Pacific Stone Company photograph albums, circa 1920-1932

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Pacific Stone Company (Seattle, Wash.)
Title
Pacific Stone Company photograph albums
Dates
circa 1920-1932 (inclusive)
Quantity
2 photograph albums
Collection Number
1991.22
Summary
Two albums of photographs (circa 1925-1932) from the Pacific Stone Company, showing buildings, employees and clay models at the factory site; and Seattle buildings decorated with the cast stone architectural decorations produced by the company. A separate 8" x 10" photograph from 1927 depicts the staff of the Pacific Stone Company.
Repository
Museum of History & Industry, Sophie Frye Bass Library

P.O. Box 80816
Seattle, WA
98108
Telephone: 2063241126 x102
library@mohai.org
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public by appointment.

Languages
English.
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The collections consists of two photograph albums and one 8" x 10" photograph; clippings and the essay reproduced below accompany the donation and provide background information. The first album contains snapshots that depict the interior and exterior of the company building and the adjacent yard, employees at work and clay models for architectural ornaments. The second album contains commercial photographs showing exteriors and details of Seattle buildings decorated with cast stone produced by the Pacific Stone Company. The albums are probably from the period when the copany was run by John Pels and Gilbert Tucker, circa 1925-1932. The 8" x 10" photograph is a 1927 group portrait of Pacific Stone Company staff.

Historical BackgroundReturn to Top

Ella L. Ramhorst, whose father, brother and husband worked for the Pacific Stone Company, composed the following essay to accompany the donation of the photograph albums.

Though Ramhorst refers to the company as the "Pacific Cast Stone Company," no city directory listings could be found under that company name. Listings occur for the Pacific Stone Company from 1924 through 1938; it is not known whether the company existed under a different name prior to 1924.

The Pacific Cast Stone Company, Seattle, 1920-1932

This little story is written to accompany the album, pictures and old news stories of the Pacific Cast Stone Co. founded by the Swartz brothers on Leary Way in the Ballard district of Seattle around 1920.

In the Spring of 1922 my father, Frank Lemon, a sculptor and modeler in clay, had returned to our home in suburban Chicago after completing the modeling of two large panels of dancing girls for a new movie palace in Dallas, Texas. He was wondering what he would do next, and was reading the paper when he said to my mother "This looks interesting, Nellie, modeler wanted in Seattle, Wa[shington] by the Denny Renton Clay and Coal Company."

"You could try it," she said. And so he did, with the agreement that if he liked it in that town of the far Northwest, mother, my two brothers, little sister and I would come West when school was out in June. Soon his letters came pouring back, exulting in the beauties of the Puget Sound country and the impressive city of Seattle; five days on the trains from Chicago.

At that time, Denny Renton Clay and Coal was making the terra cotta tile and ornamentation for the trim of Garfield High School. My Dad was amused that the architect[ure was] called Moorish in style. Many young people today have never heard of terra cotta (earth baked), or of artificial cast stone which succeeded it in the 20s for use in construction and trim of buildings. In 1923 Frank Lemon left Denny-Renton to be chief modeler for Pacific Cast Stone Co. Soon after in 1924, the Swartz brothers sold the company to two couples from New York, Mr. & Mrs. John R. Pels and Mr. & Mrs. Wm. Tucker. They bought it as a business opportunity for son Gilbert Tucker and his recent bride, Martine Pels. With John Pels as President and Wm. Tucker as V.P. and Gilbert Tucker as manager and amiable salesman the company prospered, as Seattle was growing prodigiously until the Great Depression of the 30s, when their last big contract, the Exchange Building, was completed in 1932. No other big building was built in downtown Seattle until 1945 after the second World War.

Before the second world war architects were much more lavish in ornamentation than since, be it Gothic or Greek or Romanesque or whatever, so my father was kept very busy at the stone company and soon my younger brother David Lemon was apprentice modeler with him, and later became a very fine sculptor in modern style, while my father preferred classic.

