Institution

Sanborn Fire Insurance maps
indicate this was originally a two-story building, though historical images
indicate the building still retains its original exterior appearance and an
additional level was only added on the interior. This space was finished as a
furniture store and offices and evolved to offices with two dwellings in an
addition on the rear elevation.

View of the Mason Building, taken February 2018.

1910 view looking across Grand Avenue as flood waters recede. Mason Building at center. Courtesy WSU Special Collections. 
http://content.libraries.wsu.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/pullman/id/717/rec/1

An excellent example of the buildings comprising the early brick-faced commercial core of downtown Pullman, this three-story building is one of a handful of structures that emerged in the wake of the 1890 Pullman fire. Erected in 1892, it followed a new municipal ordinance requiring brick construction for all new downtown buildings. The detailed brickwork suggests pride in the late nineteenth century building of Pullman's downtown. 

Mason Building

This walking tour offers a view into the history and development of Pullman through the exploration of historic buildings, structures, and sites located in or near downtown. The tour begins at the WSU Breslford Center and then continues on to Pullman’s oldest public park, Reaney Park, the site of many community celebrations for more than a century. The tour then meanders along the riverfront before heading downtown, highlighting key historic buildings throughout Pullman’s early development.

Downtown Pullman Walking Tour

This slightly longer walking tour offers stops at nearly two dozen buildings, monuments, and other landmarks that collectively tell the story of Pullman. The tour begins at the Union Pacific Depot and concludes with stops at River Park and Reaney Park. Be sure to also explore some of the other walking tours in Pullman as well as individual Clio entries for nearby museums and historic sites.

Pullman Washington Extended Walking Tour

The Breslford WSU Visitor Center serves as a
welcoming center for Washington State University. Often affectionately referred
to as “Wazzu” from its acronym WSU, it was founded in 1890 as a land-grant
college and a three-member committee selected Pullman as its location on April
27, 1891, thrilling the community’s residents.1 Construction soon began on
the&nbsp; first building, a one-story red
brick building perched on a hill. 

The
Agricultural College, Experiment Station and School of Science of the State of
Washington opened on January 13, 1892, with 59 students enrolled. The campus
developed over the next decade. The four-story Administration Building (now
called Thompson Hall) is the oldest building on campus, constructed in 1894.2

The
school was renamed the State College of Washington in 1905, and by 1915 was
officially Washington State College (WSC). The college grew significantly after
the end of World War II as veterans returned from overseas and took advantage
of the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, which guaranteed them free
tuition and a monthly living allowance while in college. In 1959, WSC became a
full-fledged university, with the Washington State Legislature passing a bill
to change the school’s name to Washington State University.

Fifteen-foot-tall concrete letters reading "WSU" and a steel-plate tower establish the western entrance to the university and serve as highly-visible icons to drivers traveling along State Route 270. Designed by Seattle-based Olson Kundig Architects, visitors will discover a light-filled, modular space that showcases materials developed at the WSU Composite Materials and Engineering Center and interactive displays that celebrate the research accomplishments and entrepreneurial spirit of faculty, students, staff, and alumni. The center's design-build team featured graduates from the WSU School of Design and Construction.

Brelsford WSU Visitor Center

As early as 1898, the Reaney Park site hosted city
celebrations and community events. Albert (Al) Reaney (1851–1910) and his wife
Phoebe (1851–1924), owned the property but generously shared the park-like
setting with the community, which called the site “Reaney’s Park.” The park
featured shady trees, an artesian fountain, and even swings installed by Mr.
Reaney.1&nbsp;A July 12, 1902,
editorial in The Pullman Herald called for the city to purchase the park,
noting its “thrifty growing grove of elm, pine, chestnut and poplar” and heralded
the park as “one of the pleasantest places in Eastern Washington.”2&nbsp;Pullman voters banded
together in the summer of 1904 to authorize the City of Pullman to purchase
Reaneys park for $2,600.3

Albert and Phoebe Reaney were key players in the development
of Pullman. Albert arrived in Pullman in ca. 1880, joining the local Odd
Fellows lodge in 1882. He established his homestead where the College Hill
residential district exists today. 

