A Forgotten Building by a Forgotten Architect at Seattle's Forgotten World's Fair

A Forgotten Building by a Forgotten Architect at Seattle’s Forgotten World’s Fair: The Masonic Building at the 1909 Alaska-YukonPacific Exposition Bro. Adam S. Alsobrook, AIA; University Lodge No. 141, F. & A. M., Seattle, Washington ©April 12, 2020 and April 30, 2020 First Revision (The author claims copyright only on the written text of this scholarly work – all images were published prior to 1924 and are considered to be in the public domain.)

The Masonic Building at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, 1909 (Author’s collection)

THE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE ALASKA-YUKON-PACIFIC EXPOSITION In late 1905, Otto Gottfried Kohlander Chealander met with two newspapermen to present his idea of creating a permanent Alaska exhibit in Seattle. Chealander, a veteran of the Alaskan gold fields and grand secretary of the Arctic Brotherhood fraternity, outlined his plan to James A. Wood, city editor of the Seattle Times, and William M. Sheffield, who was secretary of the Alaska Club (later known as the Arctic Club). Chealander had recently returned from the Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland, Oregon, where he had built a small exhibit highlighting the natural wonders and resources of Alaska. After a lengthy discussion, Wood and Sheffield were captivated by the idea, and they immediately set to work to make Chealander’s plan a reality. Wood wrote a series of newspaper articles to boost public opinion about the exhibition plans, while Sheffield and Chealander directly courted Seattle’s business leaders to sell them on the idea.

Twelve of Seattle’s most prominent businessmen sat down to lunch early in 1906 to work out the details of the Alaska exhibition. Through a haze of cigar smoke, the men clarified the plans for Seattle’s first concerted effort to promote the city on the international stage. Less than a month later an Exposition Corporation was formed with the goal of holding the exhibition in 1907, which was the 10th anniversary of the discovery of gold in the Klondike. John E. Chilberg, prominent Seattle banker and president of the Alaska Club, was selected as the president of the Exposition Corporation. The proposed date of the fair was subsequently changed to 1909 when the exhibition planners discovered that the Jamestown Exposition was to be held in 1907 at Norfolk, Virginia.

The Jamestown Exposition turned out to be a massive financial flop due to many factors, which included an awkward location, muddy terrain, poor attendance, and many buildings that were incomplete at the opening of the fair. The planners took close note of the failures of the 1907 Jamestown Exposition and boasted that the 1909 exhibition in Seattle would be the “fair that will be ready.”

As the planning efforts progressed throughout 1906, the scope of the exposition broadened to include not just Alaska but also the Yukon Territory. Ultimately, at the urging of the exposition’s publicity director, all the countries bordering the Pacific Ocean were also included in the plans, and the fair became the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (AYPE). The physical location of the proposed AYPE was one of the first decisions that the planners had to make. Professor Edmond Meany proposed that the AYPE should take place at the University of Washington (UW) campus.

In September 1906, the Exposition Corporation signed an indenture leasing the land for the exposition from the UW for the period beginning October 2, 1906 and ending on January 1, 1910.

Shortly thereafter, the Boston, Massachusetts landscape architecture firm of Olmstead Brothers was engaged to prepare the master plan for the exposition grounds. The noted architecture firm Howard & Galloway of San Francisco, California was appointed as the supervisory architect of the AYPE. Chief architect John Galen Howard settled on a classical French Renaissance architectural style in his designs for most of the buildings at the AYPE, including the prominent buildings to be constructed around the Geyser Basin at the center of the fair grounds. These

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temporary buildings were funded by the United States Government and became known as the “Ivory City” after the paint color that was applied to their lath and plaster exteriors. Other participants in the AYPE, such as states, organizations, and private corporations, hired their own architects to design their buildings at the exposition. The planning, design, and construction of the numerous buildings on the AYPE grounds proceeded simultaneously with the efforts to raise funds to defray the costs of the exposition. As 1907 turned into 1908, the many architects, designers, and builders involved with the development of the APYE worked at a furious pace to ensure that the physical plant would be complete and ready for the opening of the exposition on June 1, 1909.

THE PLANNING OF THE MASONIC BUILDING AT THE AYPE The efforts to build a Masonic Building at the AYPE began in earnest several months after the site of the exposition was secured. In June 1907, the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Masons in Washington held their Annual Communication at Tacoma, Washington. Among the many topics discussed during the annual meeting was the establishment of a “suitable ‘Masonic headquarters’ at Seattle during ‘the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition,’ which will take place in 1909.” The Grand Lodge appointed a group of Seattle Masons to manage the construction of the Masonic Building at the AYPE. Bros. Joseph A. Swalwell, Dr. John N. Prather, Captain John Rex Thompson, Reginald H. Collins, and Perry C. Price were appointed to this committee. This group of Masons quietly went about their labors until February 1908, when Perry C. Price, the former Worshipful Master of Ionic Lodge No. 90, F. & A. M. was asked to resign from the Lodge and the Masonic Building committee. The demand for Price’s resignation followed his spectacular and very public fall from the graces of Seattle society due to a sordid romantic affair and his wife divorcing him on grounds of cruelty.

