Mary's Snack Bar and Gutted Building (1957 and 2010)
A more succinct version ran on Seattlest.
This building has housed many sad stories, but has a sign of hope.
It's at the corner of McClellan and Martin Luther King Way Jr. South in Seattle.
Here was my methodology: I went to King County Parcel Viewer to get the address for the building, and then searched the web and Seattle Times archives for that address and next door. I took names that came out and searched in the Washington State Digital Archives for dates of birth, marriage, and death; as well as spouses, parents and children. Then I took those dates and names and went back to Seattle Times to see if I could find more.
In 1905 Oheda Kulnujia came to America with her family from Turkey, joining an uncle who had been in Seattle since before the Yukon gold rush. In 1922 she married John Arten, who himself had arrived in the US in 1909 from Turkey or Armenia.
in 1927 John paid to have this building constructed at the corner of McClellan and then-Empire Way. It had easy access to streetcars and the Renton interurban just a block away on Rainier. And, it was located on a new road which was carrying more auto traffic every year. It was the boom time of the 1920s. Oheda gave birth to a daughter, Mary, in 1925. John paid $2200 for the building, and it had space for his shoe repair business in front and for his family to live in the back. (9/29/1927 ST p29)
In 1941 Mary was almost done in by all that auto traffic. The car she was in was struck by another car in a bad accident. But she made it through. In 1950 she was wed for a brief year, long enough to give birth to a daughter, also named Mary. Both kept the name Medzegian.
At the time of our old photograph, 1957, Mary was running a "snack bar" restaurant in half of the retail space. The boisterousness of the signs shows how well the family was doing.
Oheda passed away in 1964 (5/18/1964 ST p39). It's unclear of the exact cause, but both businesses were closed in 1967 and the equipment sold off. Perhaps as the younger Mary graduated high school her mother moved on? (ST classifieds February and March 1967)
And maybe John was no longer able to run his business. He died at the end of 1969. (12/15/1969 ST p45).
Mary -- or perhaps renters? -- lost her poodle "Taffy" in 1970 (2/18/1970 ST classfied)
The elder Mary owned the building until 2002, and passed away in 2004
The building was gutted by fire in 2007.
But just as it seems the story is petering out in sadness, two bright spots.
Good samaratins saved two people from the fire.
And now, a sign of hope in the fight against cancer graces the building.
Mary's Snack Bar and Gutted Building (1957 and 2010)
A more succinct version ran on Seattlest.
This building has housed many sad stories, but has a sign of hope.
It's at the corner of McClellan and Martin Luther King Way Jr. South in Seattle.
Here was my methodology: I went to King County Parcel Viewer to get the address for the building, and then searched the web and Seattle Times archives for that address and next door. I took names that came out and searched in the Washington State Digital Archives for dates of birth, marriage, and death; as well as spouses, parents and children. Then I took those dates and names and went back to Seattle Times to see if I could find more.
In 1905 Oheda Kulnujia came to America with her family from Turkey, joining an uncle who had been in Seattle since before the Yukon gold rush. In 1922 she married John Arten, who himself had arrived in the US in 1909 from Turkey or Armenia.
in 1927 John paid to have this building constructed at the corner of McClellan and then-Empire Way. It had easy access to streetcars and the Renton interurban just a block away on Rainier. And, it was located on a new road which was carrying more auto traffic every year. It was the boom time of the 1920s. Oheda gave birth to a daughter, Mary, in 1925. John paid $2200 for the building, and it had space for his shoe repair business in front and for his family to live in the back. (9/29/1927 ST p29)
In 1941 Mary was almost done in by all that auto traffic. The car she was in was struck by another car in a bad accident. But she made it through. In 1950 she was wed for a brief year, long enough to give birth to a daughter, also named Mary. Both kept the name Medzegian.
At the time of our old photograph, 1957, Mary was running a "snack bar" restaurant in half of the retail space. The boisterousness of the signs shows how well the family was doing.
Oheda passed away in 1964 (5/18/1964 ST p39). It's unclear of the exact cause, but both businesses were closed in 1967 and the equipment sold off. Perhaps as the younger Mary graduated high school her mother moved on? (ST classifieds February and March 1967)
And maybe John was no longer able to run his business. He died at the end of 1969. (12/15/1969 ST p45).
Mary -- or perhaps renters? -- lost her poodle "Taffy" in 1970 (2/18/1970 ST classfied)
The elder Mary owned the building until 2002, and passed away in 2004
The building was gutted by fire in 2007.
But just as it seems the story is petering out in sadness, two bright spots.
Good samaratins saved two people from the fire.
And now, a sign of hope in the fight against cancer graces the building.