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Volume 3, Issue 9 |
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Sept 2006 |
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Our Past, Present & Future... The United Hillyard Bank/ United Hillyard Antique Mall 5016 N. Market Street Past... Building. The United Hillyard Bank
building is a two story brick commercial building located in the
center of the Hillyard business district, with a distinctive 60-foot
Beaux Arts facade of tan Masonic rug brick and glazed terra cotta
decorative trim, facing onto Market Street. A cast iron marquee,
made to order by Union Iron Works, is suspended over centrally
located double doors and projects from the middle two of eight
pilasters. Seven semi-circular windows (three presently filled with
matching brick and the remaining four having aluminum framed
replacement storm windows) span the capitals of the pilasters, The exterior foundation is finished with a grey
concrete mortar, scored to resemble concrete block construction.
The two story building is constructed of red brick with a stylized
60-foot Beaux Arts facade of tan Masonic rug brick with tooled,
concave, mortar joints. It is trimmed in light pink, glazed, terra
cotta tiles, with an ornate bias relief floral motif. Visually, the
facade is divided into a series of seven tall arches with second
story semicircular windows (two of which were bricked in during 1952
with matching rug brick) were supported by eight, fifteen inch
square pilasters capped with stylized Ionic capitals of tile with
incised volutes. Bias relief tile decorative panels form the upper
story window sills, spanning the capitals and horizontally dividing
the facade two thirds up the face. Bertelsen’s attention to detail
and the craftsmanship of the brick masons can be seen in the
decorative brick patterns which separate the store front windows
from the arched windows of the second story. Above a niche into
which is set the lower window, a flat lintel is set consisting of
one course of vertical laid bricks. Above the lintel are three
running courses and nine courses of Flemish stretchers, topped by
another three running courses reaching to the upper window sill
panels. The capitals support decorative bias relief tile blocks
with five, progressively smaller, flared lipped, nested, concentric
rings, which separate the semicircular, vertical laid brick lintels
above the windows. Springing from the top of the decorative tile
blocks is a course of dentils framing the arch of the lintel. A
glazed tile keystone with a bronze medallion depicting a Mercury
head coin set at the apex of each arch. Near the top of the
building a course of corner laid dentils and a header course
stretches across the facade directly below the cornice, which is
constructed with glazed tile cornice blocks repeating the incised,
stylized, volutes motif of the capitals. At each corner and above
each pilaster, a glazed terra cotta shield with the monogram 'UBH'
is placed. Located at the center of the cornice, above the entrance,
is a broken central tile with remnants of the lower legs and talons
of a sculpted Eagle which once graced the building. The roof is
flat with
The interior has been extensively remodeled and modified over the years since the building ceased functioning as a financial institution in the mid seventies. Lance Tibbett, the present owner and life long resident of Hillyard, has restored much of the original interior spatial arrangement, exposing and restoring details such as the two tier track molding around the original ceiling. Evidence of the extent to which the interior was once modified can be seen in a remaining, centrally located cubicle constructed of two by four framed walls and clad in painted sheetrock with a suspended acoustical tile ceiling. This ceiling treatment remains in a few places and damage to the original plaster is evident here and there where the framework of the suspended ceiling was attached. The floor in the front section of the building is done in terrazzo; white and brown squares separated by brass strips, and was installed by the Spokane specialists Val. Pagnutti Co. The brick vault of the original Hillyard National Bank, with its heavy and ornate steel door frame, remains present directly northeast of the remodeled cubicle. Northeast of the vault is a ten by fourteen foot area that was once the director’s room and in the extreme northeast corner of the building a twelve by seventeen foot area is present which was originally the director’s private office. The entire upstairs, originally offices and converted into a residence by Harry Packer in 1971, has had all interior walls removed and is presently open from wall to wall. History Section - Part of Something. In March 1880, while surveying the land for the Government Land Office, Edwin Richardson noted only a wagon road crossing the northwest corner of Sec. 34, T.26N, R.43E, and small trail along the western edge of the section. This was part of an area known by the upper Spokane Indians as Wild Horse Prairie, a sandy meadow of grasses where they met and raced horses during the warm days of early spring. Seven years later, on October 11, 1887, Leland D. Westfall registered a