The remaining members of the committee diligently continued their labors until early December 1908, when they selected a site for the Masonic Building on the AYPE grounds. Bros. Prather, Thompson, and Swalwell selected a site just to the southeast of the present-day intersection of NE 40th Street and 15th Avenue NE, which was located immediately south of the main entrance to the exposition grounds and just to the north of the amusement area known as the Pay Streak. It is not known exactly when the committee hired the architect for the Masonic Building, but the committee announced in late December 1908 that the architectural plans were nearly complete. Contemporary newspaper accounts reported that the building would be one-story tall and measure 50-feet by 70feet in size. It would contain two reception rooms on either side of a central entrance hall, with one room for men and the other for women. Each of these rooms would measure 20-feet by 24feet and could be opened up to create one large assembly room 70 feet wide. Restrooms, a small kitchen, and an office were also called for on the plans. The building would be set back from the adjacent sidewalks to that the grounds could be planted with decorative flowers and shrubbery.

The Masonic Building had originally been intended as a temporary building to be erected for the AYPE and then demolished at the conclusion of the exposition. As originally planned, the building

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Floor Plan of the Masonic Building at the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition U. Grant Fay, Russell & Babcock, Associated Architects; Dow Construction Co., builder.

This floor plan, published in the Pacific Builder and Engineer magazine on July 24, 1909, shows the interior arrangement of spaces in the Masonic Building. North is to the right side of the image. The plan shows the front porch with the prominent Boaz and Jachin columns flanking the east-facing main entrance door. The entrance led into the centrally located Main Hall, where visitors would have signed the guest book. The Main Hall is flanked by the Men’s Lounging Room to the north and the Ladies Lounging Room to the south. The three main spaces could be opened up into one large meeting room to accommodate larger events.

Two rest rooms were provided for the men, along with a men’s toilet room. Three rest rooms and toilet room were provided for the women. The building also contained a small office and a kitchen for providing refreshments.

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was estimated to around $4,000 (about $113,500 in 2020 dollars). However, during the planning process it was found that for an additional expenditure of just over $1,000 (about $28,300 in 2020 dollars) the Masonic Building could receive a better foundation and finish materials and be made into a permanent building. The permanent building would then be given to the University of Washington as a gift from the Masonic bodies of Seattle at the conclusion of the exposition.

THE MASONIC BUILDING: DESIGNED AND BUILT BY MASONS, FOR MASONS Seattle architect Ulysses Grant Fay designed the Masonic Building in association with Tacoma architects Everett P. Babcock and Ambrose J. Russell. U. Grant Fay was born in Rochester, New York in February 1865. Between 1884 and 1888 he apprenticed as a draftsman in his elder brother’s architecture firm and took evening courses in architecture and drawing at the Mechanics’ Institute of the City of Rochester, which later became the Rochester Institute of Technology. He moved to Lowell, Massachusetts in about 1889, where he worked as a draftsman, possibly in the employ of a local civil engineer and surveyor. Fay was initiated as an Entered Apprentice Mason at Ancient York Lodge in Lowell, Massachusetts in June 1891. He passed to Fellowcraft in October 1891 and was raised to the Sublime Degree of a Master Mason in February 1892. At the time he was made a Master Mason, his profession was given as “civil engineer.” Bro. Fay married Minnie Frances Kellogg at Rochester, New York in May 1893, and after their brief honeymoon they settled in Lowell, where they became active in the Baptist church. They remained in Lowell until about 1895, when the couple apparently relocated to Rochester, New York.

Bro. Fay’s whereabouts and activities between 1896 and 1898 are currently unknown, but by 1899 he was working as an architect in his own office in Room 1001 of the Granite Building in Rochester, one floor above his brother’s architectural firm of Fay & Dryer, which had their office at Room 939 of the same building. By 1900, Bro. Fay, his wife, and their daughter lived in Somerset County, New Jersey. Between 1902 and 1904 he superintended the construction of the massive 18-story tall St. Regis Hotel in New York City, which was financed by John Jacob Astor IV and designed by the architects Trowbridge & Livingston. It appears that Bro. Fay also became active in the Knights Templar during his time in New York City, where he served as Assistant Prelate for Morton Commandery 4 and was also on the commandery’s drill team.