The park continued to be an important place for the
community. The bandstand was constructed and native buckeye trees planted in
1915. The city park commission began a series of improvements to the park in
1916. During this time, the city purchased even more property for the park,
including additional lots from Phoebe for $300 in order to construct a swimming
pool. The City and the Chamber of Commerce jointly funded the pool’s
construction, an estimated $1,500.4&nbsp;The pool opened for
use at the end of the summer in 1917. The artesian well in the park originally
supplied the water for the pool. 

In 1931, the Kiwanis Club worked with architecture students
to redesign the park with new paths, shrubs, trees, and a parking lot to
accommodate the growing number of vehicles in Pullman. In the 1940s the park
even included a small golf area. Today, Reaney Park is a popular summer
gathering spot with its swimming pool, annual concert series, and the city’s
well-known National Lentil Festival. The park also retains two Washington State
champion Ohio Buckeye trees on its grounds.5<div><div>

</div>

</div>

Reaney Park, Pullman's oldest public park, has served as an important community gathering place and recreation spot for residents since the early 1900s. Throughout its history, the park has hosted community celebrations, from Fourth of July festivities to the city's National Lentil Festival. Pullman voters authorized the city to purchase the land from the Reaneys in 1904; following the purchase, the city invested in the park to expand its amenities, installing a bandstand for concerts and a swimming pool. 

Reaney Park

Pullman’s downtown developed on the south bank of the river,
and the backs of Main Street buildings overlook the river. The area now known as
River Park extends from Spring Street to Kamiaken Street and is adjacent to the
Bill Chipman Palouse Trail; the non-profit Pullman Civic Trust spearheaded both
projects. The organization is comprised of more than 700 volunteers and has
worked hard to promote civic and environmental projects in Pullman. Successful
projects for the group include River Park, the Bill Chipman Trail, the Three-Forks
Wayside, numerous trail markers, and tree-planting along Professional Mall
Boulevard.1<div><div>

</div>

</div>

The volunteer efforts of the Pullman Civic Trust transformed what had been a neglected riverfront site in 1983 into River Park. It features a check dam, benches, and a storage shed designed by former WSU Architecture Professor Don Heil. The structures were designed to suggest the art and artwork of Pacific Northwest indigenous peoples. The City of Pullman now oversees River Park, and community members annually participate in a spring cleanup. The park parallels the South Fork of the Palouse River and connects with the Bill Chipman Trail.

River Park

Pullman was a thriving town in the late 1800s. The area was
already a prosperous grain-producing region, but the arrival of railroads in
the 1880s led to a flurry of new businesses and residents in the city. Among
those new businesses was the Palace Hotel, which opened in 1889. While
contractors were digging a well for the new hotel, they struck figurative gold when
they discovered an underground aquifer. &nbsp;In
an area in which agriculture was the backbone of the economy, this was a
fortuitous find, and as many as twenty artesian wells were soon dug in the
city.

Hand pumps were constructed throughout the city to propel
the water to the surface. A city pumping station and hose cart building were
located at the corner of Kamiaken and Olsen by January 1891 and they utilized a
Holly system to pump the water into a reservoir with a 150,000-gallon capacity.1&nbsp;Four- and six-inch
water pipes extended from the pumping station to provide water to the growing
community. 

The discovery would prove to be beneficial in an unexpected
way as well. In 1890, just a few months after gaining statehood, the Washington
legislature announced plans for the creation of a land-grant college,
Washington State College. There was a lengthy search for a location, with
several towns lobbying to be chosen. Pullman advertised its artesian wells as
one of its principal assets. The legislature chose Pullman and locals have long
believed it was largely because of its ready supply of water.2&nbsp;The college opened in
1892 and helped to secure Pullman’s continued growth.

