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Grayson & Brown Building

Introduction

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Grayson & Brown Building. Grayson & Brothers Hardware and Furniture started next door in the Toby Building in 1903. In 1911 the business moved into the Brown building, which had housed the Rainier Valley Record until an explosion of the kerosene-fueled press killed the newspaper’s owner. The business became Grayson & Brown in 1915 when Will Brown, son of D.C. Brown, retired as superintendent of the streetcar line and joined Ed Grayson in the business. Grayson & Brown continued to sell hardware and furniture under the ownership of two more generations of the family before finally closing its doors in the 1980s.

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Backstory and Context

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To discuss this building, one must first look at the history of the business which led to its creation. Grason Brothers Hardware and Furniture got its start in 1903 in the south side of the Toby Building. As a successful business, it eventually outgrew it's location and by 1911 required a move by its owners, Stacy and Ed Grayson, to the building before you. The subject building was constructed in 1908 by David W. Brown who was a superintendent for a Streetcar line in Seattle. However, in 1916 Brown left that position to enter a partnership with the Graysons to run the newly named Grayson and Brown Hardware and Furniture Company. A renovation in 1946 adding a ground floor entrance and a basement for storage. The second story housed offices and apartments, but in the 1970s were removed for more space for furniture sales. However this would be the high point for the company, as due to economic hardships in the neighborhood around the late 1970s, forced the Brown family to sell the building in 1984. The company does still exist in a smaller form, owned by Buzz Anderson, a grandson of David W. Brown. In 2001 the building was renovated by Robert Mohn in accordance to the requirements of the Seattle Preservation board and Columbia City Review Committee.

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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