The Unstable Foundations of Early Seattle
When aggressive development on the Masonic lot caused a prominent brick building on Front Street to crack, it revealed the high-stakes risk of early Seattle’s rapid expansion.
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 Lowman & Hanford two-story brick building, situated on the east side of Front Street near the corner of Cherry, became weakened by excavations made under its south wall on the neighboring Masonic lot and settled badly Monday night. Two large cracks appeared in the rear and south walls of the building, which settled so deeply that for a time it was feared the structure would collapse. By the use of braces and underpinning, the walls were strengthened to ensure they would stand until a party wall foundation now under construction on the Masonic lot can be completed. Work has been temporarily suspended in the job office of the Lowman & Hanford Stationery and Printing Company, as the vibration from the running of their machinery would further shake the compromised walls.
“Two large cracks appeared in the rear and south walls of the building, which settled so badly that for a time it was feared that they would fall.”
This 1890 report of a building shifting due to neighboring excavation serves as a direct ancestor to modern Seattle construction concerns, where the city's dense growth and complex topography frequently spark legal and safety battles between developers and long-term business owners.
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