then considered well out toward the "suburbs." Nine years later he took into partnership in the successful business institution, Mr. V.D. Maddocks, and the partnership still continues. In 1902 the Pony Stables expanded in keeping with the growth of business and the city, and absorbed the Union Stables on Third and Pine. Success and growth have characterized the concern from the start, and the magnificent new brick and concrete fireproof building...became necessary to handle the business along up-to-date methods...The firm of Benjamin & Maddocks is known throughout the Puget Sound country among horse owners and fanciers as the most progressive, as well as a fair and square concern in every sense of the word." (Seattle Daily Times, February 27, 1910, p. 55)

Benjamin & Maddocks, livery stables, was listed in the 1901 Polk Directory with four addresses: 1514 and 1520 3rd Avenue, 1519 4th Avenue, and 1530 5th Avenue. Pony Stables also had a directory listing, with Benjamin & Maddocks as proprietors. Pony Stables even had two telephone numbers listed. The business clearly prospered, and in 1903 the two proprietors bought the property they had been leasing on the east side of 3rd Avenue, between Pike and Pine. The following year, they obtained a building permit to raise the stable building and construct a store underneath (Seattle Daily Times, July 13, 1904). In the 1905 directory, Union Stables Inc. was listed as "successors to Pony Stables," with Scott W. Benjamin as president and Vernon D. Maddocks as vice president. In August 1906, just two years later, they sold the property to the Cyrus F. Clapp Investment Company for $82,500 (Seattle Daily Times, August 12, 1906). The sale figure was two to four times as much as they had paid for it, depending on the citation---a good rate of return for their two-year investment. Both men moved into impressive residences in 1907.

Union Stables was listed in Polk directories at the Western Avenue address from 1910 until at least 1925, with proprietors Scott W. Benjamin and V.D. Maddocks. It is unclear when the business ceased operating full time; in a September 1922 reference, Benjamin was identified as a "former owner" of the Union Stables (Seattle Daily Times, September 19, 1922), and a November 1922 classified ad listed the building for rent, "Brick building, Western and Blanchard; suitable for garage" (Seattle Daily Times, November 28, 1922). Despite these notices, a February 1924 advertisement identifies the Union Stables as the location for a horse auction, and the business was still listed as a livery boarding and sales stables in the 1925 directory. In the 1930 and 1932 directories, there were business listings for Union Stables Inc., which was no longer a livery business, and also a listing for Benjamin & Maddocks Garage. By 1935 there was no related directory listing, perhaps due to Maddocks' death the prior year.

A dramatic moment of history is revealed in a Seattle Daily Times article from December 19, 1923:

More than $25,000 worth of bonded liquor, intended for the Christmas "trade," was confiscated by the police last night in one of the biggest liquor raids they have conducted since prohibition went into effect. Twenty varieties of liquor, ranging from vermouth and whiskey to expensive wines, were included in the stock unearthed by the raiders.

The cache was found in the Union Stables at Western Avenue and Blanchard Street...[T]he police found a room in the rear of the place, heavily padlocked...[T]he officers smashed the padlocks from the doors and entered, to find the room packed from floor to ceiling with cases of liquor...And official count showed 230 cases, valued at from $100 to $170 a case, bootleggers' prices. This is the largest stock ever unearthed by the police.

Reportedly, the liquor cases were tagged with delivery addresses corresponding to prominent Seattle citizens, but the owner of the liquor was not immediately determined (Seattle Daily Times, December 20, 1923).

Scott W. Benjamin (1860 --1946) was born in Oregon. He married Sarah Miller at Pilot Rock, Oregon, in 1890 and the couple moved to Seattle. Benjamin was "a pioneer dealer in horses and proprietor of the well-known pony stables at Fifth Avenue and Pine Street during the Alaska gold rush." (Seattle Daily Times, November 11, 1940.) Benjamin was also interested and involved in local politics, serving two terms as a Seattle City Councilman in the early 1900s. In 1916, he ran a paid newspaper advertisement against the ban of beer manufacturing in Washington State (Seattle Daily Times, November 1, 1916). In 1922 Benjamin was appointed by the mayor to the City Zoning Commission.

