TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Thursday updates and alerts; ‘Throwback’ on Admiral

(Four WS-relevant views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
7:30 AM: All’s quiet on the traffic front so far. Alerts and Throwback Thursday photo to come.

7:44 AM: Today’s alerts:

SW ORCHARD AT DELRIDGE: For Seattle Public Utilities‘ project at Delridge/Orchard – “Between Thursday, August 6 and Tuesday, August 11, SPU crews will grind, pave, and stripe SW Orchard Street. This work will require the closure of the westbound lane on SW Orchard Street (east of Delridge Way SW). The westbound lane will be opened to traffic during non-work hours. During the closure, all westbound traffic will be diverted to the eastbound lane with the assistance of a traffic flagger.”

ALKI AVENUE & BEACH DRIVE PAVING: Lane closures are expected between 7 am and 7 pm for the SDOT paving project announced for Alki SW between the 1300 and 1700 blocks and for Beach Drive/61st/Spokane.

ADDED 7:59 AM – TRAFFIC THROWBACK THURSDAY: A century ago, in the 3100 block of Admiral Way:

That’s from the Seattle Municipal Archives – click the image to go to a page with a larger view. If the numbering is the same, that would have been right about here, toward the bottom of the east Admiral hill.

petert August 6, 2015 (8:05 am)

WSB,

Do you know if the paving work on Alki SW still scheduled to be finished by Friday ?

Thanks !

WSB August 6, 2015 (8:08 am)

We haven’t been to the scene yet but it’s on our list of ’rounds’ today …

Alan August 6, 2015 (10:04 am)

The land looks too flat and the neighborhood too large to be where 3100 Admiral Way is now, but I can’t figure out where it might be. If that neighborhood wasn’t taken out by the bridge, steel mill or other development, somebody should recognize roof-lines.

I see that they have the address on the photo, so I am not questioning the identified location. While street numbers are unlikely to change that much, slope is even less likely to change.

Robert August 6, 2015 (12:06 pm)

I wonder if that “3100” is supposed to be 3700 Admiral. The house in the far background looks like the current house SW corner of Belvidere and Olga. Many of the houses have changed since the photo was taken.

metrognome August 6, 2015 (1:39 pm)

I agree with Alan – the topography in the photo doesn’t seem to match the topography at that location. I wonder if the address is incorrect; I think the pic may have been taken at the top of the hill near Belvedere Park, facing roughly east, maybe near Admiral and 37th.
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The ‘railroad’ trackage seems designed for temporary limited industrial use as the ties are unevenly spaced and aren’t spiked down for long-term use. There appear to be poured concrete curbs on both sides of the roadway. Given the info quoted below, I wonder if the railroad is being used to haul fill dirt for local construction; the timelines seem right.
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Maybe someone who’s better with Google than I am can compare roof lines between the photo and the current sat view to see if something matches.
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‘A route up the steep bluff off Duwamish Head from the new Spokane Street (trolley) trestle was needed, so the city in 1912 condemned a right of way to be named Admiral Way – because those who platted the area did not plan such an access route. (The Admiral District was named in honor of “The Admiral” who sank the Spanish fleet at Manila Harbor in 1898: Admiral George Dewey (1837-1917).)
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‘The route of the new Admiral Way cut across platted blocks of lots and streets. Making a wide turn at the top of the bluff it cut across two blocks of lots and streets. The triangle remaining on the west side was referred to in the 1912 Park Board minutes as a “public square in the Belvedere district” – a name chosen by realtor Hainsworth.’
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source: http://www.seattle.gov/parks/history/BelvedereVP.pdf
(note Seattle Transit route 15 serving Admiral.
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there is a map on the city clerk’s site that shows the Admiral Hill area in 1909; I can’t tell for sure if the lower hill area has been platted, but it I kinda doubt there would have been that many houses built in 6 years. People were going for view property, which that isn’t.
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http://clerk.ci.seattle.wa.us/~public/maps1.htm
pick ‘West Seattle’ from the dropdown menu; out of the 140 results, click on item 1383, ‘Florida St. Extension.’ Notice Arizona Ave. and White Ave., which no longer seem to exist.

