What are the fenced-off little portions of lawn on the right-hand of the photo?

[It's to keep people from walking on the grass. - Dave]

I couldn't find anything substantial about the Williamson Building when it was newly constructed in 1900. But there was an interesting article in the August 4, 1924, edition of Buildings and Building Management magazine about renovations made to keep it competitive with newer, first-class buildings wanting the same tenants. The article includes the unexpected career path of building manager, John Maier and his description of the challenges he navigated (it includes a curse word!).

Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6

But it wasn't enough in the long run. Notcom's photo of the implosion is from 1982. Today, that spot is occupied by the 200 Public Square building.

well maybe there is one, but that's not the point (ahem) here

And in the interest of completeness (we don't often get a chance to present a cradle-to-grave portrait for a building)

In 1890 cable cars replaced horse drawn streetcars on Superior Avenue and Payne Avenue. Electric streetcars started to run on Superior in 1900, and on Payne in 1901. This 1900 view shows the transition period with a new electric streetcar and a cable car train (dummy and trailer). While San Francisco is the last cable car operation, both the Tacoma and Seattle cable systems lasted until 1938 and 1940.