The Yesler Hotel is one of many contributing buildings (ID #9) in the Pioneer Square Skid-Road District. The NPS.gov's
description for this contributing site (pages 29-30) says the following about this building:
Address: 77 Yesler Way
Historic Name: Yesler Hotel Built: 1914
Plat: Maynards D S Plat / Block 9/ Lot 7-8 Parcel #: 5247800005
Style: Commercial
Architect: Albert Wickersham Builder: Unknown
Classification: Historic Contributing Site ID #; 9
The former Yesler Hotel is rectangular in plan and four stories in height. The only street facing elevation is the
main facade on Yesler Way. The building is clad in brick and has a projecting classical cornice. The ground floor
level has several individual storefronts and an entry to the building. The design of the upper level consists of a
series of repeated rectangular window openings, some big and others small. In fact, they can be seen as three bays
and the rhythm of the facade, despite the repetition of similar window openings, is lively. Each bay starts with a
smaller rectangular window, which is followed by five full-size window openings and ends with a smaller window.
The pattern begins again with a small window followed by five full-size window and ends with a smaller window;
ending with the third set of window openings. Windows are double-hung. The only approximation to ornament is
the raised brick, which occurs over the lintels and at the top of window jambs. Sills are of brick. Also of interest
are the original balconies, made of flat iron pieces.
Albert Wickersham was the architect of this building, formerly known as the Yesler Hotel. It was completed in
1914 and was a "flophouse" by the 1930s. It was restored again in the mid-1990s to become the Pioneer Square
Hotel, currently the only hotel in the district. The building was erected on the location of the tidal flats, an area
which began to be reclaimed in the 1890s, and where a significant industrial and commercial area was created, beginning in the 1900s. This building was part of the development of the area, after the economic and industrial
upturn caused, first by the Klondike Gold Rush, and then by the increased industrialization of the area, as World
War I approached. The building is located across the street from the Travelers' Hotel/ Elgin Hotel, an even simpler
building from 1913 and also designed by Wickersham. It is not far from a number of warehouse and industrial
buildings erected during the same period, such as the Heffernan Engine Works Building of 1918. The design of the
elevation, although from 1914, recalls elements of some of the older Victorian buildings in the area, such as the St.
Charles Hotel or Our Home Hotel.
Albert Wickersham arrived in Seattle in 1889, as a representative of A. B. Jennings, a New York architect. He was
the supervising architect on the initial phases of the Denny Hotel in Seattle, later demolished as a result of the
Denny Regrade. He had an independent practice by 1893. Aside from the Maynard Building, the Denny Hotel and
Seattle Hardware Building, he appears to have received few commissions that allowed him to show off his full
design capabilities. This building not only cleverly mimics earlier buildings in the district, but also manages to
convey visual interest, with similar and simple repeated elements.
There is another inventory datasheet (link below) that also provides a description of this building.