Silly Goose August 6, 2015 (7:56 pm)

Keep the Historical West Seattle Photos coming, love to see them!! Thanks for posting.

Alan August 7, 2015 (9:14 am)

Robert and Metro, I think you are correct. I believe that it should be 3700. That house at Olga is a possibility. I am away from my home computer and will look when I am back to it next week. It’s too awkward to do the research on the one I’m on.

Alan August 13, 2015 (4:19 pm)

I was unable to match any of the houses in the area around 3700 Admiral Way.

I don’t think that the house at the corner of Olga and Belvidere is the same as the one in the photo, as the dormers are not the same, nor are the window configurations. That house was built in 1914, so it would have been the first house on 38th from Admiral. It is possible that the dormers and windows were changed, but that seems unlikely.

I checked on both sides of Admiral and stretched the boundaries a bit, but without luck. Maybe someone else will be more resourceful.

WSB September 27, 2015 (12:19 pm)

From Alan, who did lots of research:

believe that the picture is of Admiral Way, looking north-east, just West of 45th. The house on the far left is 2349 45th. The house on the far right no longer exists, but was replaced by the Admiral Crest apartments. I am fairly certain of this and have documented other houses in the vicinity, some that appear in the photo and some that do not.

Clues –

The address of 3132 Admiral Way is of little help, except to tell us this is an Admiral Way project. Unless there was a different numbering system being used at the time, 3132 would have been down near City View St, approaching the West Seattle Bridge. That area is too sloped and has too few houses to be where the picture was taken. We have seen other city images where the address seemed not to match the actual location, so I suspect there is likely a project address assigned to all photos of the project, rather than simply an incorrect address.

The photo was taken in 1915. The neighborhood appears to be flat, though the houses are five feet or more above street grade. The spectators in the lower part of the picture appear to be standing on Admiral Way, with an intersection on the far right. The spectators give us some sense of how high above street grade the houses are.

Initially I thought this must be close to the address, so attempted to match it to the area between 37th and 39th. In hindsight, none of those houses are high enough above the road. Realizing that, I went looking for where there was a significant bank next to Admiral Way. The only place where there is a significant bank and the neighborhood is flat is between 44th and 46th.

West side of 45th, heading north.

2349 45th Ave SW, built in 1907 – Has same roof line. Also, the side windows are of the same configuration, though there is an additional window towards the front of the house. The front of the house has been remodeled, so the addition of a window is expected. The houses to the south of it were not built until after the photo.

2343 45th Ave SW, built in 1913 – Has roof line that fits with the small piece of roofline visible on the far left of the picture, just above the roof of 2349.

No additional houses visible on that side of the street.

East side of 45th, heading north.

2346 45th Ave SW, built in 1911 – Has the same roof line (including the dormer) of the house pictured just above the engine. Missing now is what appears to be a large stone chimney. That may have been remodeled out or lost in the Nisqually (or earlier) quake. There does appear to be an addition on the house where the fireplace was. Behind it, allowing for the angle of the shot, appears to be 2327 44th Ave SW with the matching rooflines and chimney.

2342 45th Ave SW, built in 1909 – Likely hidden by the train.

2338 45th Ave SW, built in 1910 – Likely hidden by the train. The house sits way back on the property.

2332 45th Ave SW, built in 1921 – Did not yet exist.

2326 45th Ave SW, built in 1909 – “renovated” in 1988. This looks like they may have kept the minimum amount of the house allowed in order to call it a remodel. I suspect this is the house pictured just to the right of 2349 and partially hidden by the porch. The position is correct and the houses behind it (which existed in 1915) have rooflines that are close, though not (any longer?) exact.

Sorry, comment time is over.