Bricks and Mortar

May is National Historic Preservation Month, and this week marks significant dates in the histories of three buildings: one that has undergone restoration, one in the process of being restored, and a third for which restoration is planned. We begin with Whatcom City Hall, which opened in Bellingham on May 9, 1893. When the city government moved into a newer building in 1939, the historic structure became the county museum. The building suffered severe fire damage in 1962, but after a long restoration project reopened in 1974 as the Whatcom Museum of History and Art.

The May 10, 1906, opening of King Street Station gave Seattleites a rail depot they could finally be proud of. Designed by the architects who built New York's Grand Central Station, the new brick building was a far cry from the wooden depots used up until that time. Long after an ill-advised "modernization" in the 1960s, restoration work began in 2003 to reveal King Street Station's former splendor, thanks to the combined efforts of Amtrak, the Washington State Department of Transportation, and the BNSF Railway Company. More recently, the city of Seattle signed a deal to buy the station from BNSF Railway, which would allow federal and state grant monies to be spent for further renovations.

Seattle's First United Methodist Church opened its doors 100 years ago, but its congregation can trace its roots to 1853, when David Blaine and Catharine Paine Blaine established the town's Methodist Episcopal congregation. Two years later, on May 12, 1855, they dedicated Seattle's first church. The present-day church, an outgrowth of the Blaines' original congregation, recently faced demolition, but the historic structure was saved last year when it was purchased by developers Daniels Development, which plans to preserve the sanctuary and to move the congregation to a new home.

To learn more about the work being done to save other historic buildings, downtowns, and neighborhoods throughout the state, we urge you to contact the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation. If you are concerned about an endangered building in your community, they can help.

Muscle and Sinew

One of Seattle's longest and deadliest labor strikes began on May 9, 1934, when thousands of longshoremen and other maritime workers brought port traffic to a halt all along the West Coast. Teamster boss Dave Beck tried to strong-arm his way in, but Harry Bridge's longshoremen brigades prevailed the following October.

On May 13, 1985, the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union made history of a different sort when 60 longshoremen unloaded 481 containers from the Sea-Land ship Endurance as the giant shipping line began operating from the Port of Tacoma. This feat was accomplished in six hours, made even more amazing when you consider that in 1921, the union set a world's record by lading the port's first ship in a single day.

Old and Noted, Freshly Promoted

Hello Sailors: On May 11, 1792, Captain Robert Gray became the first non-Indian navigator to enter the Columbia River. A few days later he explored Grays Bay (named in his honor) in what is now Wahkiakum County. Nearly 50 years later, on May 11, 1841, an American survey party led by Charles Wilkes began charting south Puget Sound at watery coordinates they aptly named Commencement Bay.

Onward Christian Soldiers: On May 13, 1849, the U.S. Army established Camp Columbia at the Hudson's Bay Company's Fort Vancouver. The fort later became home to Catholic nuns at the request of the diocese, and on May 10, 1939, a historical pageant -- Flotilla of Faith -- was held to honor the church's role in Washington state history.

Open the Show: This week marks the anniversaries of three theater openings within the state -- Spokane's Rex Theater in 1912, Seattle's Alaska Theatre in 1914, and the St. Helens Theatre in Chehalis in 1924. Sadly, none of these grand buildings is extant.

Open the Flow: Beginning in May 1915, the residents of Moncton watched their town being slowly inundated, as seepage from an upstream dam caused Rattlesnake Lake to rise throughout the summer. One year later, folks living along Lake Washington saw the opposite occur, as the water level dropped during construction of the Lake Washington Ship Canal. By the time the canal opened on May 8, 1917, Lake Washington was 8.8 feet lower.

Men's Voice: On May 11, 1950, President Harry Truman spoke at Gonzaga University and was presented with a Citation of Merit. And on May 10, 1962, Vice President Lyndon Johnson was in Seattle after dedicating the Ice Harbor Dam in Eastern Washington. He didn't speak much due to a sore throat, but it didn't matter. People were more interested in catching a glimpse of astronaut John Glenn, fresh off his historic orbit of the earth.

Women's Choice: On May 9, 1960, the federal Food and Drug Administration approved the first birth-control drug, Enovid, giving women new control of their sexuality and reproductive choices. Ten years later, women took their movement to a new stage by organizing the Seattle chapter of the National Organization for Women on May 8, 1970.

Wild and Wooly: In recent years, Moxee was known as the hops capital of the world, doing its part to slake the thirst of beer drinkers everywhere. But on May 21, 2001, the remains were found of one mammoth guzzler who probably should have foregone an icy beverage to head for warmer climes.

Death and Destruction: Anniversaries of some notable tragedies this week include a fire that wiped out downtown Goldendale on May 13, 1888, Seattle's first fatal streetcar accident on May 12, 1889, and Washington's worst coal mining disaster, which killed 45 miners in Roslyn on May 10, 1892.

Quote of the Week

The basic purpose of preservation is not to arrest time but to mediate sensitively with the forces of change. It is to understand the present as a product of the past and a modifier of the future.

-- John W. Lawrence

Image of the Week

On May 9, 1970, the Peace Arch was anything but peaceful, when 450 Canadians invaded Blaine to protest the recent United States invasion of Cambodia.