The Skyscraper Era Begins on Pacific Avenue
A historic property site in the heart of downtown Tacoma is sold for $81,000 to make way for a landmark sixteen-story building.
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.
Eighty-one thousand dollars in cash was turned over by the National Realty company and the deeds taken for the Kansas block property on Pacific avenue upon which within three months active work will be in progress on the first Tacoma skyscraper. The property was bought from Mrs. Alverda R. Mead, widow of Philo S. Mead, who bought the property in 1884 for $10,000, making a profit of $69,000. Plans are being finished by Architects Heath and Twitchell for the big 16-story building, with contracts expected by June. The site is currently occupied by the Vienna bakery, the Pullman saloon, and a pawn shop.
“Mrs. Alverda R. Mead... bought the property in 1884 for $10,000 and held it until today, making a profit of $69,000.”
This sale marked the beginning of high-rise development in downtown Tacoma. Today, the stretch of Pacific Avenue remains the historic center of the city, though the structures built during this 1909 boom face the constant modern pressure of redevelopment and preservation.
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