Old City Hall Historic District

In 1894, three years after completion of the fire station, which remained the headquarters for the Tacoma Fire Department until 1968, Firemen's Park was constructed on a triangular piece of land to the north of the station. By remembering that the City Hall was completed the previous year, we can see the outer rim of the District connected and Whiskey Row encircled. The original Firemen's Park, overlooking Commencement Bay and the tide flats, was a grass-covered area where many of the original fir and cedar trees had been retained along its eastern boundary. It was the first park in the downtown area. Memorial trees and rose garden were planted in the park and ivy engulfed the fire station, when it became known as "pretty little Firemen's Park". Two features associated with the park are Fawcett's Fountain and the Tacoma Totem Pole.[2] The fountain, which originally stood at the junction of Broadway, St. Helens and Ninth Street, is a copy of a municipal fountain, which sat on a wharf at Long Beach, California. It was presented to the city in 1908 by A. V. Fawcett, an early Tacoma Mayor. His purpose was to assure that anyone walking along the street could get a cool drink of water. It is a tumulus of rusticated stone with three drinking fountains. In the 1940s, it was moved to Firemen's Park. It is now located in a park located between the Northern Pacific Headquarters building and the Bradley Hotel at Seventh and Pacific, and has been restored to working condition.[2]

The most common alteration is the street-level storefronts. Sometimes the treatment is minor, such as the unification suggested by the owner's sign spanning the dissimilar facades at 722–726 Pacific. Sometimes the alterations have greater impact, such as the joining of a three-story Commercial style building with a single story store front by the device of an arcaded brick facade which bears no relationship to the buildings it masks or to the structures on either side (811-13 Pacific).[2] Some alterations, such as the loss of a cornice (Olympus Hotel and 718-20 Pacific, for example) are not immediately noticeable and appear related to seismic considerations. Other alterations are more permanent and damaging: most of the intrusive structures in the District are actually historic buildings that have been altered beyond recognition. The intrusions have little real impact on the appearance of the district since in every case but one the setback is the same as the surrounding structures. The typical intrusion is an emasculated historic building finished with an applied facade material (819-23 Pacific and 738 Broadway).[2]

Intrusive modern construction and the disruption of the original facade lines are, therefore, the major features, which separate the District from its surroundings to the south, particularly along Pacific Avenue. The quality of mutually supporting facades exists within the District and not immediately outside. Although some of this cohesiveness has been disrupted through intrusive alterations, it has not been done to the point of destroying the continuity. Late 19th century eclectic styles blend to present a street view of an earlier date than the surrounding area. One is allowed to step back in time and view an architectural microcosm with relatively few intrusions.[2]

Architects have been identified for the pivotal structures and for several of the primary structures. Their contributions span the history outlined relative to the District. Some were practicing Tacoma architects; others of stature were commissioned from the East and Middle West. Their buildings reflect training and experience, which range from the traditional American method of apprenticeship to training at the Beaux Arts in Paris.

• Charles B. Talbot, who began designing the Northern Pacific Headquarters building in 1886, was an architect for the railroad. He was also one of their Vice presidents and a professional photographer. He is known most for his series of blueprint photographs (in the Washington State Historical Society Museum) documenting railroad construction related to the Northern Pacific in Washington State. He undoubtedly operated the blueprint apparatus atop the Northern Pacific Headquarters building.[2]
• Hatherton and Mclntosh of San Francisco won the contest for the design of the Tacoma Chamber of Commerce building in 1890. This was to be at Seventh and Pacific Avenue the site of the Old City Hall. A land swap occurred, which placed the Chamber of Commerce building at the corner of Ninth and Broadway (the location of the Winthrop Hotel). The cornerstone of the old City Hall credits Hatherton as the architect for the building. He was the official architect for the city of San Francisco and designed its city hall.[2]
• C. A. Darmer and Frederick Heath were two architects in Tacoma. Both of these men's work spanned several decades within the city. C. A. Darmer was born in Germany and received his architectural training there. He worked for architectural firms in both San Francisco and Portland, Oregon and first arrived in Tacoma in 1884. In 1885, Darmer and William Farrell became partners. Darmer became the "official" architect for Charles B. Wright, the Philadelphia. Darmer's work can be seen throughout Pierce County and Western Washington State. His early work within the Old City Hall Historic District can be seen in the blocks along the western side of Pacific Avenue (1886–1888). Later he designed the Bradley Garage at 707 Pacific (1906) and the Olympus Hotel at 815 Pacific (1909). It is possible, too, that he designed the small building to the south of the Olympus Hotel (1904).[2]
• Heath and Twichell designed the Park Hotel at Eighth and A (1909). He was the official architect for the Tacoma School District, and is known for his redesign of the Tacoma Land Company Hotel. Originally designed by the Philadelphia architects G. W. Hewitt and W. D. Hewitt, the hotel became Stadium High School, named after the stadium (1909–1910), which Health also designed. Commercial structures of his design include the National Realty building (Puget Sound National Bank, 1909–1911).[2]
• E. Frere Champney designed the Elks Temple. He graduated from the Ecole des Beaux Arts in 1900. He started with Carrere and Hastings of Buffalo, New York, becoming the chief designer for the firm's projects at the Pan-American Exposition. Champney left to work for the federal government, where he his exposition work in St. Louis (1904) and at the Lewis and Clark Exposition (1905) in Portland, Oregon. In 1907, he moved to Seattle, and later e formed a partnership with Augustus Warren Gould.[2]
• W. L. Stoddard of New York City was chosen by the Citizen's Hotel Corporation for the Winthrop Hotel project based on his work on prior large hotels. Stoddard graduated from Columbia University, and apprenticed under various New York firms. In 1908 he started his own practice. Other hotel he designed included; the Lord Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland, the Reading in Reading, Pennsylvania, and the Tutweiler in Birmingham, Alabama.[2]

• City Directories: 1891 1906 plus others needed to establish major 1892 1912–13 dates, business, and owners 1897 1916
• Special manuscript file on Tacoma Totem Pole, Washington State Historical Society Library
• Newspaper clipping files at the Tacoma Public Library: Hotels, Winthrop Hotel and Puget South Electric Railroad Company
• HUNT, Herbert. Tacoma: Its History and Its Builders. 3 Vols. Chicago, S.J. Clarke,1916
• PROSCH, Thomas. McCarver and Tacoma. Seattle, Lowman and Hanford, 1906.
• Hans Bergman, ed. History of Scandinavians in Tacoma and Pierce County with Brief
• History of Tacoma and Early Settlement. Tacoma, 1926.
• DARMER, C. A. Review of the architectural work in the building construction of the Pacific Northwest, particularly in Tacoma, Washington, as^carried out by C. A. Darmer, Architect, c.1935, typescript, located in Tacoma Public Library, Northwest Room.
• JOSEPHSON, Matthew. The Robber Barons. New York, Harcourt, Brace and World, 1962.
• FLETCHER, Sir Banister. A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method. New York, Scribners, 1953.
• SIAS, Patricia A. An Examination of Influences on Selected Tacoma Architecture, 1890–1914. Tacoma, Washington, University of Puget Sound, 1971. Master Thesis.
• HARVEY, Paul W. Tacoma Headlines. Tacoma, Tacoma News Tribune, 1962.

• Rialto Theater
• Old City Hall
• Pantages Theatre/Jones Building