Two Months Of Carnage That Brought Light Rail To Capitol Hill

This story ran on the Capitol Hill Seattle blog on March 16, 2016.  Rather than taking the time to recreate it here I will simply provide a link for the time being.

http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2016/03/capitol-retrospective-two-months-of-carnage-that-brought-light-rail-to-capitol-hill/

Before There Was Light Rail There Was 923 East John Street

**The fifth and final(?) installment in my series "Before There Was Light Rail" in which I take a look at some of the buildings that were torn down in 2009 to make way for the light rail station opening on March 19, 2016.  I may return to this series at a later date as there are several more buildings that have yet to be explored at a much deserved greater depth.  Stay tuned for that.

The Saint Albans Apartments, May 1909? Image: pauldorpat.com

Here we have the Saint Albans Apartments in its original splendor of the Old English style. It was last known as the Eileen Court.  Note well in the foreground of the image just how narrow john street was at this time.  My initial search of various source materials indicates that this building has a colorful history by way of the lives and activities of some of its former residents and owners whose stories I will only be able to very briefly mention for the time being.

The St. Albans Years - 1908-1927

It begins when Frederick "Fred" W. Charles purchased the property from a Mary Holcomb for $16,000 on April 5, 1907. Fred then hired architect James E Blackwell to design it and together they filed the plans with the city in June of 1908.  Construction on the 24-unit building most likely started in August or September and finished in the fall and was reported to have cost up to $40,000.

Saint Albans, mid construction.  Sept-Oct 1908? Image: pauldorpat.com

The first for rent ad in the Seattle Times ran on December 13, 1908 for 1, 3, and 4 room apartments with wall beds ranging from $20 to $40 per month and it appears Charles may have hired or possibly sold the property to a Mrs Carrie Erne, who the Seattle Times mentions as "proprietor" of the St. Albans as of August 1910.  She was apparently a well known proprietor of various hotels and apartment houses around town and in August of 1910 she was called to the witness stand to speak on behalf of a Mrs. Vera Prosser, an early and brief resident of the St. Albans, who was on trial for murdering her husband on a train in Montana.

Reese Prosser, circa 1910. Image: Seattle Times (Kinda looks like Dennis Kucinich?)

Vera Prosser, circa 1910.  Image: Seattle Times. Just look at that hat!

The Prossers had been living a dramatic and highly sensationalized married life up until their divorce and Reese's murder as evidenced by all the Times stories written about them.  It's too long of story to go into at the moment, but to sum it up, the jury voted to acquit Vera of the charges against her citing "self-defense" and she went free... only to land her self in jail again for larceny after which she was again set free.  She then got married and divorced a second time in 1912 after apparently threatening to murder her second husband--but wait, it gets better!  In 1913, she even tried to take credit for murdering Marshall Field Jr., the son of the founder of Marshall Field and Company!  Authorities did not believe her story.  This woman was desperate for media attention.  Anyway, all of this has little to do with the St. Albans itself.

The St. Albans hosted a variety of seemingly more sane individuals if only evidenced by their lack of infamy.  Living here in 1910 were Thurston Bean a manager of a print shop with his wife and son;  Mary Armstrong a vaudeville performer with Mary Codd a clerk at MacDougall & Southwick Department Store; Leon Hebert vice president of Phil L Serwe & Co; and Nellie Hunt a student at Hyatt-Fowells school just to name a few. 

Up through the 1920s news about residents is more or less what one wold expect, notes about various parties, residents being involved in car accidents, and residents' cars being stolen.

The Willard Court Years (1927-1934)

In 1927 though it seems whoever the owner was at this point may have sold the property because for rent ads suddenly show that the building's name had changed to  "Willard Court" and I believe the owner's name was J. Peterson.  Not much else noteworthy takes place here during this period of time until J. Peterson sold the property in September 1934 to an Alex Lewis for $40,000.

Eileen Court - The Alex Lewis Years (1934-1960?)