From 1904 to early 1906 Bro. Fay was briefly associated with New York architect and refrigeration engineer Fred A. Gerber. Bro. Fay arrived in Seattle in 1906 to superintend the construction of the Waldorf Apartments at the northeast corner of Pike Street and Seventh Avenue, designed by Seattle architect Henderson Ryan in association with the New York architectural firm of Howells & Stokes. Bro. Fay eventually became associated with the Tacoma architects Everett P. Babcock and Ambrose J. Russell, and they formed a partnership known as Fay, Babcock & Russell.

Immediately prior to their work on the Masonic Building, the firm designed and constructed the Washington State National Guard Armory in Tacoma. Bro. Fay served as construction superintendent on that massive building in 1908.

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The building permit for the construction of the Masonic Building was issued during the first week of February 1909 and the contract was awarded to the Dow Construction Company of Seattle about three weeks later. The formal groundbreaking ceremony was conducted on March 1, 1909. Grand Master Royal A. Gove traveled from Tacoma to Seattle to turn the first shovelful of earth, where he was surrounded by a large assemblage of Masons and Order of the Eastern Star members.

The Dow Construction Company was owned by general contractor Matthew Dow, a member of Arcana Lodge No. 87, F. & A. M., who was also active in the Scottish Rite and the Knights Templar. Born near Glasgow, Scotland in 1849, he immigrated to the United States in 1871 and settled first in Belton, Texas, where he lived for eighteen years. He moved his family to Seattle in 1889. In the years leading up to the AYPE in 1909, Bro. Dow had constructed some of the most notable and prominent buildings in Seattle and was a well-respected leading citizen of Seattle.

Seattle building materials dealer Bro. David E. Fryer, also a member of Arcana Lodge No. 87, F. & A. M., provided the metal lath and corner bead used in the stucco plaster exterior finish of the building. The final cost estimate for the work was $6,000 (about $171,000 in 2020 dollars). The construction costs for the building were contributed entirely by the 2,500 members of the Masonic bodies in Seattle, including University Lodge No. 141, which voted to contribute $2.00 per member, or about $57 in 2020 dollars, toward the construction of the building.

THE OPENING OF THE ALASKA-YUKON-PACIFIC EXPOSITION On June 1, 1909, at just after noon Pacific Time, Bro. President William Howard Taft sat in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. and tapped a telegraph key studded with an Alaskan gold nugget. An electric signal flashed westward and sounded a gong in Seattle to mark the official opening of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. A giant American flag was unfurled at the exposition grounds, and military parades in downtown Seattle helped mark the momentous occasion. Almost 90,000 people visited the AYPE on its first day, with adults paying 50 cents and children between the ages of 5 and 12 paying 25 cents.

Bedecked with flags and festooned with light bulbs, the Masonic Building stood ready to welcome the brother Masons and sisters of the Order of the Eastern Star who came to the AYPE from around the world. In July 1909, the Pacific Builder and Engineer, a Pacific Northwest building trade magazine, gushed at length on the creature comforts of the Masonic Building: “The Masonic orders are well established under a roof of their own. The building is one of the most attractive of the smaller buildings erected at the Exposition. It is located on what is known as the head of the Pay Streak, and is the second building to the right of the main entrance gate. It occupies a ground space 46x59 feet.

In design it is classic and the columns so well known to every mason, that are erected at the main entrance, tell at a glance by whom and for whom the building has been constructed.

The purpose of the building is a rendezvous, a retreat, a rest station, a home, a place where all Masons, their wives and families, including members of the Eastern Star, may meet, get acquainted, get information, rest and be refreshed.

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On entering the visitor is ushered into a large reception hall, greeted by representatives of the Eastern Star and Masonic fraternity, and is requested to register.

On the right of the reception hall is a lounging room for the men, and off of this are three rest rooms. The same accommodations to the left of the hall are made for the ladies. In addition there has been provided a kitchen where lunches can be prepared, this ensuring comfort for all that avail themselves of the privileges that this building affords.

The interior finish is Douglas fir stained a mahogany brown. The walls are covered with straw-colored burlap; the portieres and draperies carry the brown tone of the wood work.

An abundance of easy chairs, large library tables, and an air permeated with the fragrance of flowers are striking features which create a real feeling of hospitality.�

Masonic Building at the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, Seattle, Washington U. Grant Fay, Russell & Babcock, Associated Architects; Dow Construction Co., builder.

The Masonic Building is shown in this postcard image from 1909. Note the Boaz and Jachin columns at the entrance porch, the plumb, level, square, and compasses above the main entry door, and the emblems of other Masonic organizations affixed on the balustrade around the perimeter of the roof. The decorative flags and light bulbs along the corners of the building and along the top of the balustrade are also visible in this postcard image. (Postcard from author’s collection. The image was created prior to 1923 and is in the public domain.)

