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Overview

Ohio-born merchant Leonard Diller (1839-1901) came west tosettle in Oregon City, OR, in 1864, and, when the Northern Pacific Railway made a link from Portland, OR, to Tacoma, WA in late 1873, Diller took the opportunity to take his savings and move to the latter promising city. He relocated once again to Seattle in 1876, whereupon he became an established businessman. He first purchased the Sneider Market, and then this property, the Esmond Hotel, followed by the Brunswick Hotelin 1885. In 1885, the Seattle City Directory (p. 81) listed Thomas Clancy as the proprietor of the Esmond, located on the NE corner of Commercial Street (later 1st Avenue South) and Washington Street.

Building History

Hotels, like the Esmond, proliferated in Seattle during the 1880s, catering to mostly single-men who worked in factories and offices nearby. An ever-increasing number of tourists, brought to the city by the arrival of transcontinental rail service after 09/1883, increased the need for temporary housing. According to the City of Seattle, Department of Neighborhoods, "By the later part of the nineteenth century, Seattle - like cities throughout the United States - included a significant number of hotels that served a wide variety of business travelers, tourists and both permanent and semi-permanent transient residents. By the late 1880s several elegant as well as working men’s hotels were clustered along the west side of First Avenue between Cherry and Columbia – in proximity to the original railway passenger depot. Urban hotels, lodging and apartment buildings all closely resembled commercial office buildings in the 1880s and 1890s." (SeeCity of Seattle, Department of Neighborhoods, "Seattle Historical Sites Summary for1216 1st AVE / Parcel ID 1974700170," accessed 10/24/2016.) The fire of 06/06/1889 leveled more than a dozen hotels like the Esmond.

Demolition

The Esmond was destroyed in the Great Seattle Fire of 06/06/1889.

PCAD id: 19572