It is believed that the artesian wells secured another
economic benefit for the city. The Northern Pacific Railroad was considering
rerouting the line through Whelan, which would have dealt a serious blow to Pullman’s
economy. The discovery of an abundant water supply supposedly persuaded
railroad officials to remain in Pullman. Civic boosters worked overtime to
promote the freight advantages of keeping the rail line running through
Pullman.3

The city relied upon these wells for several decades, until
depleted groundwater made them obsolete by the 1970s. This fountain is a modern
representation of Pullman’s former legacy as “The Artesian City."<div><div>

</div>

</div>

Near this site on May 24, 1889, contractors digging a downtown well discovered a confined natural aquifer beneath Pullman's rich soil. City officials quickly tapped into the pressurized groundwater, forcing several artesian wells to the surface and providing Pullman with a clean, reliable source of water. These wells were the city's main source of water until the 1970s when the groundwater was depleted. The fountain on Kamiaken Street is in honor of the wells' important role in the history of Pullman.

Artesian Well 

Brothers J.R. and L.H. Stephenson opened Artopho Studios in
Pullman in ca. 1906. Early ads for the business declared it was “established to
stay" and that they specialized in "Everything Modern in the Photographic Art." J.R. Stephenson became the sole proprietor of the studio in 1907 when his
brother, L.H., moved to Portland.1&nbsp;In 1910 the studio was
located at 1001 Grand and advertised the studio as "Pullman’s Best
Photographer."2

The building at 1001 Grand (now 205 N Grand Avenue with the
city’s updated addresses) was sold in 1920, requiring Artopho to move. By 1926,
they had moved into the building on Kamiaken and Olsen. James Carson, a farmer,
built the Mission Revival building, which features blonde-colored brick veneer
on its main elevation and prominent shed roof extensions clad in clay tiles. 

Ralph Raymond (R.R.) Hutchison, a photographer with Artopho,
took over the business in 1927. Eventually, J.R. Stephenson relocated to
Seattle and established Artopho Studio in the Queen Anne neighborhood.3

Hutchison grew up on a farm near Endicott, Washington, northwest
of Pullman. He began his career as a professional photographer in the area,
eventually operating studios in Endicott, LaCrosse, Pullman, and Moscow, Idaho.
He also worked as the photographer for the Washington State University
yearbook, the Chinook, attending many campus events and extensively documenting
the WSU campus and its activities.4

A collection in the WSU Special Collections houses 690
photographs taken by Hutchison, which illustrate changes to the WSU campus and
the towns and farms of the Palouse region of southeastern Washington and
northern Idaho.&nbsp;The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.

Restaurants have occupied this space in recent years, but for much of the twentieth century this building, with its Mission Revival features, housed a photography studio that documented the change and growth of Pullman. Built in 1926 by James Carson for the Artopho photography company, the building was best known as the Hutchison Studio following its 1927 purchase by Raymond Hutchison. The studio also was Pullman's principal location for portrait photography, and Hutchison himself once served as the official yearbook photographer of Washington State College.

Hutchison Studio (Porchlight Pizza)

The first railroad to arrive in Pullman was established by
the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company in 1885. The Northern Pacific
Railroad arrived soon after, establishing the Spokane and Palouse branch line
in 1887.1&nbsp;The Northern Pacific
route ran north-south through Pullman and connected the budding town with
Spokane to the north and Genesee, Idaho, to the south. In 1890, the branch was
extended further south to Lewiston, Idaho. 

When the Northern Pacific branch line through Pullman was
completed, a wooden structure served as the depot for the railroad. In May 1916, the Northern Pacific called for bids for the construction of a new,
larger depot. Sound Construction from Seattle was awarded the bid.2&nbsp;The owners, John
Hastie and Mr. Dugan, also constructed Bryan and College halls on the
Washington State College campus (now WSU) under the name Hastie &amp; Dugan.3&nbsp;The old wooden depot
was sawn in two and the track was moved 8 feet toward the river on to a new
railroad bed.

