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Overview

This commercial building was erected by the family of Charles C. Terry in the late 1880s. It lasted for a short time, perhaps two or three years, before it perished in the Great Seattle Fire of 06/06/1889.

Building History

Seattle pioneer Charles C. Terry (1830-1867) purchased the lot on which the Korn Building #1 was built in the 1850s. His heirs continued to own the property in the late 1880s when this first business block was erected. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer said of the Korn Building #1 in 02/1889: “When Mr. Yesler made the original plat of the claim, years ago, he sold one lot on the corner opposite to Mr. C.C. Terry for $200. This property was later occupied by the new Korn block, and is still owned by the Terry heirs.” (See “The Largest for the Year,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 02/17/1889, p. 5.)

The short-lived firm of Fisher and Clark designed three known buildings, the James and Hastings Building, Port Townsend, WA (1888-1889), the Colman Building #1, Seattle, WA (1887), and the Korn Building #1 (1886-1889).

The building took its name from Moses Korn (1833-1894), a pharmacist, who leased space in the building.

A date of 1886 appeared in a central frieze on the parapet, although this was before Fisher was thought to have moved to WA from Victoria, BC, to Port Townsend, WA, in 1887. It is possible that Korn had reached out to Fisher when the latter lived in either Victoria or Port Townsend, and designed the building there.

Demolition

The Korn Building #1 burned in the Great Fire of 1889.

PCAD id: 4636