Washington’s World’s Fair Standoff
A bitter, months-long deadlock between state commissioners and Chicago architects ends in the victory of a 'uniquely Washington' log cabin design over a 'commonplace' courthouse style.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Word has been received in Seattle that Mr. Burnham, supervising architect for the World’s Fair in Chicago, has formally approved the plans drawn by Warren P. Skillings of this city. The contest over the plans of Mr. Skillings and W. A. Ritchie has been a long and bitter one. The commissioners admitted the trouble was due to the fact that the call for competitive designs was not sufficiently explicit. The state executive committee originally awarded the first prize to W. A. Ritchie and the third to Warren P. Skillings, assuming approval in Chicago would be a formality. However, the supervising architect in Chicago declared the Ritchie plan 'inferior in every way' and 'likely to mar the effect of surrounding buildings,' while giving the Skillings plan his hearty indorsement. The state commission deadlocked for months, with four commissioners favoring Skillings and four favoring Ritchie. Finally, the decision was sent to Chicago. The winning Skillings design features lower walls of huge logs, showing Washington timber in the rough, with a main entrance formed by an arch of state building stones and a grotto containing mineral specimens. Above the roof rises a tall mast of fir, rigged with spars and ship timbers. The structure is intended to be unique and characteristic, rather than the commonplace style of a country courthouse.
“He said he could show a dozen ward schools in Chicago and a dozen country courthouses and jails in Illinois built in the same general style.”
This 1892 struggle over the 'character' of Washington’s architecture—pitting local political preferences against high-level aesthetic standards—parallels Seattle's ongoing debates regarding urban design, density, and what defines the region's built environment as it grows on the global stage.
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