Building History

This military facility, located on Union Street, on the block between 3rd Avenue and 4th Avenue, well north of Pioneer Square. This location proved fortuitous, as the Armory escaped the Great Seattle Fire of 06/06/1889. A solid governmental structure, it served as a make-shift city hall just after the blaze. It was replaced by a second armory, located at the intersection of Western Avenue and Virginia Street, in 1909.

Building Notes

According to Seattle theatre historian Eugene C. Elliott, the Armory #1 also served as a stage for theatrical performances from 1889-1891. (See "Eugene Clinton Elliott, A History of Variety-Vaudeville in Seattle from the Beginning to 1914, Appendix I, [Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1944], p.66.)

PCAD id: 10536