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Certainly, the most important Masonic event to occur in Seattle during the AYPE was the 52nd Annual Communication of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Washington. The Annual Communication was held June 15 th through 17th, and Masons from all over Washington State converged on Seattle to conduct Masonic business. The Grand Lodge set up headquarters at the Arlington Hotel, which was located at the southwest corner of First Avenue and University Street. Masonic events occurred in buildings all over Seattle, including in the auditorium at the Arcade Building, which was located on the west side of Second Avenue between Union and University Streets, and at the Masonic Hall at 2320 First Avenue.

1909 Grand Lodge Annual Communication Venues: Arcade Building & Masonic Hall The Arcade Building appears in this postcard image from circa 1907. The inset at the upper left shows the auditorium in the southwest corner of the second floor of the Arcade Building.

The inset at the upper right shows the Masonic Hall at 2320 First Avenue circa 1936-1937.

(Postcard from author’s collection. The image of the auditorium was published on page 8 of the February 20, 1909 issue of The Argus magazine. The historic photograph of the Masonic Hall is from the Real Property Record Card at the Puget Sound Regional Branch of the Washington State Archives.)

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The visiting Masons held meetings and conducted marching drills at the AYPE Masonic Building during the Annual Communication. June 15th though June 17th were declared “Grand Lodge F. & A. M. and O. E. S. Days” at the AYPE. During the Annual Communication, outgoing Grand Master Royal A. Gove called special attention to the Masonic Building and introduced a recommendation that Grand Lodge appropriate $1,000 (almost $28,500 in 2020 dollars) to help defray the $5,175.00 construction cost of the building (about $147,000 in 2020 dollars), which had been entirely bourne by the Masonic brethren of Seattle. The motion passed. However, some of the other topics discussed at the 1909 Annual Communication were decidedly less sanguine. One such matter was Most Worshipful Bro. Gove’s proposal to make using the cipher in the Lodge room a Masonic offense, a motion that was not acted upon. Outgoing Grand Master Gove also strongly criticized the Grand Master of Ohio, who had controversially made President-elect William Howard Taft a Master Mason “at sight” on February 18, 1909 during an “Occasional Lodge” convened for the purpose at Cincinnati, Ohio. The Grand Lodge Committee on Jurisprudence ultimately decided that since the Grand Lodge of Ohio, in its sovereignty, authorized the rite and practice of making a Mason “at sight,” such action is above criticism by another Masonic Grand Jurisdiction. Amidst the regular business meetings, Masons still found the time to visit the exposition grounds. On June 17th Bro. Charles F. Whaley reported that 2,000 Masons from every state in the Union and almost every country in the world had registered at the Masonic Building during the first fifteen days of the exposition.

Commemorative medal from the 52nd Annual Communication of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge F. & A. M. of Washington, June 1909 (Author’s collection)

THE CLOSING OF THE ALASKA-YUKON-PACIFIC EXPOSITION As the summer of 1909 gave way to fall, the attention of the organizers of the AYPE turned toward the disposition of the various buildings after the exposition closed. Some of the buildings, such as the ones paid for by the United States Government, were purely temporary and would be removed after the AYPE closed on October 16, 1909. Other exposition buildings, such as the Administration Building, Auditorium Building, Fine Arts Building, and the Washington State Women’s Building

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had been designed and constructed as permanent buildings that could be utilized by the University of Washington after the exposition closed.

The University of Washington Board of Regents met on August 3, 1909 to determine which buildings from the exposition would be retained. The Masonic Building was one of the buildings that the University of Washington Board of Regents expressed an interest in retaining for academic uses. Following this decision, Bro. Prather, chairman of the Masonic committee, requested that Bro. Taft make the formal presentation of the building to the Board of Regents when he visited the fair in late September and early October. A plan was organized for the President to present the Masonic Building to the Board of Regents after he visited the Arctic Brotherhood building, where he was to receive an honorary initiation into that fraternal organization. An engraved silver trowel was prepared especially for the occasion and would be presented to the President during the ceremony. However, despite the best efforts of the Masonic committee a series of miscommunications prevented the President from making the formal transfer of the building to the Board of Regents. The ceremony on September 30 th proceeded without the President, and Past Grand Master Ralph C. McAllaster presented the Masonic Building to University of Washington President Thomas F. Kane and Frederick A. Hazeltine, President of the Board of Regents. Since the President was unable to attend the ceremony, the registration book at the Masonic Building, which contained the names of 14,875 Masons from all over the world, ended up without Bro. Taft’s signature. The fate of the engraved silver trowel intended for Bro. Taft is unknown, as is the current disposition of the registration book. The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition closed on October 16, 1909. During the 138 days that the exposition was open, 3,740,551 people paid to see the buildings and grounds. The AYPE ended up turning a profit, unlike previous fairs, and the proceeds from admissions were donated to the Seaman’s Institute and the Anti-Tuberculosis League.

