AKA: Roth, Lottie, Block, Bellingham, WA

Structure Type: built works - commercial buildings - office buildings; built works - commercial buildings - stores; built works - dwellings -public accommodations - hotels

Designers: Fisher, Elmer, H., Architect (firm); Elmer Horace Fisher (architect)

Dates: constructed 1890-1891

3 stories

view all images ( of 1 shown)

Whatcom, WA

OpenStreetMap (new tab)
Google Map (new tab)
click to view google map

Building Notes

The main facade of this masonry buildings featured a symmetrical arrangement of two bays on either side of a central single bay. The front door had an arch, and the main entry was signaled to distant observers by the elevation of the parapet's central portion. Two sets of storefronts bilaterally lined the first floor's main entrance. Just prior to the erection of the Lottie Roth Block, three widely publicized fires leveled the central business districts of Seattle (06/06/1889), Ellensburg (07/04/1889) and Spokane (08/04/1889). This fact alone would have persuaded the builders of substantial business blocks in 1890 to erect them in fire-resistant stone and steel. The building's main structural supports were clad emphatically in rusticated masonry, clearly telling passers-by that this building would resist fires.

PCAD id: 13473