Constructed for an estimated $40,000, the new depot featured
an exterior of Dakota pressed brick with an interior showcasing gleaming marble
and polished wood. Upon its opening, the depot unveiled a central ticket and
express office with the latest technology in telegraph fixtures and electric
signaling. Other interior rooms included a smoking room, waiting room, men’s
and women’s restrooms, and a baggage room.4

The new depot opened to much fanfare on March 9, 1917.5&nbsp;Mayor John W. Matthews
presided over the festivities, which kicked off after the 8 o’clock train left
for Lewiston. Flags and bunting decorated the building. In addition to music
and treats, including an impressive 2,500 individual fruitcakes prepared by the
dining car staff, the nearby artesian well was uncapped to turn it into a
foundation. Numerous railroad officials were present to christen the new
building. These officials included including A.D. Charlton (assistant general
passenger agent out of Portland, Oregon), H.J. Titus (superintendent of the
dining car department out of St. Paull, Minn.), B.C. Pettibone (general baggage
agent, St. Paul, Minn.), W.H. Ude (city passenger agent of Spokane), M.A. Berg
(traveling passenger agent), and C.R. Lonergan (general agent, Spokane). 

Today, the building, no longer a train depot, is being restored, and developed into a regional heritage center.

In June 1916, the Northern Pacific Railroad replaced a smaller wooden structure with a distinguished passenger depot befitting the first transcontinental railroad to span the Pacific Northwest. The new station featured wrought iron grillwork, gabled parapets, brass fittings, oak furniture, and marble restrooms-some of which are still visible in the reconfigured lobby. During the first half of the twentieth century, the "Cougar Special" train departed from the depot and brought Washington State College students to and from Seattle.

The Whitman County Historical Society purchased the property in 2018 and formed the Pullman Depot Heritage Center.

Northern Pacific Railroad Depot (Pullman Depot Heritage Center)

The Oregon Railway and Navigation Company
Railroad was the first rail line to arrive in Pullman. A subsidiary, the
Columbia and Palouse Railway laid additional track and ran the first train, which
arrived in Pullman on September 8, 1885. This railroad was an extension of the
Portland to Wallula line, and was continued incrementally eastward between 1881
and 1885, first with an extension from Walla Walla to Riparia and Bolles to
Dayton in 1887, then from Connell to Colfax in 1883, and from Colfax to Pullman
in 1885.1&nbsp;By 1900, the Oregon
Railroad and Navigation Company became a subsidiary of the Union Pacific and,
over time, the Union Pacific completely absorbed the company.2This
bridge was constructed in ca. 1900 to span the South Fork of the Palouse River.
The bridge is a steel Pratt through-truss bridge; through-truss refers to the
type of bridge and Pratt refers to the style of truss. Truss bridges feature numerous
small structural members which form a series of interconnected triangles. The
design of through-truss bridges allow them to carry heavier traffic loads.

Engineer Thomas Pratt (1812–1875)
designed the Pratt truss in 1842 and received a joint patent with his father,
Caleb, in 1844 (patent no. 3523). The Pratt truss grew in popularity over the
years and became the most popular bridge type in the United States for railroad
and highway spans less than 250 feet.3

The bridge was damaged during the
flood of 1910, the largest recorded flood event since the settlement of the
city, when the South Palouse River flooded and destroyed bridges, buildings,
and streets in downtown Pullman. The region had experienced heavy snowfall
during the winter and cold temperatures had kept snow on the ground since
December. A Chinook wind blew warm, dry air into the area, quickly melting the
snow.4&nbsp;During the flood, a
building collapsed onto the Kamiaken Street bridge, heavily damaging it; the bridge
then crashed into the Oregon Railroad &amp; Navigation trestle. 

