Washington Trust for Historic Preservation

Most Endangered Places

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Finch Building

Status: Lost

Year Listed: 1992, 1999

Location: Aberdeen, Grays Harbor County

Politician, lumber magnate, real estate developer, and philanthropist Edward C. Finch opened his eponymous building at Heron and H Streets in downtown Aberdeen on April 1, 1910, about 20 years after the town’s incorporation. The Finch Building was the first in town with an elevator and the first commercial building to make use of reinforced concrete. The building’s Renaissance Revival design by the noted Seattle architect A. Warren Gould featured terra cotta details, and six storefronts which were active into the 1970s.

The Finch Building was largely unaltered on the exterior when first listed as Most Endangered in 1992 and again in 1999, but by the latter date all the storefronts were boarded up. The interior had suffered a great deal of deterioration. Other Washington Trust efforts to save the building, led by treasurer Les Tonkin, a Seattle architect, included city council testimony and the filing of an affidavit supporting preservation. The affidavit stated that the city was not paying heed to the options for preservation stated in the 1998 Final Environmental Impact Statement. Recognized city needs, such as a library and downtown affordable housing, were among the possible uses, and developers had expressed interest. However, the city of Aberdeen declined to accept any renovation proposals.

The Finch Building was demolished on April 5, 1999 at age 89 years and five days.

Most Endangered Places

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South Harbor Park Stack

Status: Lost

Year Listed: 2001

Location: Skagit County

The South Harbor Park Smokestack in Anacortes was built in the early 1920s as a part of the Morrison Mill. It was the last remaining stack in a commnity once known as the “City of Stacks.” After being damaged by an earthquake, it was demolished.

Most Endangered Places

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Scout House

Status: Lost

Year Listed: 2004

Location: Jefferson County

Sir Robert Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scout movement in England in 1907. Four years later in 1911, Port Townsend’s first Boy Scout Troup was organized. In the 1920s, a Port Townsend businessman donated the city
block at Quincy and Cosgrove streets “for use by the Boy Scouts of Port Townsend.” Community volunteers and scouts built a rustic log house on the property and began using the “Scout House” in 1931. Since then, the Port Townsend Elks Lodge has sponsored the local scout troops and maintained the Scout House as a meeting place and activity hub for scouts. The Scout House played a key role in the scouting experience in Port Townsend. For more than 70 years, the rustic character of the house meshed comfortably with the historic fabric of Port Townsend, serving as a focal point for the Morgan Hill neighborhood and an authentic backdrop for countless scout meetings, ceremonies, and camp-outs.

Most Endangered Places

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Collins Building

Status: Lost

Year Listed: 2004

Location: Snohomish County

Tthe Collins Building was a remarkable three-story, old growth timber, post and beam structure. North Coast Casket (later the Collins Casket Company) erected this substantial 60,000- square-foot frame factory on the wharf in 1925. Broad windowed expanses maximize natural light to the interior, which originally saw assembly activity on the first floor, trim work on the second, and storage on the third. Inside and out, the Collins Building evoked an era of industrial activity that has been virtually erased from Everett’s bay front. Before the Port of Everett Commissioners voted for its demolition in 2010, it was the only surviving example of the wooden bay front mills that were the industrial backbone of “The City of Smokestacks.”

Most Endangered Places

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Anderson-Baum Cabin

Status: Lost

Year Listed: 2004

Location: Whatcom County

Charlie Anderson, prospector, woodsman, and shingle mill worker, built his one-room, hand-hewn cabin adjacent to the North Fork of the Nooksack River in the 1920s during the Mt. Baker Gold Rush years. After Charlie died, his long-time friend Jerry Bourn took up residence in the cabin until his death in 1980. Both men represent typical early pioneers and miners in the North Cascades from the 1890s to 1930s, during which time 5,000 mining claims were filed within the North Fork Nooksack Mining District. Charlie’s cabin is one of the few tangible remnants within the mining district, which once consisted of a flume system, tent cities, small town sites, roads, and trails linking it with civilization in the town of Glacier. The style of the Anderson-Bourn Cabin was once prevalent throughout the North Cascades, but it is now the only hewn log structure standing today in fair condition in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest

Most Endangered Places

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Schooner Wawona

Status: Lost

Year Listed: 2005

Location: King County

Built in Fairhaven, CA, in 1897, the Schooner Wawona is one of the largest three-masted schooners ever built on the West Coast and was one of two remaining Pacific schooners out of a fleet of over 400 that engaged in the coastal commercial lumber trade and in the Alaska cod fishery until she was dismantled in 2009. After falling out of active use in 1950, civic leaders raised money and awareness to purchase the ship as a museum in 1964.

