The history of the Grand Pacific Hotel

Seattle's waterfront is a rich tapestry of stories, and the Grand Pacific Hotel, located at 1115-1117 1st Avenue between Spring and Seneca Streets, is no exception. This substantial four-story brick-and-stone building was designed in July 1889 and constructed in 1890 during the building boom following the Great Seattle Fire. While designed by one of Seattle's most important 19th century architects, William E. Boone, as an office building, it served as a single room occupancy hotel nearly since its construction. It was originally constructed as the Starr Building for the estate of the late Lewis M. Starr, a prominent west coast mariner and businessman.

The building played a role during the Yukon Gold Rush, housing the offices for the Seattle Woolen Mill, an important outfitter for the Klondike. It also served as a hotel for traveling miners. Despite its office design, the upper floors were occupied by the Ye Kenilworth Inn during the 1890s before the hotel was refurnished and reopened in 1900 as the Grand Pacific Hotel, likely named after a hotel of the same name in Chicago.

The hotel has seen many changes over the years, including a period of ownership by Denver realtor Henry Harding, who was later found to be a prolific conman. Today, the building remains a rare surviving example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in Seattle. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 and is currently known collectively as the Colonial Grand Pacific after being interconnected with the adjacent Colonial Hotel.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons