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Columbia Laundry and W.H. Sewell, Plumber, Seattle, ca. 1911
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| Title | Columbia Laundry and W.H. Sewell, Plumber, Seattle, ca. 1911 |
| Photographer | Unknown |
| Date | ca. 1911 |
| Caption | This building was located at 4810 Rainier Avenue. Julia Brannon, Julia Duncan's mother, is third from left in the image. On the left in the background is the corner of Nichols Flats, built by Ralph D. Nichols. The building is now the Angeline Apartments. In 1913, Rainier Auto Parts, owned by Mr. and Mrs. Bianca, along with Ed Welch's Columbia Garage, occupied the building. The Rainier branch of the Washington Federal Savings & Loan later occupied the site. |
| Notes | Signs on building read: W.H. Sewell Plumber. Columbia Laundry. Dyeing, Cleaning. Laundry Dyeing and Cleaning.
Lettering on wagon reads: Columbia Laundry.
Label on verso: 1911 - Sewell Plumbing and Columbia Laundry on southeast corner of Rainier and Angeline.
Caption taken from RVHS records.
See transcribed article in "Additional Information" below for more information. |
| Subjects | Cleaning establishments--Washington (State)--Seattle
Plumbing industry--Washington (State)--Seattle
Carts & wagons--Washington (State)--Seattle
Horse teams--Washington (State)--Seattle
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| Places | United States--Washington (State)--Seattle
Columbia City (Seattle, Wash.) |
| Digital Collection | Rainier Valley Historical Society Photograph Collection |
| Accession Number | 93.001.707 |
| Ordering Information | To order a copy of this photograph, please email Rvhsoffice@aol.com and mention the Accession Number. |
| Repository | Rainier Valley Historical Society, Seattle |
| Repository Collection | Hall-Summers Collection |
| Physical Description | 1 photographic print: b&w; 3 1/2 x 5 in. |
| Type | Image |
| Digital Reproduction Information | Scanned as a 3000 pixel TIFF image in 8-bit grayscale, resized to 640 pixels in the longest dimension and compressed into JPEG format using Photoshop 6.0 and its JPEG quality measurement 3. |
| Additional Information | This photo was taken in 1911. The building was occupied by the Columbia Laundry, and as the large letters painted on the building stated, they were in the "Dyeing and Cleaning" business. The sign on the left side of the building indicates the plumber, Walter H. Sewell, shared the building.
The location of this photo is the southeast corner of Rainier Avenue and Angeline Street in Columbia City. In the foreground are the streetcar tracks and the wood planks that covered Rainier Avenue at the time.
Columbia Laundry apparently had a pickup and delivery service as evidenced by the wagon, the driver and the team of horses in front of the store. To the right of the team of horses are the employees of the laundry, posing for the photographer.
Starting in 1913, with the arrival of the automobile, the site had several auto related businesses over the years. They included a Standard Oil Service Station, Ed Welch's Columbia Garage, and Bianchi's Rainier Auto Parts. The latter is still in business in the next block to the north. In the 1920's the trend continued with Haugen's Columbia Garage, Calpet Service Station, and a Texaco Service Station. The site is now the Columbia City Branch of the Washington Federal Saving & Loan.
On the left in the background you can see just the corner of the Nichols Flats, an apartment building built by Ralph D. Nichols, an early day fuel dealer in Rainier Valley. He was also Columbia City's attorney and was drafted by the citizens to run for the Seattle City Council. He won the election. Nichols Flats is now referred to as the Angeline Apartments.
Ralph built a steam plant to heat the apartment. The plant was located in a separate structure just to the left of the apartment in a deep gully. He didn't only used it to heat the apartment building, however. He ran a steam line that supplied heat to the Masonic Lodge building that was located across the alley just to the right of the Columbia Laundry.
The Nichols home was located across Rainier Avenue from the Masonic Lodge. Their home, and one other belonging to the Hart family, was on top of a high knoll that was there at that time. He extended his steam line under Rainier Avenue to supply heat to the homes on the knoll. A long wooden shed along Edmunds Street, just below the knoll, was Nichols' fuel yard. He also had a branch office in Rainier Beach.
The knoll was removed when the Seafirst Bank building and the Tradewell building, now the Columbia Plaza, were built in 1952. The fuel yard site is now the parking lot behind Seafirst Bank where the Columbia City Farmer's Market takes place.
By Buzz Anderson, 5/9/01 |
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