Smith Tower, Seattle
This is a skyscraper in Pioneer Square in Seattle, WA., completed in 1914. The 38-storey, 148m tower is the oldest skyscraper in the city, and was among the tallest skyscrapers outside New York City at the time of its completion. It was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River until the completion of the Kansas City Power & Light Building in 1931. It remained the tallest building on the West Coast for nearly half a century until the Space Needle overtook it in 1962.
Smith Tower is named after its builder, firearm and typewriter magnate Lyman Cornelius Smith, and is a designated Seattle landmark.
The building is an example of neo-classical architecture. Its outer skin is granite on the first and second floors (just visible behind the street lights) and terracotta on the rest. The exterior has been washed only once, in 1976, because it remains remarkably clean without regular washing!
The building is one of the last on the West Coast to employ elevator operators. The Otis Elevator Company provided the elevators, which have brass surfaces. The doors are latticed, so a rider can see into each hallway and through the glass walls in front of each office.
After restoration in the early 1990s, workers removed the 10,000-US-gallon water tank in the top of the tower. The resulting space along with a former maintenance man's apartment became a three-storey penthouse, the only residence in the building. It was occupied in 2010 by artist/investor Petra Franklin, husband David Lahaie, and their two daughters.
The building is crowned by a 2.4m-wide glass dome illuminated by blue light, except during December when it is changed to green.
The triangular structure in front of the Smith Tower is a parking garage whose floors are horizontal. It really helps show the steepness of the streets.
The road which disappears up the hill into the distance is Yesler Way. In the 1850s, when freshly-cut logs were sent down it, the street was referred to as Skid Road, which became genericised as Skid Row in other cities.
This image was taken in 1996 and is scanned from a negative.
Smith Tower, Seattle
This is a skyscraper in Pioneer Square in Seattle, WA., completed in 1914. The 38-storey, 148m tower is the oldest skyscraper in the city, and was among the tallest skyscrapers outside New York City at the time of its completion. It was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River until the completion of the Kansas City Power & Light Building in 1931. It remained the tallest building on the West Coast for nearly half a century until the Space Needle overtook it in 1962.
Smith Tower is named after its builder, firearm and typewriter magnate Lyman Cornelius Smith, and is a designated Seattle landmark.
The building is an example of neo-classical architecture. Its outer skin is granite on the first and second floors (just visible behind the street lights) and terracotta on the rest. The exterior has been washed only once, in 1976, because it remains remarkably clean without regular washing!
The building is one of the last on the West Coast to employ elevator operators. The Otis Elevator Company provided the elevators, which have brass surfaces. The doors are latticed, so a rider can see into each hallway and through the glass walls in front of each office.
After restoration in the early 1990s, workers removed the 10,000-US-gallon water tank in the top of the tower. The resulting space along with a former maintenance man's apartment became a three-storey penthouse, the only residence in the building. It was occupied in 2010 by artist/investor Petra Franklin, husband David Lahaie, and their two daughters.
The building is crowned by a 2.4m-wide glass dome illuminated by blue light, except during December when it is changed to green.
The triangular structure in front of the Smith Tower is a parking garage whose floors are horizontal. It really helps show the steepness of the streets.
The road which disappears up the hill into the distance is Yesler Way. In the 1850s, when freshly-cut logs were sent down it, the street was referred to as Skid Road, which became genericised as Skid Row in other cities.
This image was taken in 1996 and is scanned from a negative.