When walking along the Riverwalk path
near the Oregon Railroad &amp; Navigation trestle, look for the small and easily
overlooked Scout’s Park just above the intersection of Dry Creek and the South
Fork of the Palosue River. It is widely believed that these waterways—along
with Missouri Flat Creek that feeds into the South Fork of the Palouse River
just to the north—inspired early European-American explorers to establish a
townsite near this location. Years of sporadic flooding led city engineers, in
1990, to place much of Dry Creek in culverts underneath South Grand Avenue.
Visitors to Scout’s Park can view several walking tour sites from the park
benches.&nbsp;<div><div>

</div>

</div>

This steel Pratt through-truss bridge serves as a physical symbol of Pullman's regional, national, and global reach. For many years, it has spanned the occasionally volatile South Fork of the Palouse River and has provided vital support for trains hauling agricultural products and passengers. The bridge suffered significant damage during the 1910 flood, but was reconfigured to ensure protection against future water events. It is still in use and located on private property.

Oregon Railway and Navigation Company Railroad Bridge

Farming, particularly the cultivation of
wheat, has been an important industry in Washington since the 1820s. Hudson’s
Bay Company outposts were the first to grow the crop in the area using seeds
brought from Europe. Pioneer settlers began wheat farming in Walla Walla, but
the practice soon spread north to the Columbia Plateau and east to the Palouse.1

Wheat
farming appeared in the Palouse region, near present-day Pullman, by the 1880s.
According to an overview of Northwest wheat farming printed by the Oregon Wheat
Commission and Washington State Department of Agriculture, “Wheat Supply and
Distribution,” it quickly became clear that the Palouse was a natural
environment to grow wheat with rich soil that is “finely textured, fertile and
highly retentive of moisture.”2

Despite the region’s fertile land, it
took experimentation over a number of years to find the right strains of wheat
that would flourish in the climate of eastern Washington. New technologies
increased production, particularly with the arrival of motorized tractors and
gas- and diesel-powered combines. However, according to “Wheat Farming in
Washington,” by Jim Kershner (available on HistoryLink.org), “Three other
factors were even more important [than mechanization]: advances in fertilizer
research and availability; collaborations between farmers and scientists to
reduce soil erosion and resist diseases; and new wheat strains and genetic
crosses.” Scientists like Orville Vogel (1908–1991) at Washington State
University developed the new strains. This increase in productivity propelled Whitman
County to become one of the top wheat-growing counties in the United States and
by 1978, it rose to the top of that list.3&nbsp;Today, Whitman County continues
to be the top wheat-producing county in the country.<div>






Edwin A. Dumas was born in 1910 to parents
James L. and Fannie (Storie) Dumas. Edwin’s father was Pullman’s first
superintendent of schools and played a key role in forming Pullman’s four-year
high.4&nbsp;The family home was
located on College Hill at 725 Ruby Street. Edwin attended Washington State
University in Pullman and began working for an implement dealer. He met his
wife Edith Evangeline Chanslor (1913–2005) in Pullman and they married on June
11, 1940. They had two children: Edwin (Bud) Jr. (born 1941) and Evangeline
(born 1945). 

Edwin went into the pea business in
1942 and in 1960, he purchased the Klemgard Pea Co. and changed its name to the
Dumas Pea Seed Co. He also purchased the Washburn-Wilson Seed Co. in Moscow,
Idaho.<div>

</div>

</div>

Downtown Pullman's tallest structure, this 75-foot concrete grain silo, built in 1954 for the Pullman Grain Growers, is a physical reminder of the region's principal crop: wheat. The ability to cultivate wheat on the rolling hills of the surrounding Palouse has been vital to the economic development of Pullman for more than a century, and since 1978, Whitman County has been the largest wheat-producing county in United States. Just down Grand Avenue from the silo is the Dumas Seed Warehouse. In the early 1960s, the visionary legume grower Edwin A. Dumas (1910-1978) purchased a prefabricated building from the Butler Manufacturing Company in Galesburg, Illinois, and had it shipped, by rail, to Pullman for the storage of locally-grown peas and lentils. Dumas earned international fame in the 1960s for initiating the sale of dry pea products from Pullman to Japan, and his pioneering work helped area farmers recognize that legumes could be used as rotation crops by restoring the nitrogen stripped from the soil by grains. Inside the building, some of the machinery once employed in the pea-storing process still remains.