 Alex Lewis was a Russian immigrant who arrived in New York City in 1913.  He came to Seattle in 1933 with his wife Sara and two sons Edwin and Paul and took up residence at 917 East John street, just a stones throw away from Willard Court.  He was the owner of Lewis & Company an "amusement devices company" i.e. pinball and other game machines, when he bought Willard Court in 1934. To accommodate this new venture, he set up a rental office out of his home at 917 as partially evidenced by left edge of the photo below.  If I had known about this the last time I visited the Washington State Archives, I would have grabbed the photo of 917 as well.

Alex Lewis, 1937. Image: Seattle Times.

Cutoff of 917 East John Street on the left, 1937  Image: WA State Archives.

Changes were abound in the immediate vicinity the moment Lewis took over Willard Court and renamed it Eileen Court.  As you can see in the images below the city was in the process of widening John street east of Broadway starting in August 1934.

John St from 10th looking west.  Aug. 1934. Image: Seattle Municipal Archives.

John St from 11th looking west.  Sep. 1934. Image: Seattle Municipal Archives.

John St from 10th looking west.  Feb. 1937. Image: Seattle Municipal Archives.

The only noteworthy event that took place at Eileen Court itself during this time was the suicide of Mrs. Marie MacDonald in 1935 who referenced, in a suicide note, her unrequited love for her estranged husband no longer living with her and her daughter. Otherwise, here's an image of Eileen court as of 1937 still maintaining its Old English style.

Seattle Times, 1935.

923 East John Street, 1937.  Image: WA State Archives.

Now in the 1940s we find out just what type of person Alex Lewis really is and to put it briefly he sure was a piece of work.  Again much like the Prossers, the activities of Alex Lewis are too far reaching and complicated to fully explore at this time.  However, to put it briefly he and his son were bookies involved in a far reaching illegal gambling ring including many of the machines his company sold to businesses who operated them without licenses.  Their first major bust came in 1947 for the illegal gaming and again for illegal bookmaking on horse races in 1953.  The charges against Lewis and his son were so extensive they broke the record for the longest criminal record on file at King County clocking in at 14 type-written pages for 31 counts of bookmaking.  At the U.S. District court, Alex also racked up 12 counts of failing to make a wagering tax return.  Alex was sentenced to one-year in prison, but was let off with a $1000 fine.

Image: Seattle Times, 1947.

I have no idea at this point in my research, but I'd wager that Alex sold Eileen Court not long after his criminal career came to an end.  After all he owed a lot of back taxes to the federal government and if his game business wasn't enough to pay it off, selling Eileen Court certainly would have.  He passed away in 1967 at the age of 71.

Now I want to take a moment to help restore everyone's faith in humanity with a more wholesome and adorable story written in 1959.  Pictured below is an Eileen Court resident named Ann Johnson aged three after finding one of 1400 Easter eggs hidden among the shrubs around Broadway Playfield.  The Capitol Hill Commercial Club hosted this annual event.  Click the right image to read the full story and see more pictures.

Ann Johnson, age 3, 1959 Image: Seattle Times

Image: Seattle Times, 1959.

Eileen Court - The Herbert Tanaka Years 1960?-1969

At the moment, I'm assuming that Herbert Tanaka bought Eileen Court from Alex Lewis.  I wasn't able to find much on the man himself.  All I know is that he owned the place and lived there with his family.  However, his son Wayne shows up in the Seattle Times.  In 1964 the Young Adult Services Division of the American Library Association asked the Seattle Public Library to participate in a nation-wide survey to prove that teenage readers have more sophisticated reading tastes than adults believe.  SPL chose Garfield High School who in turn decided to ask the leader of each student club what book influenced them most.  The leader of the Chess Club, Wayne Tanaka, chose Emile Zola's "Germinal" because "I could comprehend why there were such violent strikes and why revolutions in the labor class tend to favor socialism."  Spoken like a true Seattle lefty. 

The following year, Wayne went on obtain the Carkeek Scholarship and enrolled at University of Washington thereafter.  His father Herbert sold Eileen Court in 1969 to William Burnside for $147,000.