THE MASONIC BUILDING IS REUSED, RENAMED, AND ULTIMATELY DEMOLISHED In late October, the University of Washington Board of Regents publically announced which buildings and landscape features of the grounds they wished to retain for academic uses. A newspaper article on October 1, 1909 indicated that the Masonic Building would be used as a home for the University Y.M.C.A. or Y.W.C.A. No further public statement about the disposition of the building was made until almost one year later, when it was announced that the Masonic Building would become the new headquarters of the University of Washington Music Department, directed

by Charles Oscar Kimball. Kimball may have been a Mason, since he was in the Nile Shrine band, but his membership in the fraternity has not been confirmed.

By 1914, the Masonic Building had been renamed, and was labelled on campus maps as the Music Building. By this point the building had been stripped of the flagpoles, lighting, the Boaz and Jachin columns, and the other Masonic symbols. An article in the November 9, 1914 issue of the Seattle Daily Times reported that the University of Washington needed more room to accommodate the 2,800 students on campus. By this time, the Music Department had vacated the

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old Masonic Building, which was being used for “photo and fine arts.” The value of the building was given as $2,000, less than half the amount for which it was constructed.

After the Music Department vacated the building, the various occupants and uses of the building become murkier. By 1915, the building had become the home of the Bailey and Babette Gatzert Foundation and was renamed the Gatzert Building, though the building still appeared on campus maps as the Music Building as late as 1917. The Gatzert Building appeared on campus maps with its correct name by 1921. The Gatzert Building was mentioned in university catalogues as late as 1923, though some sources indicate that the building was demolished in 1922. The exact date that the old Masonic building was demolished is currently unknown.

The Music Building at the University of Washington, circa 1910-1913 This real photograph postcard shows the old Masonic Building in its new use as the Music Building on the University of Washington campus. Note that the flagpoles, lighting, the Boaz and Jachin columns, and the other Masonic symbols have been stripped from the building. The back of this postcard is inscribed: “I have marked my office & studio with a X – Oscar.” The “Oscar” who wrote the inscription is likely Charles Oscar Kimball, the University of Washington music director, who left the university by 1913. (Postcard from author’s collection. The image was created prior to 1923 and is in the public domain.)

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THE LEGACY OF THE AYPE MASONIC BUILDING After the old Masonic Building was demolished in 1922, the site on campus was eventually the location of a home economics practice cottage. The adjacent sites to the north and south were used for buildings that housed other home economics and nursing school functions. This area of campus later became open space and a parking lot, and is now the location of the new, recently constructed Hans Rosling Center for Population Health for the University of Washington, which is located southeast of the intersection of 15th Avenue NE and NE 40th Street.

After constructing the Masonic Building in the spring of 1909, Bro. Matthew Dow went on to construct the Majestic Theater at Second Avenue and Spring Street in Seattle during the summer of 1909 in a record 90 days. His company also constructed the fifth location of the Orpheum Theater at Third Avenue and Madison Street, railroad warehouses and docks, and other prominent buildings in Seattle. He died suddenly of a heart attack on May 20, 1912 at Prince Rupert, British Columbia, where he was directing the construction of dock and warehouse facilities for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Company. His remains were returned to the Scottish Rite Cathedral at Broadway and Harvard Avenue in Seattle, where Arcana Lodge No. 87, F. & A. M. conducted his funeral with Masonic honors, with assistance by Seattle Commandery No. 2 of the Knights Templar. Bro. Matthew Dow remains were interred at Lake View Cemetery.

While he was working on the plans for the Masonic Building, Bro. U. Grant Fay was also working with architects Russell and Babcock superintending the construction of the Washington State National Guard Armory in Tacoma. Not long after the AYPE closed in mid-October 1909, the Pacific Builder and Engineer reported that Fay, Russell & Babcock were preparing plans for the new First Baptist Church on First Hill in Seattle. The plans for this church were completed by June 1910 and the cornerstone laid in October 1910. In September 1910, Bro. Fay designed a new $5,000 ventilation system for the Masonic Hall at 2320 First Avenue in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood, apparently as an independent architect. It appears that Bro. Fay dissolved his business relationship with Russell and Babcock sometime in late 1910 or early 1911, and he opened a solo architectural practice with offices in the Central Building. He became noted for his designs of Baptist church buildings, including churches in Ballard, West Seattle, Tacoma, Kennewick, and Walla Walla. In October 1911 he designed the Lakewood Clubhouse in Seattle’s Rainier Valley neighborhood while continuing to oversee the ongoing construction of the First Baptist Church in Seattle, which was not completed until the fall of 1912.

