The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-06-06
Down IN THE sAwDus,
Old City Hall, the Bijou, and thu r..
and Chinese Ouarfar

Travelling along South Second st,..x
three-story frame building occupied =.
site of the Seattle National bank =
ground floor was furniture store ana Il.
upper stories were lodging rooms. but =, -
sides of the tumble-down old stru.,,s.
bulged out so dangerously that Fire ~"
shall Murphy had condemned il 80
the fire removed it summa-ily. IT,
came a row of one and Investors a.
buildings, owned by the late ]. w. M
the largest of which was Harnm,s $500
house, on the corner Of Washington -
This structure had been built on the co.s~
of Washington and Commercial. -.
1868, for q grocery, and was afterv,.-
occupied as meat market, first BY pbs'
& Wadleigh, and then by Booth. Fa-t
Borst. 1t was moved to the site vhs-s
was burned in order TO make room ~.
two-story brick building, erected ~,
1882, for Toklas, Singerman 6 Co. q.
years it enjoyed the distinction OF bsi,s
the largest business house in the civ ~
had several narrow escapes from des,rrr'
ton by fire.
Across Washington street was thu IA
Standard theater on its present site ~
adjoining 1t was a row OF small frsr.
structures, and then across Main stys.s
where the State building stands. wa n,
New Arlington, which had lately ~.
been bought by the Transfer Company m
converted into livery stables. Diasou,Ilv
across from it, on the northwest corns,
was large three-story brick, which ~
just been completed by Watson C. Sou;,s
On the southwest corner was the Psci6s
house, three-story frame, also owned e
Mr.. Squire. which had been leased b. q
n. Morse, and was run in connection VIII
the Arlington hotel. On the southvmf
corner of jackson were the Washingtm
Iron Works, which have been rebuilt "a
the Grant street bridge, and on the soutb.
east corner was the old PIummerr residence
which was one of the largest in the civ
and was surrounded by a fine orchsrd
On the west side of South Second ssrsf
the only building of any note was The ne1
Bijou theater, run by James n Smilh III
f. II. Wadleigh for many years afts NV
moved from the old Bijou, at Waskh6us
and South Third streets. The retda
space was almost entirely taken upviA
little wooden buildings.
The district Immediately to the 1T q
South Second street was then commonly
known as 1.-The Sawdust, !" from ihe fact Of
its having been largely filled in with that
material. A clearinghouse occupied the
eastern corner fronting on Yesler avenue.
Next to it was No. engine-house, 3 two
story brick building which had the FIRE en-
gines on the ground floor, the city of6cN
and council chambers on the second ho0
and the Jail in the basement. Then csms
negro and Japanese houses, Wah Chonss
two solid brick blocks, one two stories and
the other three, in which he had his Chi.
nese stores and which were the Chinas
headquarters. The next block, from
Washington to Main street. was nest q
saloons and cheap lodging-houses, and
tough cribs occupied a large part of The
block to Jackson street.
On the west side, on the Rinehart cor
ner, which has been cut of to form TIA
triangle, stood a one-story grocery, and
then came a row of Chinese joints in littll
shacks and a saloon on the Washingtor
street corner, Robert Abrams livery St.
BILE occupying the rear of the corner lot
Up Washington street to Fourth, beyond
the alley in the rear of Wah Chong's store,
was row of cribs and disreputable houses,
On the south side of the street, next to thu
alley, was Ed Kelly's saloon, and adjoin.
ing it was the old Bijou theater, one Of the
favorite resorts of the FOUNDERS of former
times, now turned into lodging-house.
Another nest of cribs extended across 70
Jackson street, while across that thorough.
fare stood and still stands Holcomb's ~
BILE, where the fire was checked.
South of Jackson street, in the district
now known as Whitechapel, there ~
hardly building, and the tide ebhed ~
flowed over the flats unobstructed.