While at UW Wayne, as a member of the executive committee of the Student-Tenant Council, helped organize a "landlord critque" to keep files on landlord complaints and to inform students of their rights.  As the son of a landlord himself with Socialist leanings, Wayne was an obvious fit for the task.

The Roy G. Watkins Years at Eileen Court 1970-????

William Burnside turned around and sold Eileen Court pretty quickly so his story isn't worth exploring.  Watkins paid $165,000 for it.  A nice profit for Burnside who only had the place for 10 months. However, this sale would not bode well for the residents of Eileen Court.  In a word, he was a slumlord.  A brief look at Watkins' past shows that he had a considerable interest in real estate because he is reported to have purchased multiple properties throughout the late 60s and early 70s.  The Seattle Times also reports a Roy G. Watkins getting divorced once in 1963 and again in 1974. 

In 1971 the city held a public hearing on 13 buildings judged unfit for human habitation.  Watkins owned one of the buildings listed, but thankfully it wasn't Eileen Court.  Less than a year later though, Watkins was cited for permitting excessive smoke emissions from a boiler stack at Eileen Court.  The Puget Sound Air Pollution Control Agency filed a law suit against Watkins in 1973 for refusing to pay the fine.  Wayne Tanaka was surely fuming over the mistreatment of his childhood home and its residents.  No other information on Watkins can be found at the moment.

In other news, I thought it was worth mentioning that the light rail proposal was not the first time that Eileen Court was threatened with demolition. In 1975, the post office wanted to build a 90,000 square foot facility on Capitol Hill that would include the land occupied by Eileen Court. Thankfully, the city council shot it down.  You can read the full story below.

Last Years at Eileen Court 1999-2009

Landlord issues at Eileen Court did not end with Roy Watkins. The Stranger reported in 1999 here and here that the building's owner at that time, No Boundaries Ltd. (what a fitting name!), attempted to nearly double the rent in an effort to force residents out so they could avoid getting remodel permits that would require them to pay relocation expenses for residents.

923 East John Street, 2009.  Image: pauldorpat.com

*This concludes the final part in the "Before There Was Light Rail Series" be sure to look out for my final upcoming story about the demolition in 2009 it will be featured on the Capitol Hill Seattle blog this week.

*To keep track of future stories like these and for additional content be sure to follow The Capitol Retrospective on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Before There Was Light Rail There Was 1830 Broadway

*The fourth installment in my series "Before There Was Light Rail" in which I take a look at some of the buildings that were torn down in 2009 to make way for the light rail station opening on March 19, 2016.  Disclaimer: I spent the better part of the past 14 hours rushing to get this one done.  In due time I'll come back to fill in the missing details.  And if you spot errors don't hesitate to mention them!

1830 Broadway, 1915. Image: Seattle Times.

Anyone who frequented this stretch of Broadway at the turn of the century might recognize this storefront as the former home of Godfather's Pizza with Espresso Vivace (901 E John st) and Revolution Books (1833 Nagle pl) occupying the rear side of the building with a view of Cal Anderson Park. However, when this building was constructed in 1915 it was originally intended to function as a single, unified structure with one address: 1830 Broadway, but it didn't take long for it to become a house divided by the ever-changing interests of its many occupants.

Rothweiler & Company

As is obvious in the photograph above, 1830 Broadway was originally a Ford dealership with a workshop and garage in the rear.  The founder was Harvey N. Rothweiler, a native of New York City and born in 1884.  He joined the automobile business in Seattle as early as 1908 after spending roughly the past decade in Alaska. He learned all aspects of the business from sales and management to mechanics and engineering and quickly became known as one of the "live wires" in the business.  In fact he was one of a few people who, around 1913, had simultaneously invented a method for converting Ford cars into light trucks using what he called the "Rothweiler Attachment" during a time when apparently the auto manufacturers hadn't started mass producing trucks. 

