Washington Trust for Historic Preservation

Most Endangered Places

[click image to view larger]

Seventh Church of Christ Scientist

Status: Saved!

Year Listed: 2007

Location: Seattle, King County

In 2007, congregants of the 7th Church of Christ Scientist on Seattle’s Queen Anne hill, grappled with the reality of diminishing membership rolls coupled with increasing maintenance costs for their historic sanctuary. The congregation chose to sell to a developer with plans to construct four single-family homes, prompting inclusion in the Washington Trust’s Most Endangered List. As structures owned by religious organizations are exempt from local landmark ordinances, the developer placed responsibility on the congregation for demolishing the historic church prior to acquiring the property. But neighbors appealed the demolition permit, allowing time for the Washington Trust, through an agreement with the congregation, to seek a buyer interested in preserving the building. Fortuitously, this coincided with the Seattle Church of Christ’s search to find a permanent home for its growing congregation. The rest is history: the Seattle Church of Christ enjoys a robust congregation and is a proud steward of the historic sanctuary.

https://seattlechurchofchrist.org/

Most Endangered Places

[click image to view larger]

Downtown Mount Vernon

Status: Saved!

Year Listed: 2007

Location: Mount Vernon, Skagit County

Located in the heart of Skagit Valley, Mount Vernon is a charming community with a rich collection of historic resources. These resources include a downtown that boasts an intact streetscape of historic commercial buildings and fraternal orders providing the city with a truly unique sense of place. This downtown core offers the National Register-listed Lincoln Theater, a historic square symbolic of the city’s origins featuring intact examples of false-front architecture, and commercial buildings decorated with ornate terra cotta.

Unfortunately, Mount Vernon had some difficult choices to make to insure that predicted 100-year flood levels would not threaten its future. To address future floods, the city developed a master plan which called for the removal of some historic resources and in 2007, the Washington Trust for placed the core downtown area on its Most Endangered Places list. As part of its compliance with state and federal laws, the city undertook a survey of downtown resources and entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation in 2008. While some resources were lost in the construction effort, much of the core historic streetscape is intact and thriving.

https://www.downtownmountvernon.org/

Most Endangered Places

[click image to view larger]

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

[click image to view larger]

McReavy House

Status: Still Standing

Year Listed: 2007

Location: Mason County

Constructed in 1890, the McReavy House is a Victorian mansion sitting atop a hill in Union overlooking the Hood Canal. Believed to be one of the earliest extant houses on the canal, it was home to John McReavy. McReavy prospered as the principal lumberman on Hood Canal from 1870-1893, served in the Territorial Legislature, and was a signer of Washington’s Declaration of Statehood. McReavy played a key role in Union City’s development and was engaged in the construction of the hotel, wharf, sawmill, store, Masonic Lodge and church. The panic of 1893 left McReavy only his house.

Most Endangered Places

[click image to view larger]

John A. Finch Boy Scout Lodge

Status: Still Standing

Year Listed: 2007

Location: Pend Oreille County

A donation of 80 acres at Diamond Lake to the Spokane Council of the Boy Scouts of America by publisher William Cowles lead to the establishment of Camp Cowles in 1920. Three years later, with funding from Spokane mining magnate John A. Finch, a lodge serving as a dining hall and camp headquarters was constructed. Spokane architect Julius Zittel drew up the plans, employing a rustic design appropriate to the lodge’s role as a center for Scouting activities. Although the building has witnessed some alterations over the years, the original form and much of the interior remains intact and the lodge stands as the oldest known architect-designed Boy Scout Lodge west of the Mississippi.

Most Endangered Places

[click image to view larger]

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

[click image to view larger]

Teapot Dome Gas Station

Status: Saved!

Year Listed: 2007

Location: Yakima County

In 1922, illegal oil leases in Wyoming and Elk Hills, California resulted in the indictment of the Secretary of the Interior and left President Warren Harding’s administration tarnished by scandal. The scandal in turn prompted a Yakima County man, Jack Ainsworth, to handcraft a piece of roadside political commentary that remains standing today along Interstate 82 near Zillah. Fashioned after a teapot, the shingled kettle features a sheet metal handle and spout and served as a gas station for many decades since opening in 1922

Most Endangered Places

[click image to view larger]

Fowler House

Status: Saved!

Year Listed: 2007

Location: Port Townsend, Jefferson County

Port Townsend’s uptown residential district demonstrates much of the Victorian sensibility of the commercial district it overlooks. The Fowler House, however, predates much of the late nineteenth century construction and stands as a rare example of Civil War era building. Greek Revival in style, the circa 1858 residence was home to Captain Enoch S. Fowler who constructed his house in a manner familiar to him as a native of Maine.

The house fell into disrepair in the 2000s, prompting the listing as a Most Endangered Place. Finally, in 2020 the house was rescued, moderinzed, and put on the market.

Most Endangered Places

[click image to view larger]

Hastings Buildings

Status: Still Standing

Year Listed: 2007

Location: Port Townsend, Jefferson County

Ask Washington residents which city in their state is most noteworthy for its Victorian-era architecture and the answer will likely be Port Townsend. The downtown commercial center boasts one of the state’s finest collections of late nineteenth century commercial structures, comprising a historic district recognized as a National Historic Landmark. Located at the corner of Water and Taylor Streets, the Hastings Building serves as the anchor to Port Townsend’s historic downtown. Constructed in 1889 and named for Captain L.B. Hastings, the architectural details and ornamentation adorning the Hastings Building illustrate the flamboyance and optimism of the early 1890s.