Most Endangered Places

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Red Brick Road (Ronald Place North)

Status: Lost

Year Listed: 2005

Location: King County

Dating from 1913, Shoreline’s Red Brick Road along Ronald Place North is the last exposed section of the first paved highway through northwest King County, making it one of the most historic and significant features of Shoreline. The road’s two-fold significance lies in its association with the history of transportation in King County
and in its association with Judge James T. Ronald, a pioneer and prominent local resident.

Most Endangered Places

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Puget Power Building

Status: Lost

Year Listed: 2005

Location: King County

When the Puget Power Building was constructed in 1956 as the headquarters for the Puget Power and Light Company, the modern structure was considered a landmark because its four-story height made it the tallest building in Bellevue.

Most Endangered Places

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Preston-Shaffer Milling Company

Status: Lost

Year Listed: 2005

Location: Walla Walla County

Constructed in 1865, the Preston-Shaffer Milling Company or Wait’s Mill operated continuously for 92 years until it closed in 1957. The historic town of Waitsburg owes its existence to the mill, one of the oldest operating mills west of the Mississippi at the time of its closure.

Most Endangered Places

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Packard House

Status: Lost

Year Listed: 2005

Location: Skagit County

Occupying a prominent waterfront site on Fidalgo Bay, the Packard House is among the finest and most faithful Federal Revival-style buildings in the region and the only one in Anacortes. Modeled on George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate, the home was built in 1930 for Charles Q. Adams, a great-grandson of President John Quincy Adams.

Most Endangered Places

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Stephenson House

Status: Lost

Year Listed: 2006

Location: King County

Members of the pioneering Stephenson family constructed the farmhouse in 1889. Despite some additions, the structure retains its original ‘T-shape’ form and massing, while other elements of the original design, such as the vergeboards and decorative shingles, remain intact.

Most Endangered Places

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First United Methodist Church

Status: Lost

Year Listed: 2006

Location: Pierce County

Frederick Heath, a prominent architect in Tacoma, was involved in designing First United Methodist to accommodate 1,150 people, making it one of the largest sanctuaries in the Northwest at the time of its completion in 1916. In addition to holding worship services, the church served as a hospital during a flu epidemic and as a community meeting hall, hosting speakers such as William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow. First United is one of a cluster of historic churches in Tacoma’s Hilltop Neighborhood that, collectively, provide a richly layered narrative about the social and economic development of Tacoma.

Most Endangered Places

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Waldo General Hospital

Status: Lost

Year Listed: 2007

Location: King County

Located on over an acre and a half immediately adjacent to the reservoir in Seattle’s Maple Leaf neighborhood, the Waldo Hospital stands as a testament to the advancement and acceptance of the practice of osteopathic medicine. Having practiced for over a decade as an osteopath in Seattle, Dr. William E. Waldo sought to establish a hospital dedicated wholly to administering and treating patients according to the tenets of osteopathy. Designed by Seattle architect Paul Richardson and completed in 1924, the hospital was expanded in 1959 when the architectural firm of NBBJ designed an International Style wing at the northern end of the building to increase patient capacity. Dr. Waldo, a well-known figure locally, served as the president of the American Osteopathic Association from 1920-1922, working hard in this role to raise awareness of osteopathy as a medical field. For his efforts, in 1948 Waldo received the AOA’s Distinguished Service Certificate, the organization’s highest national honor.