Benjamin apparently invested in real estate as well, buying investment property on Pike Street between 7th and 8th Avenues in 1909, which he sold to the Nootka Investment Company in 1925. He also owned a 68-acre fruit orchard near Sunnyside for about five years, from ca. 1905 to 1910 (Seattle Daily Times, June 5, 1910). Together with others, Benjamin submitted a site "on Blanchard Street, extending from First to Western Avenues and along Lenora Street" for consideration for the proposed federal office building in Seattle in 1928 (Seattle Daily Times, August 2, 1928). It is unclear if this included the subject property or if Benjamin owned nearby property south of the stable as well.

In January 1907, Benjamin purchased property on Seattle's Capitol Hill, on 22nd Avenue North (now East), between East Prospect Street and East Highland Drive. In August of that year, he filed plans by architect William Cass-Stowe to build a house at 1107 22nd Avenue North (now East), where he lived until 1925. In 1910, Benjamin sold the northern 60' of his property for $6,000 (Seattle Daily Times, August 28, 1910). The 1925 directory lists Benjamin's home address at 3203 37th Avenue South and in 1930 it was 2320 41st Avenue SW, which was a very modest house in comparison with the one he had built on Capitol Hill. In 1935, he lived at 624 East 76th Street and was employed as a "utilityman" for the Port of Seattle. Benjamin died in Seattle on February 6, 1946, at the age of 86.

Vernon D. "V.D." Maddocks (1863--1934) was born in Maine and later came to the Washington Territory, settling at White River. In 1898 he moved to Seattle, and soon after joined Scott Benjamin in the livery business. Between 1914 and 1926, Maddocks also co-owned the Hoyt Shoe Company with J. Frank Hoyt, his brother-in-law. Maddocks lived at 133 14th Avenue North (now East) on Capitol Hill, from 1907 until his death in 1934. (Seattle Daily Times, February 27, 1934.) ( The former Maddocks residence was the subject of a landmark nomination in March 2012.)

Later Owners and Occupants

Local directory listings and records from Seattle's Department of Planning and Development indicate that the building was used as both a vehicle garage and a furniture warehouse over the years following Benjamin & Maddocks' ownership. Signage visible in the 1937 property tax record photo indicates that the subject building was used as a garage at that time. Signs include "Great Western Garage," "Standard Oil Products," and "Repairing." The 1938 reverse directory lists the United Furniture Company warehouse at the subject address, and drawings for 1942 and 1943 alterations were prepared for the Grunbaum Brothers Furniture Company. By 1949 and into the mid1950s it housed Bill's Towing Garage, and in the mid-1960s to mid-1970s it was a Volkswagen auto body repair.

By the late 1970s, the building was used a warehouse and offices for Continental Furniture, with a retail store on the first level. Continental Furniture also had a retail store nearby on 1st Avenue. Since then, it has been in the same ownership and variously been occupied as a furniture warehouse or discount furniture store. The building is currently used for furniture "flash sales."

Original Designer and Builder, George C. Dietrich

George C. Dietrich (1868--?) is identified as the designer and builder of the Union Stables on the building permit as well as in period newspaper articles. Biographical sketches dating from 1907 and 1911 (Sketches of Washingtonians and Calvert's Cartoon: a Reference Book of Seattle's Successful Men) provide some background information about him.

Dietrich was born in Riverside, New Jersey, and educated in its public school system. In 1886 he began working as a general contractor, completing a number of projects in Philadelphia. He built that city's National Republican Convention Hall in 1900, completing the building in just 32 days, eight days ahead of schedule. He also built the Pennsylvania State building at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis.

Dietrich apparently specialized in industrial projects, including factories, spinning and weaving mills, and the pumping station for Philadelphia's water filtration system. He completed "13 buildings for the Cotton Oil & Fibre Co. at Norfolk, Va.; water works at Greenville, South Carolina; two and a half mile boulevard at Cape May, N.J., and many other large buildings." Prior to his arrival in Seattle, Dietrich had constructed 28 large manufacturing plants in the east and south (Sketches, p. 150).

