English:

Shows the A.H. Cox and Co. offices

Caption on image: Frank H. Nowell

Handwritten on verso of image: Cox Bldg. 305 1st South (?)

PH Coll 685.18

• Subjects (LCTGM): Street lights--Washington (State)--Seattle
• Subjects (LCSH): A.H. Cox Building (Seattle, Wash.); Office buildings--Washington (State)--Seattle; First Avenue (Seattle, Wash.); Pioneer Square-Skid Road Historic District (Seattle, Wash.); Automobiles--Washington (State)--Seattle

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The property was purchased from the estate of Arthur Denny in August 1899 by merchant Albert Hambach, who soon began construction of this building to house the retail arm of his plumbing supply empire. Designed by Robert L. Robertson and built by contractors Gribble & Duhamel, it was completed by the end of March 1900. The Hambach Co. would relocate to a much larger building at 1st and King Streets by the end of the decade and this building would continue to house various wholesale firms, the last of which was the Globe Electric Company. The building survived the 1949 earthquake, only to be destroyed by a fire in January 1951 caused by a discarded cigarette. As of 2021, this location is still undeveloped, used as a parking lot between the Matilda Winehill Block (now Bread of Life Mission) on its right and 309 First Avenue South (now Gallery Erato) on its left. The small amounts visible of those buildings match.