This Thursday, May 23rd, the Queen Anne Historical Society (QAHS) will be hosting its annual meeting at the Seattle Church of Christ at 7pm.

Kinnear Park, 1911
Photo courtesy of QAHS

In addition to brief QAHS business such as board elections, the meeting will spotlight the conservation efforts for Kinnear Park and the Southwest Queen Anne greenbelt.

Kinnear Park is located on the southwest corner of Queen Anne, and thanks to recent efforts by Friends of Lower Kinnear Park (FOLKpark) and Citizens for Off Leash Areas (COLA), it’s also now home to an off-leash dog park for Queen Anne (and visiting) canines.

Kinnear Park is one of several Queen Anne parks that were donated by residents, including Kerry Park, Marshall Park, Parsons Garden, and Bhy Kracke Park). As with our other Queen Anne parks, there are unique vistas to be had from Kinnear – views of Puget Sound can be had, and large champion trees fill the park with a rich canopy.

FOLKpark has been at the forefront of the revitalization of Lower Kinnear Park, and volunteers led by steward Howard Langevelt tend the Southwest Queen Anne greenbelt to the north. Howard and Debi Frausto of FOLKpark will join QAHS board members Holly Smith and Aaron Luoma to discuss the past and the future of the park and greenbelt.

Light refreshments will be provided and the free meeting is open to all. And, if you’re interested in the history or Queen Anne, you can join the QAHS at individual or family levels online. The QAHS meets bi-monthly with programs (like this one) about the history of Queen Anne, with the goal of preserving the heritage of our neighborhood.

It’s time for a monthly trip back into our neighborhood’s history, courtesy of the Queen Anne Historical Society. This month’s photo features Alexander Hall, which you may recall from our post on its nomination for City of Seattle landmark status.

Alexander Hall, Seattle Pacific University
by Michael Herschensohn, President, Queen Anne Historical Society

Alexander Hall, 1910
Photo courtesy of QAHS

Queen Anne residents don’t often linger on the campus of Seattle Pacific University. If they did, they might discover Alexander Hall, one of the most charming brick buildings in Seattle.

Nominated for city landmark status just this past week, Alexander Hall may indeed be the oldest building in all of Queen Anne. It certainly is among the oldest surviving masonry load-bearing buildings in town.

Alexander Hall hunkers on the southwest corner of the elliptic drive known as Tiffany Loop on the west side of 3rd Avenue West.  Designed in 1891 by English-born carpenter/architect John Charles Parkinson (1861-1935) for the Free Methodist’s new Seattle Seminary, it was first called the Red Brick Building.

Alexander Hall, 2013
Photo courtesy of QAHS

In spite of radical alterations to its fenestration and entryways that show in the now photograph, the building’s four octagonal towers, projecting bay and round arch entrance make it an intriguing example of Richardsonian Romanesque Revival design.

Nils B. Peterson donated five acres of his kitchen garden for the seminary. Five of his children were among the first 12 students to attend classes when the building opened in April, 1893. Alexander Beers served as the school’s first principal while his wife Adelaide took charge of the academic side of things.

In 1940, the Red Brick Building was renamed in honor of the first principal, but Seattle Pacific College trustees, fearing malicious associations with his patronymic used only his first name.  In a very welcomed change of policy, Seattle Pacific University itself initiated the process to designate the building a city landmark.

The Landmarks Preservation Board is considering City of Seattle Landmark status for Seattle Pacific University’s Alexander Hall, with a public hearing scheduled for next Wednesday, May 15, at 3:30pm in the Seattle Municipal Tower, (700 5th Avenue, 40th Floor, Room 4060).

Alexander Hall was completed almost 120 years ago, in October of 1893. It was the first building on the new grounds of what was then the Seattle Seminary. The 4-story brick building was the school’s only building and was originally called the “Red Brick Buidling” – later renamed Alexander Hall.

Designed by Seattle architect John Parkinson, in its early days the building served many roles – it housed classrooms, a library, administrative offices, a chapel, and it also was a dormitory for both teachers and students. Fast forward to 1972, and Alexander Hall was placed on the Washington Heritage Register.

Today, Alexander Hall houses the offices for the School of Theology, College of Arts and Sciences, School of Social Sciences, History, Political Science, Geopolitics and Geography, and Sociology. It’s located in the Tiffany Loop – building 1 on the map to the right.

The public is invited to attend the upcoming meeting and make comments. If you cannot make the meeting, you can submit written comments to the Landmarks Preservation Board (deadline is 5pm, May 14) at the following address:

Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board
Seattle Department of Neighborhoods
PO Box 94649
Seattle WA 98124-4649

You can read more about Alexander Hall in the Landmark Nomination Report prepared in advance of the nomination.

The Landmarks Preservation Board is coordinated by the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Historic Preservation Program. The Historic Preservation Program handles the identification and protection of more than 400 historic structures, site, objects, and vessels, as well as eight historic districts throughout Seattle. For more information, contact 206.684.0464.

