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Rainier Valley Investment Company

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

Rainier Valley Investment Company was involved with real estate, loans, and insurance. In the fall of 1912, a modern two-story brick building was erected at 4871-75 Rainier Avenue by principals H.A. Gardener, J.K. Kelso, and D.W. Brown, where Hepler’s Grocery once stood. Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company signed a five-year lease to occupy the room facing Ferdinand Street to be used as an exchange and local office. This room is now the home of Rainier Valley Historical Society. Since 1969, the Rainier Lions Club has owned the building, operating commercial lease space.

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Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

The start of the tour and current location of the Rainier Valley Historical Society, this building was originally built for the Rainier Valley Investment Company in 1913. At first, this building was only one story but later in the same year a second story was constructed. The total cost for the entire building was $10,500, or about $275,000 in 2020 dollars adjusted for inflation! The building has been home to many tenants over the years including multiple grocers, a telephone company, and a hardware store. The building is currently owned by the Rainier Lions Club and has been since 1969 and often use it for meetings and leasing rooms. The clock outside was erected around 1980 in a effort to beautify the neighborhood, along with other local improvements such as lights and drinking fountains.

Sources

National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, Seattle Government. December 16th 2004. Accessed September 23rd 2020. http://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/Neighborhoods/HistoricPreservation/HistoricDistricts/ColumbiaCity/ColumbiaCity-National-Register-Nomination.pdf.

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