PCAD - Olympic Block #1, Pioneer Square, Seattle, WA

AKA: Olympic Hotel #1, Pioneer Square, Seattle, WA; Cascade Hotel, Pioneer Square, Seattle, WA

Exterior view of the Olympic Building, Seattle, WA, 1907. From the University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, Asahel Curtis Photo Company Collection. PH Coll 482, Item #CUR229, accessed 11/27/2024

Exterior view of the Yesler Way facade of the Olympic Block #1, c. 1902. (The Lippy Building of 1902 stands to the right.) From the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI), Seattle, WA, Anders Beer Wilse Photographs, Item #1988.33.46, accessed 11/27/2024.

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100 1st Avenue South
Pioneer Square, Seattle, WA 98104

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The building had storefront addresses on 1st Avenue South (originally Occidental Way) and Yesler Way.

Building History

The Olympic Hotel, located on the corner of 1st Avenue and Yesler Way, existed in Seattle, WA, was erected following the Great Fire of 06/06/1889. the architectural duo of Saunders and Houghton served as the architects.

Main tenants of the first Olympic Hotel included the Cooper and Levy Outfitters, Klondike suppliers, and the ticket and baggage offices of the Northern Pacific Railroad, c. 1905.

In the 1950s, the hotel had been renamed the "Cascade Hotel" and smal shops, such as Sam's Cafe, B and R Restaurant, and Alaska Menswear, occupied first floor retail shops.

This eight-story building was partly demolished in a memorable structural collapse in 1972. One corner of the Olympic gave way when an interior bearing wall had been mistakenly removed during a remodeling. In 1974, the entire building was demolished.

PCAD id: 6637

Publications

Dorpat, Paul, "Now & Then: At Once, Classic and Cheap", Seattle Times Pacific Northwest, 22, 12/14/2008. Seattle of Today Architecturally, np, 1905.

Olympic Block #1, Pioneer Square, Seattle, WA (1889-1891) demolished

Publications