HistoryLink Tours

316 Maynard Avenue S

This two-story white terra cotta office and commercial structure was originally called the Rainier Heat and Power Company (RH&PC) building. It was designed by J.L. (John Lawrence) McCauley and constructed in 1917 for hotel entrepreneur William Chappell. Chappell was the founder and major shareholder of the Rainier Heat and Power Company (RH&PC). As a self-made millionaire who amassed his fortune as a Klondike gold miner, Chappell was certain that the future of Seattle’s prosperity was in land development south of Yesler Way. He invested his personal fortune in the construction and ownership of several SRO hotels in the CID, some of which were operated as bordellos.

Chappell’s power company leased commercial and residential floor spaces of his buildings and in the absence of city utility services provided in this area, the RH&PC charged a premium for providing steam heat and electricity to his and other buildings that were being constructed throughout the neighborhood. Power lines and conduits traversed the neighborhood beneath the city streets and connected to the basements of individual buildings. The power plant itself was located at the northeast corner of 5th Avenue South and Weller Streets, where the addition of the Publix Apartment building is now located.

Turn and look south across the intersection to the Bush Hotel building on the southwest corner.