(above) 1916 Automobile Trade Journal vol 20.                                           (right) 1917 Rothweiler in Motor Wold vol 52.

This wasn't Rothweiler's only invention.  He'd already invented a new type of pipe wrench called the Rothweiler pipe wrench and another device, the Rothweiler pump, for oil barrels.  With a booming auto industry and a desire to develop his own line of trucks and pumps, it was obvious to Rothweiler that he needed a larger facility to suit his needs so he moved to 1830 Broadway in 1915.  However, only a few years later he decided that auto sales were too much of a distraction from his growing manufacturing business for which he'd already built another facility in south Seattle, so he sold the dealership to another prominent Ford salesman by the name Alfred Ayerst.

Alfred G. Ayerst Inc.

Ayerst, circa 1921. Image Seattle Times.

Ayerst had been around since 1912 and was by this point assistant manager of the Ford branch office in Seattle and instead of being made a manager at a new branch elsewhere he decided to buy out Rothweiler's authorized dealership in February 1918 so he could stay in Seattle. 

The first year under Ayerst's leadership was a success.  There was enough money to go around to fully renovate the building, which included mahogany trim in its salesroom.  This is really quite telling considering the building was only 3 years old.  Anyway, by Christmas Ayerst hosted a party for his 21 employees at the Arctic Club.  The dining table centered around a Christmas tree decorated with bonus checks that ranged from $5 to $225 ($80 - $3500 in 2016 dollars).  Afterward they drove their Fords over to the Wilkes Theatre for a performance of "Which One Shall I Marry?"  Certainly a great way to celebrate success, the holidays, and even the end of WWI only a month prior.

Business marched onward and upward into the 1920s despite the post-war lull.  And with the war over, people were focused more on personal comforts than meeting logistical needs as Ayerst was advertising a way to convert open-air Ford cars into closed ones or "Limousettes" as they were called rather than into trucks like Rothweiler had done.

Nov, 1919. Limousette ad. Image: Seattle Times.

Now as the narrative always goes for the automotive industry in the early 20th century, moving to a larger facility would soon be necessary.  So Ayerst eyed himself a spot in the heart of downtown at 3rd and Stewart where he built a considerably larger two story facility by October of 1921.  The new facility proved so attractive that one of the largest auto dealers in America had to have it so he bought out Ayerst for an unknown, but presumably enormous amount in February of 1922.

This technically left Ayerst without a job, but thankfully he hadn't sold his old facility so over the next few months he shopped around for a new brand of automobile to get behind and that brand was Rickenbacker and with it came a new business partner L.M. Cline.

L.M. Cline & Alfred Ayerst Inc.

October 1922.  1830 Broadway. Image: Seattle Times.

Ayerst and Cline together were the first to introduce the new line of automobiles designed by the WWI ace pilot Eddie Rickenbacker and 1923 would be their break out year.  Apparently the Rickenbacker was responsible for bringing a whole host of innovations to the automobile and the most popular among them was four wheel breaks.

By the summer of 1923, Cline and Ayerst carried out a massive advertising campaign in Seattle for the four wheel brakes including public demonstrations.  The first demonstration took place at 11th and pine where they marked out 35 feet lines and each drove a car, one with two wheel brakes and one with four wheel brakes.  From a speed of 20mph the former stopped in 25 feet, the latter in only 9 feet.  The new braking system took the automotive world by storm.  It was deemed the safest car on the road and so much so that insurance companies offered a discount rate for Rickenbacker owners. 

September, 1923.  Alfred Ayerst drives the new Rickenbacer Roaster. Image: Seattle Times.

Production and sales proceeded to increase throughout 1924 and Rickenbacker continued to make additional innovations.  However, the changes made proved too far reaching and expensive that sales began to stall leading to the company's closure in 1927 with its remaining assets sold off to Audi in Germany.  Cline and Ayerst must have saw it coming because they had already left the Rickenbacker.  It isn't immediately clear where Cline went but Ayerst, stayed put and briefly sold Auburn automobiles based out of Auburn Indiana, but only for another year.  If I had to guess, he probably decided to bail on Auburn after he got a sense that its new owner, the infamous Errett Cord, was taking it in a similar direction Eddie Rickenbacker was taking his company.  So on November 17, 1926, Ayerst and some friends founded two new companies the Industries Finance Corporation and the Industries Warehouse Company. 

