This is going waaaay back in the Ballard archives to 1915.
Without looking at the Ballard Flickr pool where the photo was posted today, can you identify where this picture was snapped? And for bonus points, identify one of the buildings. (Photo courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives.)
Where was this 1915 photo taken?
![](https://www.myballard.com/wp-content/uploads/2024-My-Ballard-Tile-Ad-Troop-100.png")
That looks like the corner of 22nd and Shilshole…looking north on 22nd.
Looks like 22nd & Shilshole
Wow, I can see it…now….
That picture is incredible.
…and within 8 years of being 'Seattle'…we had…
sidewalks! ;-)
I'm pretty sure the reason we have sidewalks is because they were there before being 'Seattle'.
Correct, tried humor, failed.
The building to the left of (and behind) the Bull Durham sign is still there at the corner of 22nd NW & Ballard.
I thought it looked like Ballard Hardware.
My guess: Shilshole Ave & 20th Ave NW
my gut reaction is on shilshole looking up 22nd ave nw. that turrety-like thing looks like the bell tower a bit….
Wow, look at the thoughtless instant erosion damage caused to put in a road
A link to the flickr photo pool you mention would be handy…
I think its market and 24th
My house was built a year after this photo was taken!
I guess Old Ballard didn't care for trees much.
My guess is 22nd and Shilshole too. You can see the top of the tower from the old courthouse they must have saved or replicated for the Bell tower park . Space oddity vintage furniture and the Guitar emporium on the right and Vain on the left .
The Ballard City Hall is the building with the Tower, on 22nd and Ballard AVE, where the little park is now. Sad day when it was torn down.
hmmm…. i was thinking 28th and Market, but i think mondoman is right.
Standing on Shilshole looking North on 22nd.
Amazing picture.
I really enjoyed checking out the website with all the old pics/landmarks/facts. Fun stuff for those who like history!
http://www.seattle.gov/CityArchives/
Those sidewalks were made of wood. They weren't replaced with concrete until the 1920s…and then, the storeowners had to pay fot the sidewalks outside their own businesses! This is from a series of photos the City of Seattle took showing them regrading and paving the streets. Notice that the streets in this picture are in fact, dirt.
Regarding Old Ballard “not caring for trees much” (below), all of Ballard was logged off by the early 1900s for the lumber mills. Pictures taken at 85th and 15th show farms, and not a tree as far as the eye can see. Check out my book “Early Ballard” by Arcadia Publishing. (available at Epilogue Books, Secret Garden, Abraxas, Romanza, Ballard Home Comforts, the Locks, and Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.)
I like how the sidewalk continues across the dirt street…
Check out this one…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seattlemunicipalar…
This is right in front of where I work. If you go to this corner you can still see that brick house looking building on the left. I believe it was the old Stimpson Lumber Mill office/admin building. The great thing is an artist now lives there and it looks exactly the same. Also I think a long ways' back on MyBallard there was a post about this place. Anyway another neat photo…thanks for sharing everyone!
yankee diner should be behind photographer…thats the bell tower on ballard ave and maybe magnum storage to the left…this photo was taken on shilshole
Julie, I didn't know such a book existed, or that a myballard.com regular wrote it! You should do a reading at Epilogue!
Yep, the building to the left/behind the Bull Durham sign (at corner of Ballard & 22nd) was apparently called the “Portland Building”. Here are some pictures of how it looked in 1985: http://www.vintageseattle.org/2008/05/14/old-ba…
BTW, the vintageseattle.org site has a lot of other neat old pics, too.
That picture is on the wall at The Ballard Smokeshop on the resaurant side. I was just staring at it Sunday morning while I was eating breakfast wondering where it was.
Wht you don't see inthis picture is the teams 9of men and horses) ripping up the old plank streets!
In a really early picture I have of the First Presbyterian Chuch on 17th and Market, you can see that Market street was originally wood…and set up on pilings!