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Building History

Olive H. Ryther (1849-1934) and her husband, Noble, began raising orphans when she adopted a dying neighbor's four offspring c. 1885. Originally from Kirkland, WA, Ryther moved three times before she settled into a residence at 813 Alder Street in the 1880s. It was here that she took in her first children, and began to see that mothering the orphan and underprivileged children was her calling. Ryther took the unusual step of canvassing Skid Road, its street people and brothels and offering her child-rearing assistance to substance-abusing mothers and prostitutes. Over the course of nearly 50 years, she raised over 3,000 kids, soliciting help from donors to meet orphanage costs. She proved to be tenacious in her pursuit of charitable funding, and, by 1920, had made connections with businessman Laurence Colman (ca. 1859-1935), son of the Seattle businessman James Murray Colman (1832-1906), who assisted her development efforts. (See "A Woman of Historic Proportions: Mother Olive Ryther,"Accessed 01/16/2014.)

Building Notes

According to Polk's Seattle Directory of 1901 (p.1017), Olive Ryther, nicknamed Olie, served as the Superintendent and Matron of the City Mission Home, (also known as the Mother Ryther Home for Orphans) located at 813 Alder Street. Mrs. Ryther also lived at orphanage with her charges. In 1905, she moved the orphanage to the former Margaret Pontius House at 1262 Denny Way, where it operated until 1919. A third orphanage opened in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood, where it remained until the late 1950s. In 1958, the institution, later known as the Ryther Child Center, settled into new quarters at 2400 NE 95th Street, its fourth location since about 1900. (See Paul Dorpat, Dorpat Sherrard Lomont, "The Pontius Mansion,"Accessed 01/16/2014.)

Demolition

The Mother Ryther Home for Orphans #1 was located across from what would become the Harborview Medical Center. A Yesler Terrace parking later occupied the space.

PCAD id: 18974