The Rising Brick Skyline of Early Seattle
As Schwabacher Brothers prepares a massive new brick warehouse on Commercial Street, the city celebrates its shift from wooden frame town to a permanent commercial hub.
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.
Among the numerous improvements in Seattle will be the fire-proof brick store of Schwabacher, Bros. & Co., soon to be erected on Commercial street, adjoining Yesler's corner. The building will be a handsome structure, three stories high, with an iron front, and constructed with all the artistic taste of a first-class city structure. The lower floor will be a single room, 30x100 feet, opening in the rear upon a wharf and connecting with a warehouse. The second and third stories will be devoted to storage purposes. The extensive business of this firm demands this improvement and is a safe index of the permanent commercial prosperity of Seattle.
“The extensive business of this firm demands this improvement and is a safe index of the permanent commercial prosperity of Seattle.”
In 1872, Seattle’s transition from wood to brick was a badge of civic legitimacy and economic permanence. Today, that same struggle for structural permanence defines Seattle’s urban identity, as the city grapples with the tension between preservation and the relentless demand for high-density, 'fire-proof' steel and glass development.
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