Bro. Fay’s fortunes appeared to decline starting in June 1912. His design for the proposed Masonic Temple in Seattle placed third in a design competition conducted by the Trustees of the Temple Association. Entry to the design competition was strictly limited to Seattle architects who were also Masons in good standing. The trustees received entries from some of the best and most wellknown architects in Seattle, such as Bros. Theobald Buchinger, Julian F. Everett, Pierce A. Horrocks, John O. Taft, Harlan Thomas, and Clayton D. Wilson. The firms of Saunders & Lawton,

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Huntington & Gould, Bebb & Mendel, Macomber & Travis, and Willatzen & Byrne also submitted designs to the competition. The Masonic Temple design by Saunders & Lawton captured the first prize and the contract for the working drawings, followed by architect Charles Haynes’ entry, which garnered second place. After the Masonic Temple competition, Bro. Fay went on to design a handful of residences in Seattle and a piano factory in Tacoma during the remainder of 1912 and into 1913. He designed the Second Baptist Church in Seattle, which defaulted on its construction debt in the summer of 1913. Bro. Fay was one of many creditors who were owed significant amounts of money by the congregation, though it is not clear if he ever received payment for his services. His 1911 clubhouse design for the Lakewood Civic Improvement Club apparently did not get constructed until the spring of 1914, for reasons that are not clear. Extensive research did not reveal any projects by Bro. Fay during all of 1915, 1916, and 1917. Bro. U. Grant Fay suffered a stroke and died on April 14, 1918 at his home at 912 North 47 th Street in Seattle. A terse oneline death notice for him appeared in the Seattle Daily Times, but the notice misspelled his initials as “V. J.” instead of “U. G.” His remains were cremated, but there was apparently no public funeral held for him. There was no obituary published in Seattle and he appears to have passed away amidst declining personal fortunes and gradually faded into obscurity after his death.

Memories of the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition rapidly faded among the residents of the Queen City. Economic booms and busts, two world wars, an influenza epidemic, Prohibition, and the Great Depression helped erase the Ivory City from Seattle’s collective memory. The AYPE was eventually eclipsed by the flashiness and exuberance of the 1962 World’s Fair, which helped showcase Seattle’s role in the Space Age. Like the AYPE, the design, construction, adaptive reuse, and eventual demolition of the Masonic Building has also been forgotten over time, but it is the author’s sincere hope that this work sheds some light on the history of this long-lost building.

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“INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AND MANUFACTURERS’ RECORD” Industrial Development and Manufacturers’ Record, 5 May 1904, pp. 355 and 360.

“MASONIC STANDARD” “In the Commanderies.” Masonic Standard, 17 May 1902, p. 5.

“In the Commanderies.” Masonic Standard, 16 May 1903, p. 2.

“PACIFIC BUILDER AND ENGINEER” “Fraternal Buildings at the A.-Y.-P. Exposition.” Pacific Builder and Engineer, 24 Jul. 1909, pp.

288-289.

“Matthew Dow.” Pacific Builder and Engineer, 8 Jun. 1912, pp. 488-489.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 6 Mar. 1909, p. 6.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 30 Oct. 1909, p. 434.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 25 Dec. 1909, p. 6.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 1 Jan. 1910, p. 6.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 29 Jan. 1910, p. 6.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 4 Jun. 1910, p. 6.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 25 Jun. 1910, p. 6.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 23 Jul. 1910, p. 6.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 30 Jul. 1910, p. 6.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 27 Aug. 1910, p. 6.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 17 Sep. 1910, p. 6.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 1 Oct. 1910, p. 6.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 8 Oct. 1910, p. 6.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 15 Oct. 1910, p. 8.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 11 Mar. 1911, p. 6.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 1 Jul. 1911, p. 7.

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Pacific Builder and Engineer, 8 Jul. 1911, p. 38.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 5 Aug. 1911, p. 16.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 12 Aug. 1911, p. 49.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 2 Sep. 1911, p. 96.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 16 Sep. 1911, p. 41.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 23 Sep. 1911, p. 154.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 30 Sep. 1911, p. 174.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 14 Oct. 1911, p. 237.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 21 Oct. 1911, p. 256.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 18 Nov. 1911, p. 355.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 2 Dec. 1911, p. 399.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 3 Feb. 1912, p. 107.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 10 Feb. 1912, p. 127.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 17 Feb. 1912, p. 135.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 24 Feb. 1912, p. 157.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 30 Mar. 1912, p. 270.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 6 Apr. 1912, p. 277.

Pacific Builder and Engineer, 8 Jun. 1912, p. 494.

“PACIFIC BUILDING AND ENGINEERING RECORD” “Matthew Dow, Prominent Seattle Contractor.” Pacific Building and Engineering Record, 10 Feb. 1906, p. 3.

“THE PACIFIC COAST ARCHITECT” The Pacific Coast Architect, Jun. 1912, p. 435.

The Pacific Coast Architect, Nov. 1912, p. 88.

The Pacific Coast Architect, Dec. 1912, p. 136.

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The Pacific Coast Architect, Jan. 1913, p. 184.

The Pacific Coast Architect, Jan. 1913, p. 184.

