Hoge Building
Introduction
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During Seattle's rapid growth as a western Boom Town, the rapid construction of the Hoge Building -- 18 stories -- took less than a year to complete, and allowed it to be the tallest building in Seattle during the pre-WWI era. The building represents Seattle's transition from frontier town to metropolis, largely resulting from railroad arrival because of Seattle's access to Asia and Alaska.
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Backstory and Context
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The 1911 Hoge Building represents the wealth of America's early 20th-century financial elite (not far removed from America's "Gilded Age"), the significance of gold booms, the emergence of Seattle as a prominent trade port, and it is a prime example of architectural advances made possible by then Chicago School and others through the use of steel frame construction. Evidence of Seattle's rapid transition from Western frontier town to a major city is noted by the fact that the building sat in the same spot where It was only fifty-nine years earlier Carson Boren, Seattle's first (white) resident, assembled his house from split cedar logs. The Hoge Building took over that area, Boren, then 88-years-old, was still living in the area when the building was finished.
Background: Seattle's History
John Hoge and the Hoge Building
The Hoge Building represents a time in Seattle when captains of Industry capitalized on Seattle's potential (and reality) as a thriving trade port. The broader picture of U.S. history (and the World) can be seen in the Hoge story -- gold discovery, the opening of Japan and Asia, increased lumber, a nation stretching from coast-to-coast, and wealthy men building skyscrapers at a time when the technology was allowing cities to literally grow upwards.
Sources
Berner, Richard C. and Paul Dorpat. Seattle 1900 - 1920: From Boomtown, Through Urban Turbulence, To Restoration. Seattle: Charles, 1991.
National Park Service: The National Register of Historic Places. "Hoge Building Nomination Form." 1979. https://npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/83003339.pdf