Dietrich came to Seattle from Philadelphia in 1906, having established himself as a nationally known contractor and engineer. He supervised the raising and moving of the sixstory Eagles Hall (no longer extant) in the Pine Street regrade. In 1910, he designed and built the A.L. Palmer Building (1000 1st Avenue South), and in 1910-11 designed and built the Lewiston Hotel (2201 1st Avenue, just east of the subject building) and the Scargo Hotel next door (2209 1st Avenue). Dietrich also built "the whole block on Western Avenue known as 'Produce Row'" (Seattle Daily Times, February 27, 1910).

Dietrich was a member of the Seattle Commercial Club, the Knights of Columbus, The Elks, the Redmen, and the Seattle Automobile Club. In 1910, his office was located in the Globe Building in Pioneer Square.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

"Baist's Real Estate Atlas of Surveys of Seattle," 1912.

Calvert, Frank, ed. The Cartoon: A Reference Book of Seattle's Successful Men. Seattle: Printed by Metropolitan Press, 1911.

City of Seattle.

Department of Neighborhoods, Historic Preservation Division Historical Sites Database

http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/preservation/histori cresources.htm

Department of Planning and Development, Permit Records and Drawings.

Municipal Archives, Digital Photo Collection. http://clerk.seattle.gov/~public/phot1.htm

Coughlin Porter Lundeen. "Engineering Report, Seismic Evaluation and Building Renovation---Livery Stable Building." Prepared through Weinstein A|U for Allegra Properties, September 12, 2008.

Dorpat, Paul. "Auto Row Beginnings." Seattle Times, September 5, 2003.

HistoryLink.org, the Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History. http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm

King County.

Department of Assessments, property records for parcel no. 1977200605.

iMaps website. http://www.kingcounty.gov/operations/GIS/Maps/iMAP.aspx

Kroll Map Company. Kroll's Atlas of Seattle. 1912-1920, 19401960, ca. 2000.

Lange, Greg. "Horse-drawn vehicles number 3,945, autos 14, in a Seattle count done on December 23, 1904." HistoryLink.org Essay 1637, August 21, 1999. http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm &file_id=1637

Link, Karen. "Bon Marche Stables/Compton Lumber Building," Seattle Landmark Nomination, March 2007.

Masson, Kathryn, with photography by Paul Rocheleau. Stables: Beautiful Paddocks, Horse Barns, and Tack Rooms. New York: Rizzoli, 2010.

Museum of History and Industry, Digital Photography Collection.

http://www.seattlehistory.org/photo_archive/search_the_phot o_collection.php

Nyberg, Folke and Victor Steinbrueck. "Denny Regrade: An Inventory of Buildings and Urban Design Resources." Seattle: Historic Seattle Preservation and Development Authority, 1975.

Peterson, David, Nicholson Kovalchick Architects. "Weatherford Antiques, Seattle Landmark Nomination." March 12, 2012.

R. L. Polk & Company. City of Seattle Directory. Seattle: R.L. Polk & Company, 1894-95, 1899, 1901, 1905, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1915, 1920, 1924, 1925, 1930, 1932, 1934, 1935, 1938, 1940, 1943-44, 1951, 1956, 1966, 1976, 1986.

Sadler, Julius Trousdale, Jr. and Jacquelin D.J. Sadler. American Stables: An Architectural Tour. Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1981.

Seattle (Daily) Times.

"City Notices." March 3, 1900, p. 22.

"Two Small Thefts." January 1, 1902, p. 15.

"Means Big Loss of Time." February 11, 1903, p. 7.

"Building Permits." July 13, 1904, p. 7.

"Another Flurry in Tide Flat Lots is Probable." August 5, 1906, p. 40.

Photograph of Pony Stables. August 12, 1906, p. 41.

"Now Jim Carries the Mail." February 22, 1906, p. 5.

Real Estate Notes. January 20, 1907, p. 43.

"Coming Month Will See Many Big Transfers of Realty." August 4, 1907, p. 27.

"Policement Not to Discriminate." March 31, 1908, p. 2.

"Farming Pays for Benjamin." October 29, 1908, p. 7.

"$75,000 for Lot in Pike Street." January 3, 1909, p. 28.

"Union Stables to be Built on Western Ave." August 29, 1909, p. 34.

"Western Avenue Enjoying its Share of Progress." August 29, 1909, p. 34.

