Main Street Reshaped: Col. Squire’s Development
Col. Watson C. Squire initiates the demolition of aging buildings behind the Brunswick and Arlington hotels, signaling a period of major urban redevelopment in Seattle.
All the old buildings on both sides of Main street in the rear of the Brunswick and Arlington Hotels are being torn away to make room for extensive improvements which are contemplated by Col. Squire, the owner of the property. Two large and handsome structures are to be erected, but the work will probably not be carried on until spring. Other improvements are to be made in the same locality, and the next year will evidently see a vast change in the appearance of this portion of the city.
“The next year will evidently see a vast change in the appearance of this portion of the city.”
This early account of 'urban renewal' by Col. Watson C. Squire, who would later become Governor of Washington, highlights the rapid physical transformation of Pioneer Square. Similar redevelopment pressures and the cycle of tearing down older structures for larger, 'handsome' buildings have remained a persistent feature of Seattle's growth machine for 140 years.
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