The Seattle Times: Pacific Northwest Magazine


Outdoor Living	On Fitness	Taste	Now & Then	Sunday Punch

WRITTEN BY PAUL DORPAT

Business was Rising

		In 1900 the then uptown Seattle skyline as seen from Denny Hill was still a generally low-rise residential district punctuated by a few church steeples and three- or four-story business blocks. The ridgeline of First and Beacon Hills still marks the horizon. In today's high-rise downtown, there is no seeing the hills for the buildings. Both views look south on Second Avenue and across its intersection with Pine Street.

JUST OVER a century separates the historical scene on Second Avenue from the contemporary one. Both views look south from near Stewart Street, and although both were taken from the street, the historical photographer's perspective was about 60 feet above my spot. The difference between us is the Denny Regrade, or that part of it along Second Avenue and Pine Street that got underway in 1903 and lowered those streets to their present level. In 1900, the likely year the older scene was recorded, the regrade that would eventually raze all of Denny Hill between First and Westlake avenues and Pike Street and Denny Way was mostly just a rumor. So it's unlikely the photographer had any idea of recording his subject's last days. More likely he chose the site because it offered an elevated panorama of a pioneer residential district that was quickly turning into the central business district.

The photographer is credited as "Wilhelm" in several published prints. But which Wilhelm? Of the half dozen who appear in a city directory from that time, this Wilhelm is most likely either John H. or Honor L. Wilhelm. The former was a finisher at the Seattle Engraving Co., the latter was editor and manager of The Coast, an important Seattle-based publication of the time that was given to illustrating the wonders of the Far West with photographic half-tones.

In the foreground of his picture, Wilhelm has captured the cable car headed for Queen Anne Hill. Of all the local cable lines, the Front Street Cable Railway was unique in using tracks set at standard railroad gauge. It was also in debt and disrepair. In 1900 the Seattle Electric Co. took over the line and later converted it to overhead electric power.

Paul Dorpat specializes in historical photography and has published several books on early Seattle.


Outdoor Living	On Fitness	Taste	Now & Then	Sunday Punch