The most ornate Seattle building trimmed in cast stone was the theater on 7th and Olive, originally named Mayflower, later the 7th Avenue. The cast stone building which my father admired most because it was true to Romanesque style was the Chamber of Commerce building at 2nd and Columbia. He enjoyed working with and admired architect Carl Gould who designed the Gothic U. of W. library and others trimmed in cast stone on the campus.

These memories bring to mind an amusing story regarding a model made by David Lemon for St. Edward's Seminary being constructed at Juanita on the NE shore of Lake Washington. The model was a head of Jesus to be a center stone over an entrance. When a priest came to see if it was OK, he looked at it for a while and then said "I am afraid you have a twinkle in his eye." David restrained a smile and with a few strokes with a modeling tool made a slight change. The seminarian smiled and said, "That will be fine."

The Bon Marche on 3rd and Pine was faced with both natural stone and artificial cast stone. Pacific Stone had hoped to do the entire facing of the building, but real natural Indiana limestone was chosen for the smooth part of the exterior, while cast stone using real limestone aggregate was used to make the ornamental trim.

When Gilbert Tucker came to Pacific Stone, he brought with him several draftsmen who had worked with him at Bedford Stone in Tuckahoe just north of New York City. One of them, young, bright and handsome Fred Ramhorst soon became chief draftsman and a great friend of my older brother Jack who was one of the five or six draftsmen there. As you can guess by the name of the undersigned, a romance developed between Jack's sister and his friend and they were married in 1926 when Pacific was a flourishing company.

Ella Lemon Ramhorst, March 26, 1991

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Alternative Forms Available

View selections from the collection in digital format by clicking on the camera icons in the inventory below.

Restrictions on Use

The Museum of History & Industry is the owner of the materials in the Sophie Frye Bass Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from MOHAI before any reproduction use. The museum does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Preferred Citation

Pacific Stone Company Photograph Albums, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Location of Collection

2a.1.7

Acquisition Information

Donated by Phyllis Tucker Franz in 1991.

Processing Note

Photo album 1991.22.1 has been disassembled due to deterioration. The pages have been retained in their original order.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Description Dates
1991.22.1: Frank Lemon working on clay model at Pacific Stone Company, Seattle, circa 1926
Pacific Stone Co. buildings and yard, Seattle, circa 1926
Pacific Stone Company employees at work, Seattle, circa 1926
Frank Lemon working on clay model at Pacific Stone Company, Seattle, circa. 1926
Pacific Stone Company building exterior, Seattle, circa 1926
Eleven snapshots of Pacific Stone Co. building interiors and exteriors, including employees Gil Tucker and Jack Lemon in drafting room; Frank Lemon with clay model; close-ups of various clay models from which plaster casts were made; overview of factory site at either Ballard or Interbay.
circa 1925-1932
1991.22.2: Benjamin Franklin Hotel, Seattle, circa 1929
Exterior of Alexander Hamilton Intermediate School, Seattle, circa 1927
Seattle Theatre building, circa 1928
Detail of Seattle Theatre exterior, Seattle, circa 1926
Three cast stone statues above entrance to Suzzallo Library, Seattle, circa 1927
Cast stone statue representing "Inspiration" circa 1927
Cast stone statue representing "Mastery" circa 1927
Cast stone statue representing "Thought" circa 1927
Forty commercial photographs backed with linen of building exteriors and details decorated with cast stone made by the Pacific Stone Co. Buildings include: Bon Marche, Seattle Theater, Ben Franklin Hotel, Seventh Church of Christ Scientist, Suzzallo Library, Anderson Hall and other UW campus sites, James Monroe School, James Madison School, Alexander Hamilton School, and the Exchange Building.
circa 1925-1932
1991.22.3: Photograph of staff at the Pacific Stone Co.
8" x 10"
Some identifications handwritten on photograph.
1927
Clipping from the Seattle Times: "Doing as the Romans did--in Seattle" 1929 November 17

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Architectural decorations & ornaments--Washington (State)--Seattle--Photographs
  • Stone, Cast--Photographs

Corporate Names

  • Pacific Stone Company--Photographs

Geographical Names

  • Ballard (Seattle, Wash.)

Form or Genre Terms

  • Photograph albums