“UP-TO-THE-TIMES MAGAZINE” “Attractive Church Building.” Up-To-The-Times Magazine, Nov. 1911, p. 4774.

NEWSPAPERS “A Church Affair.” The Lowell Sun [Lowell, Massachusetts], 9 Feb. 1894, p. 8.

“All Ready to Entertain Taft.” The Seattle Daily Times, 23 Sep. 1909, p. 8.

“Apartments.” The Seattle Daily Times, 6 Mar. 1907, p. 17.

“Apartments.” The Seattle Daily Times, 7 Mar. 1907, p. 19.

“Apartments.” The Seattle Daily Times, 8 Mar. 1907, p. 19.

“Apartments.” The Seattle Sunday Times, 10 Mar. 1907, p. 47.

“Ashes of Noted Mason Scattered on Sound.” The Seattle Daily Times, 11 Sep. 1926, p. 3.

“Baptist Society Plans New Church Building.” The Kennewick Courier [Kennewick, Washington], 2 Aug. 1912, p. 1.

“Body of Matthew Dow Here.” The Seattle Star, 24 May 1912, p. 1.

“Building Active in All Parts of City.” The Seattle Daily Times, 30 Jan. 1910, p. 28.

“Building News.” The Seattle Daily Times, 31 Jul. 1910, p. 42.

“Building Plans in Preparation.” The Seattle Sunday Times, 7 Feb. 1909, p. 28.

“Building Trades Mourn Matthew Dow’s Passing.” The Seattle Sunday Times, 26 May 1912, p.

16.

“Collins Funeral Set at Kirkland.” The Seattle Daily Times, 14 Aug. 1941, p. 15.

“Construction Work Keeps Up Fast Pace.” The Seattle Daily Times, 16 Jan. 1910, p. 34.

“Deaths.” The Seattle Daily Times, 17 Apr. 1918, p. 13.

“Deaths, Funerals: James A. Wood.” The Seattle Daily Times, 11 Feb. 1947, p. 22.

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“D.E. Fryer’s Funeral to Be Held Tomorrow.” The Seattle Daily Times, 27 Jun. 1934, p. 2. “_.” Democrat and Chronicle [Rochester, New York], 20 Apr. 1918, p. 25. “_.” Democrat and Chronicle [Rochester, New York], 24 Oct. 1940, p. 32. “_.” Evening Star [Washington, District of Columbia], 30 Aug. 1904, p. 10.

“Fay to Draw Plans for New Residence.” The Seattle Daily Times, 13 Dec. 1912, p. 31.

“First Baptist Church Officers.” The Lowell Sun [Lowell, Massachusetts], 28 Dec. 1893, p. 1.

“First Baptist Church to Be Opened Sunday.” The Seattle Daily Times, 21 Sep. 1912, p. 3.

“Funerals.” The Seattle Daily Times, 14 Aug. 1941, p. 26.

“Funeral Services to Be Held Today for Dr. Prather.” The Seattle Daily Times, 26 Aug. 1925, p.

17.

“Governor Will Help to Raise Debt Upon Church in Seattle.” The Seattle Daily Times, 31 Aug. 1913, p. 3.

“James A. Wood, Long Associate Editor, Dies.” The Seattle Daily Times, 10 Feb. 1947, p. 4.

“John R. Thompson, Pioneer Mariner and Mason, Dead.” The Seattle Daily Times, 5 Sep. 1926, p. 1.

“Joseph A. Swalwell.” The Seattle Sunday Times, 16 May 1965, p. 42.

“Kellogg-Fay.” Democrat and Chronicle [Rochester, New York], 24 May 1893, p. 8.

“Lakewood Will Have Clubhouse.” The Seattle Daily Times, 18 Apr. 1914, p. 3.

“Leading Seattle Masons Attend Thompson Rites.” The Seattle Daily Times, 9 Sep. 1926, p. 11.

“Lodge Notices.” The Seattle Daily Times, 7 Jan. 1908, p. 14.

“Lodge Notices.” The Seattle Daily Times, 12 No. 1907, p. 16.

“Many New Building Plans Made Public.” The Seattle Daily Times, 14 Nov. 1909, p. 37.

“Masonic Building Turned Over to ‘U.’” The Seattle Star, 1 Oct. 1909, p. 3.

“Masons Begin Big Week’s Session.” The Seattle Daily Times, 14 Jun. 1909, p. 1.

“Masons Begin Work on Building at Exposition.” The Seattle Daily Times, 2 Mar. 1909, p. 9.

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“Masons Fail to Hear Taft Speak.” The Seattle Daily Times, 2 Oct. 1909, p. 2.

“Masons Here from Many Climes.” The Seattle Daily Times, 17 Jun. 1909, p. 1.

“Masons May Suspend Price.” The Seattle Daily Times, 8 Feb. 1908, p. 1.

