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Building History

Indiana-born civil engineer and surveyor Arthur Armstrong Denny (1822-1899) and "the Denny Party," an early and influential group of white, Midwestern transplants to come to Puget Sound, landed at Alki Point on 11/13/1851; Arthur's brother, David (1832-1903), had started a first log cabin at Alki when he arrived in the area in 09/1851 scouting out homestead locations for the settlers. Arthur and his party helped to finish it when they arrived, but chose not to settle permanently in West Seattle, preferring instead to claim new land to the east, the section of town that became the first commercial district, Pioneer Square. Arthur A. Denny finalized his land claim on 06/12/1852.

This log cabin was the second habitation for Arthur, his wife, Mary Ann Boren Denny (1822-1912), and their family. According to Margaret Pitcairn Strachan, who wrote a series of articles in 1944 on residences of early Seattle pioneers, this second log cabin of Arthur and Mary Ann Boren Denny was located at the intersection of First Avenue and Marion Street. That site was later occupied by the Stevens Hotel. (See Margaret Pitcairn Strachan, "Seattle's Pioneer Mansions and Some of the Events They Say," Seattle Daily Times, Magazine Section, 09/03/1944, p. 1, 7.) HistoryLink.org researcher Greg Lange indicated, however, its location to have been different: "Arthur and Mary (Boren) Denny's first cabin in Seattle was located near the future intersection of Elliott Avenue and Bell Street. Arthur Denny’s Donation Land Claim was incorporated into the Town of Seattle in 1865 and into the City of Seattle in 1869." (See Greg Lange, "HistoryLink File #7045: Seattle's Early Donation Land Claims,"Accessed 10/02/2012.)

Demolition

The second Arthur and Mary Ann Denny House was torn down.

PCAD id: 18088