homestead entry on the 160 acre SW quarter of Section 34, and was granted patent to the land on May 11, 1891. On May 28 of the same year John F. Robertson made a cash entry for the west half of the northeast and southeast quarters of Sec. 34 (a strip of land a quarter mile wide by one mile long), but appears to have lost rights to his claim to a Trust and Loan company, who was granted patent December 7,1889. In such a manner the public lands which were to become the commercial and industrial center of Hillyard, Washington, passed into private hands. In 1889 railroad magnate Jerome (Jim) Hill, founder of the Great Northern Railroad, visited Spokane and was quoted as saying he believed the area would become the Minneapolis-St. Paul of the West. Hill, a native of Ontario, Canada, chose to avoid both federal land grants and taxation by the city of Spokane when he selected a location five miles north of Spokane, purchasing the mile long parcel Robertson had claimed and lost to the Trust and Loan Company. Here he built a materials yard for the Great Northern Railroad, and by the late 1800's nearly 500 workers were employed. A business and residential community built up on the quarter section west of the rail yard originally homesteaded by Westfall, who with his wife Katie, platted the town site of Hillyard in 1892. In 1893 the G.N.R. constructed a twenty-stall brick engine house, a sixty foot turntable, and a ten pocket coal chute at the site of the material yards. Workers, who toiled twelve hour days six days a week, poured into the taverns in town when their shifts were over. Partly due to the numbers of railroad workers and laborers residing in the area, and their propensity to visit the taverns after work, Hillyard gained a reputation as a rough and tumble town. By 1912 the downtown had a number of licensed drinking establishments as well as at least six unlicensed taverns, many with rooms or cribs where prostitutes plied their trade. Spokane didn't help, with its occasional campaigns conducted by police to clean up the flesh trade along East Sprague, a practice which tended to force the prostitutes north and into the Hillyard area, often resulting in open and stiff competition among the ladies. On September 7, 1905, the Hillyard State Bank opened at 549 Market Street in a one story brick building near the center of town, with capital of $25,000 and the intent, "To do a general banking business". The First National Bank of Hillyard, also with $25,000 capital, built upon an adjacent lot at 545 Market and joined in the banking business September 11, 1908. These banks, located side by side, formed the financial nucleus around which a thriving business community grew, flourishing with the success of their commercial customers and the growing G.N.R. rail yards. By 1910 both institutions reported healthy growth and increases in deposits of about ten percent per year. Living conditions in the working class railroad
community were somewhat coarse, lacking sewers and improved roads,
with poor schools, water, and electrical utilities. Early efforts
to improve living conditions in Hillyard, spearheaded by community Unable to stop the incorporation movement in 1907, Hill was able to influence the new towns boundaries excluding his rail yards from within its' confines. He also financially supported the candidacy of his company physician, Dr. Joseph Farrow, in a successful bid for the position of first Mayor of Hillyard. Dr. Farrow’s tenure was short-lived however, with another Mayor installed before the end of the year. He remained an influential leader in the community and is listed in the Polk City Directory the following year as Vice President of the new First National Bank of Hillyard. Dr. Farrow maintained this position, or that of bank director, well into the 1930's. Another option, that of annexation to Spokane, was brought up as early as 1904 and remained a divisive issue among residents for years. The obvious benefits of becoming part of Spokane were street improvements, city water and sewer lines, less expensive electricity, city fire and police protection, and the severely overcrowded Hillyard schools would be taken over by School District #81. Subjugation to the ordinances, laws, and taxes of Spokane was an unacceptable price to pay for the majority of residents and business leaders of Hillyard. From the beginning of the history of Hillyard, the more genteel and prosperous citizens of Spokane looked disparagingly upon the residents of the working class community, who were considered stupid, dirty and immoral. At the same time, Spokane’s police, under the direction of elected leaders, routinely rounded up the less desirable elements within the city and set them loose at the southern boundary of Hillyard. Hillyard jokes (much like "Pollack" jokes), were common outside the community well into the 1950's, and may still be heard on occasion. So, the claim that annexation to Spokane would actually benefit Hillyard was questioned, if not outright disbelieved, by most of the residents, and as history shows, with good cause. The annexation proposition was first voted on, and defeated, in 1915. By the time the question of annexation came around for a vote on September 16, 1924, tensions were so high; Mayor Thomas Kehoe posted policemen at the polling places. No problems occurred, however, and by ten in the morning it was announced Hillyard had become part of Spokane. The Hillyard maintenance shops came into their