Grain Silo and Dumas Seed Warehouse

The Union Pacific Railroad arrived in Pullman
in 1887, leasing the line completed by the Oregon Railway and Navigation
Company in 1885. For many years, a small wood-frame depot served passengers
arriving by this railroad; it was torn down soon after the new building
replaced it. The former structure featured a gable roof with broad overhanging
eaves. Large brackets and decorative bargeboards decorated the building’s exterior.1&nbsp;Tall, narrow windows and a
corbelled brick chimney further defined the building. The building was torn
down soon after the new building was opened.2

The
new building, constructed between 1938 and 1939, reflects the trends of its
time. In the Minimal Traditional style, it features stripped down elements of
the Tudor Revival style, such as half-timbering in the gable ends and a
crenellated parapet wall. The Tudor Revival elements continue on the interior
with large decorative beams. 

The
building was donated to Washington State University, which renamed the building
“Cougar Depot” when it opened on July 13, 1988.3 As Cougar Depot, the
building served as the university’s athletic ticket office, visitor center, and
corporate meeting facility. WSU replaced Cougar Depot with the Brelsford
Visitor Center in 2014 and sold the building to Umpqua Bank.<div><div>

</div>

</div>

Passenger demand and a rising local population inspired the Union Pacific Railroad, in 1938, to rebuild an existing station to compete with the nearby Northern Pacific Railroad Depot. This new brick depot replaced an older nineteenth century wooden structure, built originally for the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company, and was in keeping with a variety of brick edifices that had risen both in downtown Pullman and at Washington State College earlier in the twentieth century. Now out of service as a depot, the Union Pacific logo still graces the north facade of the renovated structure. Original wooden beams are still clearly visible inside.

Union Pacific Depot

The Cordova Theater was
built in 1927 by movie theater entrepreneur and real estate investor Peter
William Struppler, who already owned most of the theaters in town, but wanted
to add a bigger, modern one to his collection. He purchased the site in 1927
and secured a $25,000 mortgage for construction. It was the heyday of the
“palace theater” era, when ornate movie houses were being built around the
country, and he enlisted one of Eastern Washington’s most prominent
architecture firms, Whitehouse &amp; Price, to design it. They created a Spanish
Eclectic style building; Carl Berg designed the interior. In 1938 it was expanded
with a second floor and in 1950 a large, Art Deco-style marquee with neon
lighting was added to the theater’s façade.1

The Cordova Theater was
later bought by Milburn Kenworthy in 1958, and his family operated it for
several decades. It has remained fairly well-preserved and has undergone
renovations and additions; the most recent work took place in 2000, when Best
Theatres replaced the seating and added a new sound system. The theater was
placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. 

The theater appears
to have stopped showing movies in 2011. The building is now used by the Pullman Foursquare Church; it is not clear when the
church bought the property.

Erected in 1927 as a theater showing silent films, by August 1929 the Cordova became the first venue in Pullman to show "talkies." Common to early movie theaters whose designs attempted to catapult theatergoers into worlds of fantasy, the Spanish Eclectic exterior and the opulent interior, with its decorative ticket booth, linked Pullman to national design trends. In 1950, the current marquee was attached to the facade, obscuring the original design but in keeping with contemporary advertising styles. The marquee has been a fixture in downtown Pullman now for more than 60 years, and movies are still occasionally shown here.

