OpenStreetMap (new tab)

Google Map (new tab)

Google Streetview (new tab)

Overview

The National Florence Crittenton Mission, established in New York, NY, in 1883, became a nation-wide network of homes for unwed mothers by 1890, when a second facility was created in San Jose, CA. In 1899, a Seattle branch was founded in a former college building. A second, Gergian Revival residence was built in 1926 to house unwed mothers, who would have their children here and receive academic and home economics training that would help them rejoin "decent" society. According to at least one newspaper report, young women could elect to give up their children for adoption or keep them themselves.

Building History

The first Florence Crittenton Home for Unwed Mothers purchased a former Baptist women's college in Dunlap, WA, in 1899. This three-story, wood-frame building operated between 1899 and 1925, when it was superceded by this second facility in 1926. Planning for a new residence began by 1920 or so, but did not proceed until 1925.

According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, "“Seattle is to have a new Florence Crittenton Home. Robert S. Barrett of Alexandria, VA, president of the National Florence Crittenton Home arrived in Seattle last night and entered into negotiations with those in charge of the local institution for a new building. The present home has been used as a Crittenton institution twenty-five years and was formerly a girls’ seminary. It is on a twenty-acre tract overlooking Rainier Beach and belonging to the National Mission. (See “City Gets New Girls’ Home,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 06/15/1925, p. 13.)

In 2021, the owner of the building was Thunderbird MBH, LLP.

Building Notes

The Florence Crittenton Home #1 had an address of 9217 Rainier Avenue in 1920. The Florence Crittenton Home #2 was located at 9236 Rainier Avenue South.

In 2021, the Thuderbird Treatment Center occupied a 143,656-square-foot, (3.3-acre) site.