This year, July 4th marks the 100th anniversary of the iconic building that first put Seattle on the map: Smith Tower. It opened on July 4, 1914, as one of the world's first skyscrapers and the tallest building west of the Mississippi. It kept the honor of tallest building on the West Coast until the Space Needle was built in 1962. Constructed of eight million pounds of steel, 67,735 sq. ft. of plate glass, 47,800 barrels of cement, 1.5 million bricks and 1.5 million feet of lumber, the Smith Tower was named for New York tycoon Lyman Cornelius Smith, who owned $4M worth of Seattle property when the tower was built. It originally cost just $1.5 million to build.
To celebrate, the building will be host to a series of celebrations, contests and events such as $0.25 admission all weekend, the creation of a Smith Tower time capsule and a drawing contest for children. For more info, visit the Smith Tower Blog or Facebook page. And in the meantime, let's take a look back at the historic structure from the days of its creation to its time towering over the Seattle skyline.
· Seattle's Skyline-Defining Smith Tower Celebrates 100 Years [Curbed Seattle]
· Seattle Municipal Archives
· Full Sepia Tones archives