"Will Build on Western Avenue." September 12, 1909, p. 38.

"Construction Sets Great Mark in 1909." January 2, 1910, p. 29.

"Union Stables' New Four Story Building." January 16, 1910, p. 34.

"The New 'Union' Stables." February 27, 1910, p. 55.

"Some Critical Work Done by Contractor." February 27, 1910, p. 55.

"Real Estate Notes." June 5, 1910, p. 44.

"Buys Near Shriner." August 28, 1910, p. 44.

"Scott Benjamin (The Union Stables) Will Vote for No. 24." Paid Advertisement, November 1, 1916, p. 2.

"Driver Badly Hurt in Runaway Accident." November 22, 1917, p. 3.

"Named on Zoning Board." January 9, 1922, p. 7.

"Chilberg Loan Aired." September 19, 1922, p. 2.

Classified Advertisements. November 28, 1922, p. 22.

"Liquor Worth $25,000 Taken in Police Raid." December 19, 1923, p. 1.

"Grand Jury Trailing Liquor to its Source." December 20, 1923, p. 4.

"Sixth Avenue Hotel Property Purchased." November 1, 1925, p. 32.

"U.S. Officials Will Inspect 31 Building Sites." August 2, 1928, p. 4.

"From the Times 20 Years Ago." January 16, 1930, p. 6.

"U.S. Attorney Charges Lyle Received $200 to $6,000 for Protection." August 14, 1930, p. 1.

"Colvin Will Study Hubbard's Testimony." August 14, 1930, p. 14

"Hilen Reveals Willebrandt's Part in Case." August 19, 1930, p. 8.

"Olmsted Tells Story of Rum-Selling Business." August 22, 1930, p. 8.

"Olmsted Tells Court of Plot to Trap Millionaires." August 22, 1930, p. 11.

"Name of Revelle is Again Echoed Into Liquor Bribe Trial." August 26, 1930, p. 5.

"Ring Brought 800 Cases of Rum Monthly." August 27, 1930, p. 10.

"Defense Attacks Behner Story of 'Tipped-Off' Raid." August 27, 1930, p. 11.

"V.D. Maddocks, Pioneer of 1883, Called by Death." February 27, 1934, p. 3.

"Listening Around the Town---Fifty Years of Marriage." November 11, 1940, p. 8.

"Scott Benjamin is Feted on Birthday." November 20, 1940, p. 4.

"Funeral Tuesday for Mrs. Scott Benjamin, 91." November 27, 1960.

"Arson Ruled Cause of Blaze in Furniture Warehouse." April 28, 1978, p. 24.

Continental Furniture advertisement with sketch. May 4, 1979, p. 10.

"Belltown Furniture Stores Closing, Changing Focus." May 13, 2008. http://seattletimes.com/html/retailreport/2004411583_reta ilreportdige13.html

Sheridan, Mimi. "Belltown Historic Context Statement." Prepared for the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, Historic Preservation Program, November 2007.

Shorett, Alice and Murray Morgan. Soul of the City: The Pike Place Public Market. Seattle: The Market Foundation in association with the University of Washington Press, 2007.

Sketches of Washingtonians: Containing Brief Histories of Men of the State of Washington Engaged in Professional and Political Life, in Manufacture, Commerce, Finance and Religion; with a Summary of the Cities of the State Containing Upwards of 5,000 Population. Seattle: W.C. Wolfe & Co, 1906.

University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections.

Digital Photo Collections. http://content.lib.washington.edu/

Pacific Coast Architecture Database. http://digital.lib.washington.edu/architect/

Washington State Archives -Digital Archives. Washington State Death Records. http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/

Wirsching, Meredith and Mildred Andrews. "A.L. Palmer Building." National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, July 26, 2007.

The features of the Landmark to be preserved include: The exterior of the building.

Issued: June 13, 2013

Karen Gordon

City Historic Preservation Officer

Cc: Boris Castellanos, Allegra Properties

Sonja Molchany, BOLA Architecture + Planning

Meredith Wirsching, Chair, LPB

Diane Sugimura, DPD

Alan Oiye, DPD

Ken Mar, DPD

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Administered by The Historic Preservation Program The Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Union Stables Landmark Designation Photos