A new series of walking tours highlighting our neighborhood’s real estate and architectural history begins this Sunday, with a 10am start every first Sunday through September. The tours will begin at Kerry Park, and a minimum $20 donation per person will benefit local organizations.

Kerry Park will be the starting point for these walks

This series of tours will focus on the historical development of Queen Anne and the residential architecture of homes on the hill. It’ll also include information on the evolution of real estate ventures from the late 1800s to present day.

The organizers of these walks are asking for a minimum donation of $20 per person, with the tax-deductible proceeds benefitting three Queen Anne nonprofits:

• May 5th & Aug 4th walks benefit Bayview Intergenerational Childcare
• June 2nd & September 1st walks benefit Beginnings School
• July 7th walk benefits the Queen Anne Historical Society

The walking tours will be just under 2 miles, taking about 1.5 hours to complete. Limited spots are available for each walk, so if you’re interested in the history of real estate and architecture on Queen Anne, be sure to RSVP via email or call 206.271.1267.

It’s time for a monthly trip back into our neighborhood’s history, courtesy of the Queen Anne Historical Society. This month’s photo features the Black House, a home that no longer exists today – although the site will be familiar to anyone who frequents Kerry Park.

The Black House, W Highland Dr & 3rd Ave W
by Michael Herschensohn, President, Queen Anne Historical Society

J.C. Black House, ca. 1940
Photo courtesy of UW Special Collections (image UW13926)

The J. C. Black House was built 1914 on the corner of W Highland Drive and 3rd Ave W facing Kerry Park. Its architect, Andrew Willatsen, trained in Frank Lloyd Wright’s Oak Park, Illinois office before moving to Seattle in 1907.

The Black House embodied many of the characteristic elements of Wright’s Prairie School style, including the deep, overhanging eaves and the ribbon of windows along the front of the second story. Local citizens loved the house for its elegant beauty and its association with Willatsen and Wright.

For many years, its owner thwarted efforts to landmark the house. Consequently, it had no protection under the City of Seattle’s preservation ordinance. The estate of Fred Tolan sold the Black House in 2003 for $2.3 million to Ken Woolcott, a Seattle investor who, shocking neighbors, tore it down over the three-day MLK weekend in January 2004.

Kerry Park Court, 2013

The lot remained empty for seven years. In 2011, the Kerry Park Court townhouses were completed and offered for $3.2 million each. Some of the townhouses remain on the market today.

Seen in the lower center of both images, one small portion of the J. C. Black House garden wall survives to remind us of Andrew Willatsen’s stunning design and Frank Lloyd Wright’s early influence on Queen Anne. To learn more, visit the Queen Anne Historical Society website.

Photo courtesy of SAF

The Seattle Architecture Foundation runs tours of Seattle, usually limited to the downtown area. However, this year SAF has also added neighborhood tours, including Queen Anne, Capitol Hill, and the Pike/Pine corridor.

On Saturday, May 18th, the Seattle Architecture Foundation will kick off the first tour of our neighborhood – Queen Anne Tour: The Evolution of an Urban Neighborhood. Additional tours will be held on June 15th, July 20th, August 17th, September 21st, and October 19th.

The description from SAF is as follows:

The tour begins at West Queen Anne Elementary School at 1401 5th Ave W (at the intersection with Galer). Advance registration is strongly encouraged; walk-ups are as space allows, with an additional $10 fee.

Advance tickets are $15 for non-SAF members, $10 for SAF members, and are available via Brown Paper Tickets. If you’re interested in multiple SAF tours, check out their web site, where they have a 3 for $30 deal through April 8th.

The Queen Anne Historical Society continues its series of guest lectures this Thursday, March 28th with a presentation by Becca Aue of the Seattle Parks Foundation. All are welcome to attend the free talk, which will be held at the Seattle Church of Christ (2555 8th Ave W) at 7pm.

Photo courtesy of QAHS

Becca Aue is the manager of the Neighborhood Parks, Green Connections and Strategic Project Initiatives at the Seattle Parks Foundation. She’ll be speaking about the organization and how it works to improve, expand, and connect parks, trails, and green spaces.

She’ll discuss improvements that have been made to Queen Anne parks through the Parks Foundation and its sustainable development and stewardship of Seattle’s parklands. Included in the foundation’s current Queen Anne activities are the Uptown Triangle, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, the Lake to Bay Loop, and the Cheshiahud Lake Union Loop.

These projects all include large historically significant portions of Queen Anne. The west side of the Cheshiahud Lake Union Loop runs along the site of the first Seattle streetcar line and the new Lake to Bay Loop treks from Myrtle Edwards Park over the Thomas Street bridge, passing the landmark Seattle Center buildings.

Join the Queen Anne Historical Society on Thursday to learn more about the Seattle Parks Foundation and discuss our own Queen Anne parks.

We’re starting up a new feature on Queen Anne View – a monthly look back at our neighborhood’s history, courtesy of the Queen Anne Historical Society. A new (old) photo will be highlighted mid-month, with a write-up from the QAHS. Here’s the inaugural edition featuring Fire Station 8 at 110 Lee St.

