Seattle in the 1920s
Warren Harding took office in 1921, Calvin Coolidge succeeded him in 1923 and Herbert Hoover was elected in 1928. The census of 1920 was the first to count more Americans in towns and cities than on farms. Prohibition was in force and the automobile and the radio spread quickly. The stock market crashed in October 1929. What Seattle kept from the decade leans to Art Deco, the label the records put on 5 of these stops.
Every stop carries a construction date in the 1920s. The route covers 13 of them and runs 1.8 miles end to end.
Distances are straight lines between the coordinates in the National Park Service Register data, so the walk on the street will be longer. Nobody has walked or checked this as a route, and a listing does not mean a place is open to visitors. Stops last changed Sep 18, 2026.
Map
Coordinates come from the National Park Service National Register spatial data. The solid line joins the stops in walking order and is not a street route. Listings with a restricted address in the Register are never mapped and never become stops. Data refreshed September 19, 2026.
Walking order
- 1Cambridge Apartments903 Union St.Building · built 1923 · listed 2016start
- 2Camlin Hotel1619 Ninth St.Building · built 1926 · listed 19990.2 mi from stop 1
- 3Skinner Building1300--1334 5th Ave.Building · built 1926 · listed 1978446 ft from stop 2
- 4Olympic Hotel1200--1220 4th Ave.Building · built 1924 · listed 1979444 ft from stop 3
- 5Northern Life Tower1212 3rd Ave.Building · built 1928 · listed 1975294 ft from stop 4
- 6Liggett Building1424 4th Ave.Building · built 1927 · listed 20110.1 mi from stop 5
- 7United Shopping Tower217 Pine St.Building · built 1929 · listed 19800.1 mi from stop 6
- 8Bon Marche Department Store300 Pine St.Building · built 1929 · listed 2016387 ft from stop 7
- 9Shafer Building523 Pine St.Building · built 1924 · listed 19950.2 mi from stop 8
- 10Medical Dental Building509 Olive WayBuilding · built 1925 · listed 20060.2 mi from stop 9
- 11El Rio Apartment Hotel1922-1928 9th Ave.Building · built 1929 · listed 19990.2 mi from stop 10
- 12William Volker Building1000 Lenora St.Building · built 1928 · listed 19830.4 mi from stop 11
- 13Windham Apartments420 Blanchard St.Building · built 1925 · listed 20060.1 mi from stop 12
1.8 straight-line miles over 12 legs. Printed from registeratlas.com/tours/wa/seattle/era-1920s/
Taking it along
- Download the route as GPXFor a handheld GPS or a phone app
- Open all 13 stops in Google MapsSet the mode to walking once it opens
- Open the first stop in Apple MapsThe Apple Maps web link carries one destination, so this is stop 1 only
Other walks in Seattle
- Beaux-Arts architecture in Seattle10 stops · 2.4 milesBeaux-Arts is the grand classical manner taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, with paired columns, sculpted swags and monumental stairs. The Seattle examples on this route went up between 1907 and 1916.
- Apartments and hotels in Seattle10 stops · 1.7 milesThe route links apartment buildings and hotels built between 1909 and 1926. Some still take guests and some have become housing.
- Houses and mansions in Seattle10 stops · 2.5 milesThe route links houses built between 1902 and 1907. Many are private homes and the stops are meant to be seen from the sidewalk.
- Seattle in the 1910s10 stops · 1.9 milesEvery stop carries a construction date in the 1910s. Beaux-Arts is the style recorded on more of them than any other.
- Seattle in the 1900s10 stops · 2.0 milesEvery stop carries a construction date in the 1900s. They are what Seattle holds on the register from that decade.