own during the 1920's, having grown into a facility able to
accommodate as The fortunes of Hillyard residents and the business community rose and fell with those of the railroads in general, and with the Great Northern Railroad in particular. The First National Bank of Hillyard (its address changed to N. 5016 Market Street after annexation to Spokane), published resources of $725,149.89 in their Report of Condition dated December 31, 1927. The Hillyard State Bank (its' address now changed to N. 5018 Market Street), surely was doing equally well, as the two banks joined forces to buy the Hillyard Brotherhood Bank on January 23, 1929, when an inexplicable run of withdrawals threatened to put the bank, "On the rocks". The absorption of the Hillyard Brotherhood went so well the two banks joined in a unique merger, both physically and financially, to become the United Bank of Hillyard. Inside walls and the fronts of the two buildings were removed, then merged, a new safe installed, terrazzo floor laid in the lobby, and a second story added. A stylized Beaux Arts facade, with arched second story Windows supported by pilasters, and trimmed in glazed terra cotta tiles (designed and implemented by architect H.C. Bertlesen, a long time associate of Kirkland Cutter), joined the front of the two banks into a single building. The open lobby design, with tellers behind a counter rather than inside raised wrought iron cages, was only the second of its type to be built in the Northwest. The Brotherhood building was occupied during
'construction, with the newly merged bank reporting resources of We will leave you for now but promise to tell you more of what this building is doing for Hillyard today…. Until we talk again. Editor’s Note: Thank you Brooke Plastino for coming forward as the author of this wonderful piece of literature. Mr. Plastino composed this work as the Description and Statement of Significance for the registration form. You can view the entire form here. Mr. Plastino composed this work as a part of his Eastern Washington University graduate class Cultural Resources Management: History/Anthropology/Geography under Prof. Craig Holstine. This effort, and the efforts of all of Prof. Holstine's students, Hillyard was placed on the Historic Register.
Present and Future... United Hillyard Bank building was purchased in March
1988, by Lance & Deana Tibbett. Having been vacant for a couple of
years, they undertook the challenge of cleaning and painting, which
turned out to be a three month task. But they did it, reopening for
business late in May, as United Hillyard Mall, a family owned
business of Antiques & Collectibles. One of three such businesses
located in Hillyard at that time, today the United Hillyard Antique
Mall is 1 of 10 retail stores in Historic Hillyard. With the passing
of Lance in 1999, Deana operated the business until May of 2001.
Deana & Jim Solomon married in May 2001; her passion for collecting
is shared by Jim and their 2 daughters. |
each above a rectangular store front window frame topped by a
triplex of small, nearly square windows with awning hung central
frames. Although somewhat faded in grandeur by 68-years use as a
commercial building, the structure, with it's bold two story facade,
continues to reflect the feeling of an anchor of stability and
strong economic presence, that once was the pride of the Hillyard
community. The building was designed and constructed in 1928-29 by
locally prominent architect Henry T. Bertlesen, long time associate
of Kirtland K. Cutter and Karl G. Malmgren. Master carpenters M.
Ewing and V. C. Koening of Hillyard re-constructed both the front
exterior and interior spaces, installing woodwork and furniture of
Philippine mahogany that resulted in a bank of the modern, open
lobby design prevalent today. At the time there was but one other
of this type in the Northwest. The distinctive facade and extensive
interior modifications physically joined and consolidated the
Hillyard State Bank (constructed and opened for business in 1905)
and the First National Bank of Hillyard (built on the adjacent lot
in 1908), in what was described as both physically, and financially,
a rare and unusual occurrence. The commercial district surrounding
the bank building consists of a five to six block strip (and the
immediate side streets) along Market Street, with 30-foot frontage
lots occupied by one and two story, brick, block, or frame
commercial structures reflecting the varied architectural styles of
the early twentieth century. The business districts location,
directly west and adjacent to the site of the Great Northern Machine
Shops (selected by railroad magnate James Hill in 1889. The
presence of which largely was responsible for the existence and
economic growth of Hillyard. The business district acts as a buffer
between the town’s working class residential neighborhood of paved,
30ft wide, tree lined streets, and neatly kept, unpretentious,
residences of the same historic period. 