MacMarr's Grocery

In May of 1927, a quickly growing grocery store chain founded by Charles E. Marr in Spokane in 1909 as "Marr's Grocery", but later based out of Los Angeles as "MacMarr's", moved into the Broadway portion of the space while another operation, Nagle Place Garage had been operating out of the rear.  According to the store's manager C. H. Soper, Marr was a good educator and took personal interest in each of his stores and great pride in all of his employees.  In time this personal touch would prove more and more difficult to maintain.  Marr had caught the same bug that many other business owners across all industries had caught by the late 1920s, the compulsion to race for the top in a seemingly never ending binge on mergers and buyouts.  By 1929 Marr had expanded to well over 1000 stores and completed his company's merger with Piggly Wiggly.  Their stock price hit a high of about $43 before the big crash that October and by the time the oh so familiar Safeway Inc. bought them out in 1931, it had sunk to as low as $8.  Without any direct evidence at the moment, I can only guess that this was around the time the MacMarr store at 1830 Broadway would have closed due to economic constraints.

Charles Marr, circa 1929. Image: Seattle Times.

Piggly Wiggly-MacMarr ad. October, 1929. Image: Seattle Times.

From The Great Depression to the 1980s

Circa 1937.  1830 Broadway. Image: WA State Archives.

Throughout the 1930s activity at 1830 Broadway and 1831 Nagle Place was never really the same and for obvious reasons.  Various independent grocers and automotive services swapped in and out of various parts of the building every couple years probably struggling in the worst economic conditions the country had ever experienced.  Furthermore, the automotive industry was well established and consolidated at this point and all the ballyhoo built up around it up through the 1920s had subsided.  So it isn't a surprise that there just wasn't much newsworthy activity taking place at the local level. However, by the 1940s business started to pick up and the building had more consistent occupants.

April 21, 1948.  1830 Broadway.  Image: WA State Archives.

 
On the Broadway side opening as early as 1942 was Broadway Automotive Service a combination accessory store and repair shop.  Taking up the rear was the Broadway Auto Machine Shop specializing in reboring, crankshaft and piston grinding, and rebuilding of motors.  If advertising is any good indication, then it appears that Broadway Automotive resided here until the mid 1960s while the Machine Shop may have left in 1947.  As a matter of fact, the machine shop caught fire in January 1947 burning through to the first floor on the rear side causing $15,000 worth of damage. So it doesn't surprise me that the machine shop stopped advertising shortly thereafter.  They likely moved on.

No mention of business here emerges again until 1978 when a fellow named William Ward set up United Transmission Service for a few years.  During his tenure at 1830 Broadway he did manage to catch the attention of the Seattle Times automotive editor a few times in which he offers extensive advice on transmission care.

The 1980s

Godfather's Pizza moved into the Broadway side of the building  in 1983 as evidenced from photos provided by the Washington State Archives and would reside here until about 2001. This same year a third story, side entrance and walkway ramp were built for the rear side of the building.  The floor plans and images below, spell it all out in decent detail.  I would say more Godfather's, but it is now past 3:30 AM as I type this and I've been writing this story for the better part of the past 12 hours and need to wrap it up, so I'll have to come back to it another time.

1830 Broadway Ave. Image: WA State Archives.

1831 Nagle Place & 901 East Denny Way. Image: WA State Archives.

1983 Floor Plans.  Image: WA State Archives.

Revolution Books
A cursory google search through early internet records indicates Revolution Books had a store front at 1833 Nagle Place as early as 1997.  If I had to guess, I'd say they were probably there before that.  Again I will have to return to this subject at a later date when I have more time to do it justice.  See what I just did there?

