The Alvord Hotel at 914 Pike Street, is seen here looking north across Ninth Avenue. The five-story hotel was completed in 1924 and operated initially by John Gerald, then from 1942 by Eddie Mainwaring, and from 1945 by L. Stark. In about 1960 this neighborhood was cleared for the construction of the Seattle Freeway and Interstate 5.
The Alvord’s publicity stream reached its most sensational height on March 1, 1933, when Mildred Russell, the 24-year-old bride of violinist and orchestra leader Jan Russell, survived a fall from her fifth-floor apartment. Only three years later, Margaret Thaanum fell from the Alvord’s third floor to her death. The trained nurse was trying to walk the three-inch ledge outside her window.Â
Austin Seward (1885-1974) worked as a local photographer in the early 1920s for Pierson’s studio, a commercial photography firm.
Business in image: Gasoline Alley's Used Car Department Signs in image: Public Garage Parking Stamped on verso: Pierson & Co., Commercial Photographers, 401 Bay Building, Seattle, Wash.
Caption information source: https://pauldorpat.com/2017/02/18/seattle-now-then-looking-east-from-ninth-and-pike Caption information source: http://larryrpaul.com/Hotel-Database/PC
Physical Description: 1 photographic print : 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/xv46755