Fire Station 8, 110 Lee St
by Michael Herschensohn, President, Queen Anne Historical Society

Fire Station 8, Queen Anne, 1910

In many Seattle neighborhoods the architectural charms of fire stations are a source of neighborhood pride. Wallingford and Capitol Hill have saved most of their historic stations.  Queen Anne seems to throw its away.

This ca. 1910 building at Lee Street in the photo above is long gone, but its second story shingles, first story clapboard, quaint hose tower, charming balcony, flag pole and lovely curvilinear central gable manifest the city’s concern for blending its early utilitarian buildings into neighborhoods.

Fire Station 8, Queen Anne, 2008

The same view in 2008 shows the new tower that replaced our crenelated landmark and the mid-century firehouse whose extended trucks bays completed that year are already being rebuilt.

For more historic images visit the website of the Queen Anne Historical Society.

Some days you just get news that makes your heart sink. The Seattle Church of Christ at 2555 8th Ave W has been the victim of theft – and it’s pretty brazen. Someone stole the antique metalwork off a set of exterior doors on the church – that’s right, they stole a part of Queen Anne history:

The church is an example of Italian Renaissance/Byzantine Revival architecture, designed by Harlan Thomas and built in 1926. According to Historic Seattle, the building was almost lost to demolition in 2007, but was saved thanks to the Queen Anne Historical Society’s Landmarks/Preservation Committee. The church was sold and the new/current owners agreed to nominate it for Landmark status – it received its Landmark designation in June 2009.

If you have any tips on the metalwork’s whereabouts, or if you saw any suspicious activity near the church doors – or, if you know of a metal artist/smith who could replicate a replacement – please contact Jay Kelly via email or at 206.914.2659.

Do you have an artifact, antique, or otherwise unusual object you’d like to learn more about? Maybe Grandpa left you some mysterious item from days past, or you found something old and scary abandoned in the corner of your basement?

If so, Mohai has you covered this Saturday. With a paid admission you can bring up to 2 artifacts,  and museum staff and historians will help you figure out what you have. You won’t get an appraisal, and you can’t bring in guns or large pieces of furniture, but aside from that it’s a great opportunity to find out if you have a piece of history, or a piece of junk.

You may recall – or may have even participated – in the Queen Anne Stairway Walk back in October. It was led by Cathy and Jake Jaramillo, authors of the new book “Seattle Stairway Walks: An Up-and-Down Guide to City Neighborhoods”, and the group traversed both easy-to-find and somewhat hidden stairways in Southwest Queen Anne. It was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon, and a good workout to boot!

If you missed the walk or have an interest in our Queen Anne stairways, the authors will be speaking at this week’s Queen Anne Historical Society’s monthly meeting – which is free and open to all. The Jaramillos will be discussing their experiences ascending and descending the many stairways on Queen Anne and in other nearby neighborhoods. You can check out more on their book in this article by our news partner The Seattle Times.

For a handy pocket-guide to all 120 of our Queen Anne stairways, check out the “Map of the (Oft) Pedestrian Public Stairs of Queen Anne”. It’s available through the QAHS and also at Charley+May (it’s in their display window right now). I’m currently working my way through all 120, and the pocket guide is certainly handy for finding those hidden stairways in our neighborhood!

Key Details:

• What: QAHS Meeting – Stairs of Our Neighborhood
• When: Thursday, January 24 at 7:00pm
• Where: Seattle Church of Christ, 2555 8th Ave W

Do you walk, run, or bike on Queen Anne Boulevard, aka The Crown of Queen Anne? Want to learn more about it and other Queen Anne parks that were designed or inspired by landscape architect John Charles Olmsted?

Well, the next Queen Anne Historical Society meeting features guest speaker Jennifer Ott, Staff Historian at HistoryLink.org and President of Friends of Seattle’s Olmsted Parks. At the QAHS meeting, Jennifer will discuss Olmsted and his impact on Seattle Parks, including Queen Anne Boulevard.

If you frequent the Crown, you’ll likely have noticed the brown street signs that mark the historic Queen Anne Boulevard as it wraps around the top of the hill. Not only is the Boulevard a Seattle historic landmark, it’s also a Seattle city park.

Originally, the Seattle Parks Board opposed the boulevard – it wasn’t part of the Olmsted Plan for Seattle’s boulevard and parkway system because it followed existing city streets and didn’t meet the Olmsted Plan’s minimum width. The Parks Board eventually agreed to the plan, and the community helped pick up some of the costs.

You can read more about the history of Queen Anne Boulevard at the QAHS site, and at HistoryLink.org – and, for even more insight and answers, attend the Thursday talk.

Key Details:

• What: QAHS Guest Lecture – “John Charles Olmsted, His Impact on Seattle and Queen Anne Parks”
• When: Thursday, November 29, 7pm
• Where: Seattle Church of Christ, 2555 8th Ave. W