This image of the lobby of the Wilsonian Apartment Hotel in Seattle was likely taken just after the opening on November 26, 1923, in December 1923. The Wilsonian, located in Seattle's University District on the northeast corner of University Way NE and NE 47th Street, was the crowning achievement of real-estate developers Corinne Simpson Wilson (1867-1929) and her husband and business partner, George Washington Wilson (1878-1928).
As is evident in this image, the Wilsonian's ambition was to be the most elegant apartment hotel of its time outside of New York City. Available to the extended-stay guests were restaurant facilities, electric ranges in the apartments, luxuriously furnished lounges, and an adjacent ballroom with a specially designed dance floor. Lamps were created especially for the hotel and caged birds chirped in the lobby. The apartments varied in size: they were suites of two to five rooms, and all 99 units were arranged with outside windows in the U-shaped building.
The Wilsonian cost $850,000 to build, and was completed by general contractors Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company, a major contributor to the construction of the Pacific Northwest.
Handwritten on verso: Contract 835, Wilsonian Apts. Stamped on verso: Walter P. Miller, Commercial Photographer Photographer's number: 32878
Physical Description: 1 photographic print mounted on linen : b&w ; 7.5 x 9.5 in.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant. Metadata updated as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State. View the finding aid for this collection at https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv08561
Credit: MOHAI, H.W. McCurdy Collection on the Puget Sound Bridge & Dredging Co., 1955.970.500.36.1
