Seattle Firm Builds Temporary Store After Great Fire
After the catastrophic 1889 fire destroyed their downtown store, the merchants of Toklas, Singerman & Co. share a testament of resilience and their plans for a new, larger establishment.
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.
The natural law has always shown that at such a juncture as a crisis, the weak succumb, while the fittest survive and gain strength by the experience. The more colossal the enterprise, the greater the shock which the crisis brings, and the greater the energy required to restore stability. Shattered fortunes, like shattered nerves, demand time for recuperation. 'Resurgamus'—we will rise again. We have already partially arisen. We have constructed a mammoth, temporary store, covering an area of 10,000 square feet, and in this we will do business until the spring trade begins, when we expect to enter our new building on the former site, corner Columbia and Front streets. Our new establishment will far surpass the old. We have determined to secure and hold the wholesale trade of the Northwest, as well as the best retail trade of Seattle. Our public policy, unscathed by smoke and flame, remains the same: honest goods, honest words, honest dealings.
“Shattered fortunes, like shattered nerves, demand time for recuperation. 'Resurgamus'—we will rise again.”
Toklas, Singerman & Co.’s promise to rebuild better and stronger mirrors Seattle’s historic cycle of reinvention following urban disasters. Today, this site (near the historic waterfront) remains a hub for the city’s economic adaptation, highlighting the enduring tension between local business resilience and the pressures of a rapidly evolving downtown.
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