The Pioneer Developer Building the Future of Downtown Seattle
As Seattle grapples with rapid growth and a critical shortage of hotels for visiting businessmen, pioneer Dexter Horton announces a major new business block on Cherry Street.
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.
We are informed positively that Mr. Dexter Horton has decided to cover his half block on the north side of Cherry street, between Second and Third, with a magnificent business block. The work of excavation for the Third street half of the proposed building is now in progress and construction will begin in a few days. This part of the structure will be finished this fall, and foundations will be laid for the other half with the idea of building early next year. The Post-Intelligencer has often before had occasion to commend our pioneer citizens for their spirit in behalf of the city. If they are not always ready to do just what somebody thinks they ought to do, it is not because they lack enterprise or a proper interest in the city but on account of reasons wholly of their own concern. In every emergency in which Seattle has been placed, her pioneer citizens have always been among those to lead the way. Mr. Horton's present enterprise is but the latest of many in which he has engaged in years past not more for his own interest than for the interest of Seattle. We sadly lack a hotel. Every day the city suffers through the want of a place where visiting capitalists and businessmen may be entertained. Of the hundreds of such visitors now coming to Puget Sound, few do more than spend a few hours in Seattle. And when they do come it is only to walk up one street and down another unknown and even unseen by those whose acquaintance might be the means of interesting them in our city. In our present situation we must look for help from abroad, and in failing to provide a hotel we are neglecting a most important thing.
“Every day the city suffers through the want of a place where visiting capitalists and businessmen may be entertained.”
In 1889, Seattle’s elite were focused on building the 'business blocks' that would define the city’s post-fire architecture. Today, the debate has shifted from needing basic hotel infrastructure to the intense struggle over density, housing affordability, and whether new development serves the city's residents or just visiting capital.
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