Revolution Books, undated. 1833 Nagle Place. Image: Revcom.us

Espresso Vivace
In 1992 Vivace owners and co-founders David Schomer and Geneva Sullivan opened a full-sized brick and motor cafe behind Godfather's Pizza after operating solely as a street cart on Broadway since 1988 and remained here until 2008. Since the founding of Vivace, Schomer has become world-renowned for his innovations in the craft, publishing multiple books in multiple languages.  I would tell the whole story myself, but in my weary state I am oh so grateful that many others, even as recently as October last year, have published some fantastic pieces about Vivace that would certainly put anything I could quickly churn out in the next hour to shame, so I've decided to curate a selection of these stories below and share a few photos of the original cafe at 901 East Denny so I can finally wrap this up!

Seattle Post-Intelligencer - Whirr of Espresso Vivace soon silenced by new rail: May 16, 2006

Seattle Times - Vivace founder, David Schomer is a coffee prophet: July 3, 2006

Bloomberg Business - Higher Grounds: February 25, 2007

Sprudge Coffee News & Culture - Seattle: The infinite complexity of Espresso Vivace: Sept 24, 2015

Seattle Times - Vivace's David Schomer - not Starbucks - 'made coffee huge in Seattle' October 22, 2015

June 25, 2008.  Image: Flickr username tonx.

April 28, 2007.  Image: Nicole Immorlica

November 8, 2007.  Image: AllegriaEsppresoBar.blogspot.com

December 24, 2007. Image: Hugeasscity.com

July 27, 2007 Image: Christopher Stumm

April 8, 2007.  Image: Flickr User hbunny737

*To keep track of future stories like these and for additional content be sure to follow The Capitol Retrospective on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

**Note well, I originally (and mistakenly) referred to "1830 Broadway" as "1830 Broadway Ave E" when neither the "Ave" road type nor the "E" direction is attached to Broadway addresses south of Denny.  The error has since been corrected as of 12:43 PM on 3/10/2016.

Before There Was Light Rail There Was 126 Broadway E

*The third installment in my series "Before There Was Light Rail" coming to you a little late on account of being out of town yet again this past weekend.  As with the others that came before, this is a brief look at one of the buildings that was torn down in 2009 to make way for the light rail station opening on March 19, 2016.

If my memory serves me correctly, this was one of the last two homes to remain standing along Broadway into the 21st century.  However, the casual passerby might never have noticed it because for most of its life a brick and mortar commercial building (128 Broadway Ave E) stood between it and Broadway.  This home was built around about 1904 and it should be noted to clarify any confusion that the address at this time was 126 Broadway Ave North until it changed to East several decades later.  It functioned primarily as a 15ish room boarding house (the count varied in classified ads, probably due to remodels), but also hosted a curious assortment of other operations throughout its life.

In fact, the first ad to run in the Seattle Times at 126 Broadway Ave N was in 1907 and it wasn't for a room to sleep in, it was for the Paris & New York Medical Electrolysis Institute whose cryptic-sounding "Parisian Regulator" supposedly cured "all female disorders." Fellow neighborhood historian Rob Ketcherside aptly pointed out to me that it was probably the same concept as a similar procedure that was being offered to men around this time.  Dr. Sanden's "Electric Belt" (pictured below) had been available throughout the Puget Sound region since the 1890s.  Anyway, the Parisian Regulator ad ran daily in the Seattle Times for a few months and was never seen again thereafter because apparently the Seattle Star newspaper sent two women to investigate and busted the head of the operation for practicing medicine without a license.  Apparently, the operation had recently fled to 126 Broadway after receiving a plethora of complaints while practicing in an office downtown. (Thanks again Rob for breaking this story!)

June, 1907. Image: Seattle Times.

Sept, 1898. Image: Seattle Times.