Most Endangered Places

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Fleischmann’s Yeast Plant

Status: Lost

Year Listed: 2007

Location: Pierce County

Designed by noted Seattle architect John Graham, Sr. and constructed in 1912 by contractor Aldrich and Hunt, the Fleischmann’s Yeast Plant stands as the first such plant built in the Northwest. Graham designed many significant commercial buildings in the early 20th century, including the Fredrick and Nelson building, the Bon Marche, the Dexter Horton Building and the Exchange Building, all in Seattle. Graham also designed buildings as far away as Boston and Shanghai, China. The Fleischmann’s Yeast Plant is a wonderfully intact example of Graham’s industrial design.

Most Endangered Places

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Rookery, Mohawk, and Merton Buildings

Status: Lost

Year Listed: 2003

Location: Spokane County

The Rookery (1933), Mohawk (1915), and Merton (1890) buildings sat on one block in the heart of downtown Spokane. The Merton, former home of the Spokane Spokesman newspaper, was part of the rebuilding effort following the Great Fire of 1889. The terra cotta-ornamented Mohawk housed Dodson’s Jewelry, a longtime Spokane merchant still extant in another location. The Rookery served as Spokane’s premier example of Art Deco terra cotta artistry. These properties were mostly vacant and were demolished in 2004.

Most Endangered Places

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Shelton Gymnasium

Status: Lost

Year Listed: 2003

Location: Shelton, Mason County

The Art Moderne style, reinforced concrete Shelton Gymnasium was constructed as a high school gym in 1939-40, designed by prominent northwest architect Joseph Wohleb, and used for that purpose until 1974. The entire high school complex was been torn down except for the gym, which for many years stood as a reminder of the community’s hopes as it shook off the Great Depression. Although it was eligible for both state and national registers, the building was not listed.

After allowing significant deterioration by neglect, the Shelton School Board announced in 2003 that it was considering demolition. The public reacted by forming The Friends of the Shelton Gymnasium, which began efforts to save and revitalize the gym. The School Board acquiesced to the public interest but voted to allow just nine months for the Friends to raise one million dollars and propose a revitalization plan. The Washington Trust immediately joined in the effort, placing the building on its 2003 Most Endangered Places list.

With support from the Washington Trust, the Friends nominated the gym to the National Register, completed a historic structures report, a feasibility study, and an estimate of rehabilitation costs. The Friends also employed legal steps to prevent demolition, but were unable to overcome the Board’s predetermined decision. The Shelton Gymnasium was demolished in May 2005.

Most Endangered Places

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Ritzville High School

Status: Lost

Year Listed: 2003

Location: Ritzville, Adams County

The original Ritzville High School was constructed in 1910. In 1927, the old structure was incorporated under a new facade and two wings were added on either side. Although listed on the local and national registers, in 1982 the building was condemned when a new high school was built; it remained vacant until 1992 when it was gutted to create an assisted living facility. That project was never completed, leaving an eyesore with a leaking roof, an exposed, accessible interior, and poorly maintained grounds which constituted a potential fire hazard. The building was demolished in August 2013.

Most Endangered Places

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Vashon Elementary Gym

Status: Lost

Year Listed: 2009

Location: King County

The Vashon Island Parks District received a state grant to develop athletic fields at the location of the gymnasium.
The project required removal of the gymnasium and in October 2008 the Vashon Island School Board, which owned the site, voted to demolish the gym.

Most Endangered Places

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St. Edward’s Catholic Church

Status: Lost

Year Listed: 2009

Location: Mason County

Facing structural deficiencies identified through an engineer’s evaluation, the congregation opted to sell the parcel rather than pay for expensive stabilization work. Interested in the land for the purpose of expanding its adjacent county campus facilities, Mason County purchased the parcel, stipulating that the congregation be responsible for removal of the church building. In April of 2009, the congregation applied to the City of Shelton for a permit to demolish the sanctuary. Acknowledging the historic significance of the building, the city called for a 90-day waiting period before issuing a demolition permit with the hope that local advocates can work with the county and the congregation on a strategy for preserving the resource. The waiting period expired in August of 2009.

Most Endangered Places

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Old Ellensburg Hospital

Status: Lost

Year Listed: 2009

Location: Kittitas County

Over the years there were attempts to revive the building, but there were a variety of complications including an underlying “public reserve” zoning. The property changed hands several times and the hospital was unfortunately demolished in early 2013. The lot currently still sits vacant.