Cordova Theater (Pullman Foursquare Church)

While some accounts note the Webb Block as
constructed in 1891, it does not appear on Sanborn maps until between the 1893
and 1896 editions. It appears that Henry J. Webb was a prominent citizen of
Pullman; in 1890 he is listed as president and member of the board of directors
for the Bank of Pullman.1&nbsp;In 1896, the building
housed the Pullman Herald as well as
a men’s clothing store, dentistry offices for Dr. A. E. Shaw, and Neill &amp;
Bull, attorneys-at-law.2&nbsp;Other tenants throughout
the years included the City Club and the Combine Mall.The
Combine Mall was a restaurant and coffee shop for many years, during the ’70s, ’80s,
and ’90s. The interior was broken up into smaller shops, organized as its name
implies. During the 1990s, there was event space upstairs which hosted a
variety of performances including concerts from artists like Nirvana,
Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains—before they made it big.3

This building was constructed in ca. 1895 for Dr. Henry J. Webb following the fire of 1890 and-similar to the Mason and Flatiron buildings in the vicinity-represents the historic brick core of Pullman's established downtown in the late nineteenth century. The Webb Block once housed the offices of the Pullman Herald and was a fixture in the early foundation of Pullman. In the last decades of the twentieth century, the building was rechristened as the Combine Mall, the source of still-visible advertising on the structure's west side.

Webb Block

The Pullman Flatiron Building was built in 1904 and designed
by William Swain (1856–1934), a well-known Pullman architect who has several
buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. Swain was born in
England in 1856 and immigrated to the United States at age 18.1&nbsp;He settled in Duluth, Minnesota, and became a successful carpenter before deciding
to study architecture, which launched his long career in the field. Swain married
Penelope Bates, also from England, in Duluth in 1885 and they moved to Pullman
in 1891.2&nbsp;In addition to his work as an architect, Swain also served in public office, as
city clerk, city treasurer, and a justice of the peace.3

The Pullman Flatiron Building was built to fit the city’s
only triangular lot, which faces Main Street. The lot was originally a hitching
spot for horses and wagons and the building was to house the offices of Grain
Companies, Pullman Savings and Loan, and Farmers State Bank. Over the years,
numerous businesses and offices have occupied the building, and there are several
businesses now on the ground floor.&nbsp;

The Flatiron building has survived a number of near-disasters
over the course of its long history. Pullman was flooded in 1910, and though
water came up to the front door, the building was not seriously damaged. There
were other floods in 1948, 1972, and 1979, and the building withstood them all.
The most serious damage occurred in 1994, when a runaway front-end loader
struck the front corner of the building, knocking out roughly one-fourth of the
structure. It was rebuilt using some of the intact bricks salvaged from the
rubble. Aside from the noticeable difference in appearance of the front corner,
the Flatiron Building remains largely as it was built in 1904.

The triangular shape of this 1905 brick building resembles the Flatiron Building in New York City. Pullman's version, a load-bearing masonry structure designed by the local architect William Swain, fans out to meet two street grids overlapping in the city center. The prow of the building, on the southeast comer of Main Street and Grand Avenue, has provided a notable gateway to downtown Pullman for more than a century.

Pullman Flatiron Building 

Dr. Charles H. Russell was a medical doctor
born in Wisconsin; he previously had his offices in the Flatiron building. By
1912, he had moved to 804 Alder Street (now known as Kamiaken Street). He
decided to expand his office at a different location and work began on this new
structure, intended to be a one-story building with four offices, in May 1915.1&nbsp;By June 1915, Russell was
thinking even bigger: As reported in the June 11, 1915, edition of The Pullman Herald, the doctor increased
the size of the building to two stories, extending it over the top of his
existing Alder Street office. The new structure was then planned to have three
large rooms downstairs with seven rooms upstairs, plus an additional four rooms
over the building already on site.In
1919, he converted the building to use as a boarding house and hotel and
advertised it as the Russell House; by 1930 it was known as the Russell Hotel.

In 1947, the Moose Lodge
organization moved in, and the fraternal organization continues to be there to
this day (as of at least February 2018).2 While the building is only open to Moose
Lodge members and their invited guests, the organization is dedicated to
serving its community and has sponsored fundraisers for local charities and
sports groups.