Now it was about a month before this bust took place that a room-for-rent ad first ran in the Seattle Times offering furnished rooms, breakfast, and a garden.  However, the original owners, whose names remain unknown, unfortunately weren't long for this work because in 1909 they were forced to sell the house due to illness.  Hereafter it seems to have changed hands a number of times with intermittent renters up until the 1920s.  The 1910 census reports that at least five people were living here.  A 22-year-old Railroad office stenographer named Ella Chamberlin, a 42-year-old unoccupied man named Patrick Flaherty, Clarence Collins a 24-year-old electrical engineer, Harold Falkner a 21-year-old clerk for a lumber company, and Joseph Fleming a 30-year old grocery salesman.  Fleming in particular lived here for a year before renting a home and store front at the corner of Denny and Broadway to start a grocery business there.

The Fleming Era

In the early 1920s Fleming came back and purchased 126 Broadway Ave N outright and moved in with some of his brothers and rented out the remaining rooms to strangers.  The Fleming brothers then reopened their grocery store at the new store front built in front of the house.

Joseph Fleming, 1938. Image: Seattle Times.

Joseph Fleming, 1971. Image: MOHAI.

I'm guessing Joseph owned and lived in this house up until the mid to late 1960s by which point, three of his brothers had died, which might explain why he decided to move in with his grand nephew Gordon Fleming down in Tacoma who as a matter of fact just passed away last year.

During Joseph's roughly 40-year tenure as owner, the Seattle Times notes that in 1931 he and his brothers chased out a burglar one night.  Otherwise, all reports at the address are about people who rented rooms at the house.  Most often notices of births, deaths and marriages or classifieds by residents wishing to sell and trade items including car parts, a davenport, and a phonograph player with a sizable record collection.  However, one resident named David Carson made headlines for his academic achievements.

Seattle Times, 1939.

Seattle Times, 1941.

Post-Fleming Era

After the Fleming era for the house ended, it once again hosted a couple different operations while people rented rooms.  One of these was The Floating World, a Japanese antique and folk art gallery that opened up shop in December, 1979 and later moved to 715 Broadway E in 1981.


Backpacker's Hostel

By some point in 1990s a man named Roger Lebel turned the home into a hostel.  The sparse amount of ads still floating around the internet indicate that it went by two names first the American Backpacker's Hostel and later Bigfoot Backpacker's Hostel.  It offered 45 beds, some in private rooms, free breakfast, internet access, downtown pick up and tours to the grave sites of Bruce Lee and Kurt Cobain as well as Cobain's former home in Madrona.  Unfortunately people who stayed here and the property owner would soon find that Lebel was not a man to be trusted.  It was reported that Lebel tried to do "sleazy" things to some of the women who stayed there and by 1999 he shut down the operation and abandoned the house without notice to the property owner.  Apparently, he was severely in debt.


Last days.

Broadway Mike. Photo by Tim Durkan.

After the bittersweet news of Lebel's sudden departure, an employee at Twice Sold Tales offered to rent the house along with some friends and so from that point forward the house was shared in common.  Parties and shows happened on a regular basis.  Residents frequently had to deal with weary travelers arriving at their doorstep because out-of-date hostel listings had misled them there.  Occasionally the residents would let these travelers crash in the living room or at least give them a map and info on the nearest hostel.


Otherwise, the courtyard between 126 and 128 Broadway Ave E was the frequent late-night hang out for a nearly blind and deaf homeless alcoholic named Broadway Mike (pictured to the right).  Mike was a (or perhaps still is?) a common fixture all around Broadway much like Slats was.  The last residents of 126 say that Mike would sit out in the front court yard and rant loudly at all hours of the night.  Residents tolerated his antics because he was otherwise harmless and kept other more sketchy individuals away from the house. 

By late 2007, Sound Transit gave the residents their final notice to vacate and for over year the house sat vacant until it's demolition in 2009.

*To keep track of future stories like these and for additional content be sure to follow The Capitol Retrospective on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

**Note: this story was updated on 3/4/16 at 12:42 AM to include the fate of the "Parisian Regulator."

126 Broadway Ave E pictured from behind on its last day standing. March 16, 2009.