HARD DRIVE TO THE KLONDIKE:
PROMOTING SEATTLE DURING THE GOLD RUSH

A Historic Resource Study for the Seattle Unit of the
Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park

Colman Building

Architectural Description

The six-story Chicago Style Colman Building occupies the east half of the block located on the west side of First Avenue between Columbia Street and Marion Street. In a Seattle Landmark nomination form, the Seattle Office of Urban Conservation described the Colman Building as follows:

The Colman Building is a six-story concrete and brick office building with stone and marble trim that epitomizes the Chicago Style and its influence upon Seattle architecture.... The exterior of the lower floors was faced with rusticated stone and the additional floors with red brick. A central bay which, at the First Avenue ground level houses the main entrance to the building, protrudes from the rest of the facade and is faced in the same stone as the lower floors. On either side of this central section, the building facade is divided into four equal sections consisting of five structural piers and four window spandrels each. The outermost corner sections extend outward slightly from the adjacent sections, providing a subtle undulation of the surface. A narrow banding just below the top floor and a modestly extended copper cornice crown the building.... The ground level retail shops were embellished by small multi-paned transoms and pediment and column entrances. The building is also distinguished by a metal and glass awning, which stretches along the entire east or front facade. [24]

Historical Significance

The original two-story Colman Building was erected by James Colman, an influential businessman who arrived in Seattle in 1861. Colman's entrepreneurial tendencies involved him in a variety of businesses, including owning woolen mills, land acquisition, and railroading. Colman was one of the major promoters of the railroad to the Renton Coal mines. He operated this railroad for one year until Henry Villard of the Northern Pacific Railroad took it over. [25]

In 1890, the two-story Colman Building was constructed on the site of the old Colman Block, a wooden building that burned in the fire of 1889. The Colman Block had been built on the remains of the ship Winward, which had wrecked near Whidbey Island. Intending to salvage the boat, James Colman bought it and towed it to his dock in Seattle. When the Colman Block was constructed the ship was surrounded by land and buried under the foundation of the Colman Block. [26]

Architect Stephen Meany originally designed the Colman Building as two-story Romanesque Revival structure. In 1904, the Danish architect August Tidemand remodeled it into Seattle's "earliest example of the Chicago Style of commercial architecture." [27] All that was retained of the original facade were the cast iron columns between the storefront bays on First Avenue. The Colman Building has been recognized as historically important for its architectural style and association with James Colman. [28]

The Colman Building housed two businesses that catered to gold seekers. The grocer Louch, Augustine & Co. occupied the Colman Building from 1894 until 1907 and the Klondike clothing outfitter, Rochester Clothing Co. was located in the building from 1897 until 1899. HRA also determined that from 1908 until 1909, the Colman Building housed the offices of the AYP's publisher and legal counsel. [29]