“Masons Plan Rites for John R. Thompson.” The Seattle Daily Times, 6 Sep. 1926, p. 12.

“Masons to Extend Hospitality.” The Seattle Sunday Times, 20 Dec. 1908, p. 51.

“Masons to Have Building.” The Seattle Daily Times, 8 Dec. 1908, p. 3.

“Matthew Dow Contractor, is Dead.” The Seattle Star, 21 May 1912, p. 1.

“Matthew Dow Dies at Prince Rupert.” The Seattle Daily Times, 21 May 1912, p. 10.

“Matthew Dow Funeral to Be Held on Sunday.” The Seattle Daily Times, 24 May 1912, p. 13.

“Matthew Dow, of Seattle, Successful Builder.” The Seattle Sunday Times, 3 Mar. 1912, p. 62.

“Matthew Dow, Successful Builder and Contractor.” The Seattle Sunday Times, 27 Feb. 1910, p.

55.

“Old Masonic Building to House Music Department.” The Seattle Sunday Times, 18 Sep. 1909, p. 24.

“Pennsylvanians to Ask Display.” The Seattle Sunday Times, 3 Jan. 1909, p. 15.

“Pioneer.” The Seattle Daily Times, 15 Aug. 1941, p. 32.

“President Asked to Present Building.” The Seattle Daily Times, 23 Sep. 1909, p. 5.

“Program at Exposition.” The Seattle Daily Times, 15 Jun. 1909, p. 1.

“Program at Exposition.” The Seattle Daily Times, 17 Jun. 1909, p. 1.

“Regents to Preserve Many Buildings.” The Seattle Daily Times, 27 Oct. 1909, p. 8.

“Saunders & Lawton Take Masonic Plum.” The Seattle Daily Times, 27 Mar. 1912, p. 17.

“Seattle’s Business Leaders – Short Stories of Progressive Men and Successful Industries.” The Seattle Star, 25 Feb. 1910, p. 13.

“Sound to Get Ashes of Capt. Thompson.” The Seattle Daily Times, 9 Sep. 1926, p. 10.

“Storage Notices.” New York Tribune, 27 Dec. 1909, p. 9.

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“Talk of the Town.” Mountain Home Maverick [Mountain Home, Idaho], 30 May 1907, p. 10.

“The Mechanics’ Institute.” Democrat and Chronicle [Rochester, New York], 29 Jun. 1888, p. 7.

“The Mechanics’ Institute of the City of Rochester.” Democrat and Chronicle [Rochester, New York], 11 Jun. 1886, p. 5.

“To Build New Waldorf.” The Seattle Daily Times, 4 Mar. 1906, p. 15.

“University Must Have More Room.” The Seattle Daily Times, 9 Nov. 1914, p. 11.

“Woman Builds Apartment House.” The Spokesman-Review [Spokane, Washington], 29 Jun. 1912, p. 11.

MAPS D.A. Sanborn. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. Seattle, Washington, Volume 2, 1904-1905 (1905), Sheet 137, accessed from Seattle Public Libraries online. www.spl.org D.A. Sanborn. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. Seattle, Washington, Insurance Survey of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, March 1909, Sheet 1, accessed from Seattle Public Libraries online. www.spl.org D.A. Sanborn. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. Seattle, Washington, Volume 6, 1905-1950 (1919), Sheet 699i, accessed from Seattle Public Libraries online. www.spl.org D.A. Sanborn. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. Seattle, Washington, Volume 10, 1905-March 1951 (1930-March 1950), Sheet 1043, accessed from Seattle Public Libraries online. www.spl.org

NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY ONLINE Trow’s General Directory, City of New York, 1901-1902, p. 402.

Trow’s General Directory, City of New York, 1902-1903, p. 416.

Trow’s General Directory, City of New York, 1903-1904, p. 382.

Trow’s General Directory, City of New York, 1904-1905, p. 405.

Trow’s General Directory, City of New York, 1905-1906, p. 424.

Trow’s General Directory, City of New York, 1905-1906, p. 504.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Bro. Adam S. Alsobrook is a registered architect and architectural historian. He was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Maryland, Georgia, Virginia, and Texas. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, he worked in both the private and public sectors before he moved to Seattle, Washington in 2014. He is a member of University Lodge No. 141 of Seattle, Washington, where he was initiated on September 15, 2018, passed on December 17, 2018, and raised to the Sublime Degree of a Master Mason on April 20, 2019. Bro. Alsobrook is the owner of a cultural resource management and historic preservation consulting firm in Seattle.

This is the third research paper that Bro. Alsobrook has written on the history of Masonic buildings in the Puget Sound region. He is currently working on his fourth research paper, which will be a history of the Masonic Building in Seattle’s University District. He also working on a series of articles about other Masonic buildings in the Puget Sound region and Washington State.

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