Hyer Farm

Status: Saved!

Year Listed: 2003

Location: Sequim, Clallam County

The nationally listed Hyer farmhouse, barn, and outbuildings represent an intact and well-preserved slice of early 20th century rural architecture in Washington state.

The Hyer Farmstead near Sequim was placed on the Most Endangered Places list in 1994 because of demolition threats due to the re-routing and expansion of Highway 101. The truly stellar collection of early 20th century farm buildings, considered at the lime to be one of the best surviving rural properties on the Olympic Peninsula, included the farmhouse, barn, and water tower—all placed on the National Register in 1994.

The farm was purchased in 1997 by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) for the Highway 101 bypass and put up for sale with the condition that its historic character be preserved. For several years, Clallam County intended to buy the property but never signed the purchase agreement. In 2003, WSDOT put Hyer Farm up for public auction, with the historic restrictions in place. The bid opening on May 14th revealed that a local buyer was the successful bidder. The new owner then proceeded to work on farmhouse rehabilitation, seek funds for preservation of other buildings on the site, and work towards an overall agricultural use.

Port Angeles Fire Station

Status: Saved!

Year Listed: 2014

Location: Clallam County

Designed by Seattle architect William Aitken and completed in 1931, the Art Deco Fire Hall was the first of three contiguous buildings that were to serve collectively as a city-government campus. Budget realities during the Depression, however, forced city leaders to scrap plans for the additional buildings, leaving the Fire Hall to serve triple-duty as the permanent home for the Fire Department, the City Council Chambers, and the city jail. Although the Port Angeles Fire Department moved to a larger facility in the 1950s, the Fire Hall remained in active use, serving as a juvenile home, Port Angeles’ first YMCA, the city Sanitation Department, a senior center and, until closing in 2006, a popular café. With deferred maintenance, foundation settlement, and seismic needs, recent assessments place the cost for core and shell upgrades at over one million dollars, with full rehabilitation likely to cost double that. Undaunted, city and county officials continue to champion reuse of the structure. Together with the former Carnegie Library (now the Clallam County Historical Museum) and the historic Clallam County Courthouse, in 2011 the Fire Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Port Angeles Civic Historic District, the only National Register-listed historic district within the city’s core.