The Rainier Club Unveils Its New Clubhouse
Seattle’s elite gentlemen’s club celebrates the opening of its opulent new quarters adjacent to the Seattle Theater.
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Day and evening receptions marked the opening of the Rainier Club’s new quarters in the building adjoining the Seattle Theater on Third street. The afternoon reception was for women only, and about 300 of the leading women of the city attended. The evening reception was a stag affair for club members. The club occupies portions of three floors, including a billiard room, library, and a main dining room finished in an Empire style. The house is supplied with combination gas and electric lighting. A highlight of the decor is an old-fashioned English picture of Admiral Peter Rainier, the club’s namesake, hanging in the reception hall. The Rainier Club was organized in July 1888, and its move to this elegant space signifies its established place in the city's social hierarchy.
“The first impression that greets the newcomer in the new rooms of the club in the Seattle theater building is one of surprise that such elegant quarters are to be had in the building after the theater is provided for.”
The Rainier Club remains one of Seattle's oldest and most exclusive private social clubs. The building described, near the old Seattle Theater, reflects a period when the city's power brokers were consolidating their social spaces in the downtown core, a pattern that still defines the geography of local influence today.
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