The Rainier Club was first proposed at a February 23, 1888 meeting of six Seattle civic leaders. Formally incorporated on July 25, 1888, it becomes Seattle's preeminent private club, with first quarters in the James McNaught mansion on 4th Avenue in downtown Seattle. Attendees at the first meeting were J. R. McDonald, president of the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railroad; John Leary, a prominent real estate developer and former Seattle mayor; Norman Kelly; R. C. Washburn, editor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer; Bailey Gatzert, proprietor of Schwabacher's and former mayor; A. B. Stewart; and James McNaught, whose 4th Avenue mansion became the first clubhouse. Founding members also included lawyer Eugene Carr, Judge Thomas Burke, and William Allison Peters.
In subsequent meetings, membership dues were set at $100, and bylaws were written, including that "No member shall invite ladies to the Club House without first obtaining permission from the trustees." Originally all-white and all-male, the Rainier Club admitted its first Japanese American member, Saburo Nishimuro, November 25, 1966; its first African American member prominent contractor Luther Carr, July 25, 1978; and its first woman member, Judge Betty Fletcher, August 22, 1978.
In 1904, the Rainier Club moved to a building on 820 4th Avenue in downtown Seattle designed by architect Kirtland Cutter (1860-1939), with a 1929 addition by architect Carl Gould.
Sources:
Bound volumes of magazine lists, correspondence, membership records, stock records, visitor records, financial records, and others.
Open to all users.
Creator's literary rights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.
Donated by Rainier Club, 10/10/1978.