The Russell Hotel, now known as the Moose Lodge, was constructed in 1916. Dr. Charles H. Russell (born ca. 1863) decided to enlarge his medical office at this site to meet the needs of an expanding practice. The project grew to two stories by 1916 and was converted to a place of lodging in 1919. While not as grandiose as the nearby Hotel Pullman (built 1893, dismantled 1918); Artesian Hotel (built 1893, burned 1922) or the Washington Hotel (built 1927, demolished 1972), the Russell Hotel is nonetheless the oldest surviving reminder of Pullman's long-standing tradition in visitor accommodations. The building offered lodging until 1947, when it became the Moose Lodge. 

Russell Hotel

Pullman's impressive Neo-Classical post office was built in 1930. It was intended to be an imposing structure suitable for a growing city, and few expenses were spared in its construction.&nbsp;Sandstone and terra cotta
highlighted the building’s exterior, with marble and polished wood throughout
the interior, including marble and terrazzo
flooring, marble wainscoting, and polished wood trim.1&nbsp;At the time of its construction, the post office was lauded as one of the finest government buildings in eastern Washington. At the time of this
building’s official opening in 1931, Ira G. Allen was the postmaster, and
managed 16 other employees.2&nbsp;The post office operated until 1975, when a new building was constructed. Since that time, the old post office building has been home to a number of businesses, including a movie theater and a gun store. Currently, the building houses Paradise Creek Brewery, a microbrewery which opened in 2010. The Old Post Office is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.&nbsp;

Built in 1930, the Pullman branch of the United States Post Office was designed to be a grand structure. The finest materials, including marble and polished wood, were used in its construction. When a new post office was built in 1975, the old post office converted to other uses. Today it houses Paradise Creek Brewery and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Old U.S. Post Office (Paradise Creek Brewery)

In late 1915, the Grand Theater opened
in the newly constructed Jackson Block and entertained residents until closing
in 1928. Remodeled as the Audian Theater in October of 1930 and expanded again
in 1936 following the demolition of an adjoining garage, the several-hundred-seat,
single-screen theater featured the latest movie technology and, together with
the Cordova Theater, served as one of Pullman’s principal movie houses into the
early twenty-first century. Original light fixtures and a balcony distinguish
the extant auditorium.1

At the time of the Audian Theater’s opening in 1930, only two
other theaters were operating in Pullman: the Cordova and the Liberty. Other
theaters came and went over the twentieth century, but with the exception of a
brief closure in the mid-1990s for upgrades,&nbsp;the Audian remained in
operation until the 2000s. Unlike many older, single-screen theaters across the
country which evolved into music venues, community theaters, and other
functions, the Audian always functioned as a movie house.The Audian was updated in the 1990s, but remains largely unchanged from the 1930s. Its architecture and decor are excellent examples of theaters from the golden age of movie theaters. The Audian closed in 2014 but as of this writing, the Pullman Civic Theatre hopes to renovate the building and use it as an arts center.&nbsp;

The Audian Theatre has been part of social fabric of life in Pullman for nearly a century. Built in 1915, this building originally housed Pullman's fifth silent movie house, the Grand Theater. The building was remodeled in 1930, reopening as the Audian Theater in October 1930. 

Audian Theatre

The Armory building was constructed in the Art
Deco/Art Moderne style as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project. The PWA
was a large-scale public construction agency created as part of the New Deal of
1933. Like other New Deal programs, the PWA provided employment to encourage
the recovery of the American economy in the 1930s. In addition to government
buildings like post offices, the PWA financed the construction of dams,
schools, airports, and hospitals. 

When
the Armory opened, it featured a drill floor, supply room, and arms vault with
showers and a rifle range in the basement. A 161st infantry company
trained at the facility.1

Built in 1938, this three-story concrete and masonry structure provided a training space for local units of the Washington State National Guard, many of which served overseas. The Armory also has served as a center for community activities in Pullman, hosting everything from music performances, comedy acts, athletic events, and yoga. Its austere, stripped-down, symmetrical facade includes an arched, recessed entryway in the manner of a Romanesque church.

Downtown Pullman Walking Tour

Mason Building

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context