Begin the tour at the west front of St. James Cathedral. The cathedral, a Seattle Landmark, was commissioned in 1903 by Bishop Edward John O’Dea after he decided to move the diocese from Vancouver, Washington to Seattle. He hired the...

Just up the hill and a short block north of the cathedral is the Chancery, the office of the diocese. Seattle architect Paul Thiry was excited about bringing new, modernist architectural ideas developing in Europe to the Pacific Northwest. In...

From the corner of Terry and Madison, you will see the Sorrento, situated dramatically above downtown. Samuel Rosenberg, a Seattle clothing merchant, developed the hotel in preparation for the crowds expected to arrive in the city for the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition....

Walk up Madison to Boren. This is the last surviving Queen Anne Victorian house on First Hill. The original 1889 residence sits in the center of the lot; a 1906 dining and billiard room annex faces Madison Street, as does...

Continue north on Boren one block. W.D. Hofius came to Seattle in the late 1880s from Pennsylvania. He formed a partnership with William Pigott and in 1893 organized the firm W.D. Hofius & Co. which handled railroad equipment and supplies....

Continue one block east along Spring Street and note the mature urban tree canopy of the neighborhood. Looking east up Spring, one gets a sense of how apartments constructed through the decades have come to characterize the First Hill neighborhood....

On January 6, 1929, the Seattle Times chronicled the construction of a $580,000 apartment house at 1223 Spring Street that “will be built with a direct appeal to persons of means who are dissatisfied with maintaining large residences in the...

Walk back to Minor and continue north. The mid-century modern Sutton Place was constructed in 1960 and represents the massive growth happening in post-World War II Seattle. Affectionately known as the “Purple Palace” because of its cladding in variegated lavender...

Enterprising Henry Dearborn moved to Seattle in 1880 and was one of the first to become convinced that it was a gateway city. He was a promoter of the Northern Pacific Railway and was one of Seattle’s first real estate...

This English Tudor style brick, stucco, and half-timber mansion was built for lumber and real estate developer C.D. Stimson over two years, 1899-1901, and was designed by Kirtland Cutter of the Spokane firm, Cutter & Malmgren. The exterior shows off...

From First Hill Park, walk one block east along University Street to Summit Avenue and turn left, heading north to E. Union Street. The former Summit Grade School building illustrates the progressive development of public schools during the first two...

From Summit Avenue, walk east one to two blocks along E. Union Street. From 1893-1902, Henry Burke and Albert Hambach designed six buildings, constructed mid-block on Belmont and Boylston avenues south of Pike Street. They shared similar late Queen Anne...

Just east of Boylston Avenue on the south side of E Union Street is the Phillips House. Accountant William Phillips developed this framed “double dwelling” in 1902. Designed by Edwin A. Williams & Rufus B. Clark, the building clearly expresses...

Across the street from the Phillips House is the Knights of Columbus building. This solid four-story clinker brick structure ornamented with arched windows and classical dentils was home to the Seattle Council of this Catholic fraternal organization for over 100...

Just east of the Knights of Columbus building at Harvard Avenue and E Union Street is an early adaptive reuse project. Designed by Somervell & Coté and built 1908-1909, this building is one of the earliest all-brick firehouses and the...

From Fire Station No. 25, head south to Seneca Street for a dramatic view of Seattle First Baptist Church. This is the third church building for one of Seattle’s earliest congregations, established in 1869. The church traded its downtown property,...

Continue walking west along Seneca Street to view another historic apartment building at Summit Avenue. The rain and cloud filled skies of the Northwest inspired the well-to-do of Seattle to make extended winter trips to Southern California. By the mid-1920s,...

After crossing Boren Avenue, look across the street to the north to see the 1928 brick and terra cotta Marlborough Apartments, one of the first and finest high-rise apartment buildings in Seattle. Continuing down the hill, John H. Armin and...

Virginia Mason Clinic, the fifth hospital on First Hill, opened its doors in 1920 in this Italianate beige brick and terra cotta trimmed building designed by the prominent Seattle firm, Bebb and Gould. It extended from Spring to Seneca Street....

One prominent architect, Harry E. Hudson, left his signature on many of the First Hill apartments built during the 1920s. They are easily recognized by their names, as Hudson, a transplant from the Northeast, named his buildings after figures of...

What is now a venue for a wide variety of cultural events began its life as one of several large church structures in the city for the Church of Christ, Scientist. Christian Science had become the fastest growing religion in...