a
brick chimney in the center and is sealed with multiple layers of
tar and gravel. Above the inward swinging front doors a heavy cast
iron marquee, made to order by union Iron Works, is suspended from
the middle two pilasters and extends over the entrance level
sidewalk. Residual pigments can be seen on and around the embossed
floral trim of the frieze and the leaf form motif of the cresting,
originally done in Verdi Antique with colors. Windows are situated
between the pilasters on either side of the entrance, each with a
sill consisting of four large tile blocks. The casings (also once
trimmed in Verdi Antique, but now, like the under side of the
marquee, painted dark brown) contain large, slightly rectangular,
horizontally orientated panes below three small, slightly
rectangular, vertically orientated panes. The middle frames of the
window triplexes are awing hung and open onto the street. Six window
and doorway openings, filled with red brick to match the
construction bricks of the remaining exterior and interior masonry
walls, are visible in the Southern exposure. The 1929 second story
addition is also visible in this surface, evident by mortar joints
and craftsmanship matching the facade rather than the original
construction. Five rectangular upper story windows (three with
arched and two with rectangular lintels) remain in the eastern and
northern exterior walls. A single rectangular window with an arched
lintel and iron bars is present in the eastern wall, centered
directly above cellar doors leading into a deep half basement below
the northern part of the building. A one story reinforced concrete
addition, extending to the alley, was built against the southeastern
half of the building in 1948, but is so dissimilar in style,
construction methods, and building materials that it appears to be
separate from the bank building. 
booster groups such as the Good Citizen League and the Board of
Trade, culminated in a push for incorporation by community leaders,
beginning in 1904. Jim Hill and the G.N.R. hotly opposed the town’s
incorporation, fearing its ability to create ordinances and levy
taxes for improvements. He had specifically chosen the location of
his rail yards, five miles outside of Spokane, to avoid this kind of
taxation, and ironically their existence was in large part
responsible for the community which had sprung up around them. 
many as 30,000 freight cars, 500 cabooses, 400 passenger cars, and
up to 200 locomotives per year. In 1922, poor working conditions,
twelve hour shifts, and low wages led to a strike by workers which
lasted eight months and became a disaster for the town’s merchants,
who extended massive amounts of credit to the striking workers.
After the strike was settled financial well being returned to
Hillyard, and by November 21, 1927, the first locomotive built west
of the Mississippi River, the R-1 class Mallet 2-8-8-2 (then the
largest locomotive in the world), rolled out of the Hillyard
Maintenance Yard on it's maiden run. By 1929 an even larger R-2
class Mallet locomotive was in production, measuring 119 feet long
and weighing 529.6 tons. It was the first of sixteen to be
manufactured at the Hillyard yards. 
$1,562,893.49 in their Statement of Condition, dated June 29, 1929,
just days prior to moving into the new building and opening July 8,
1929. Less than a year later, on April 30, 1930, the United Bank of
Hillyard was reported as, "One of the largest and soundest in the
city (Spokane) paying dividends of eight dollars per share on
capital of $150,000, with a total disbursement of $12,000 for the
year. The bank, declining to become a part of any chain, had
maintained its' independent position, keeping local deposits in
local hands and available for local loans. Thus, the effects of the
stock market crash of November, 1929 were not immediately seen in
the Hillyard economy. When the Great Depression of the 1930's did
reach Hillyard, its' effects seemed to be harsher on, and last
longer for, the blue-collar working class of Hillyard than for the
rest of the nation. Depressed economic and industrial conditions
limited the amount of goods transported by the railroads, in turn
reducing the quantity of rail cars and locomotives in service, and
ultimately the need to repair and maintain a large fleet of railroad
equipment. After the close of business May 4, 1932, the united Bank
of Hillyard closed its doors to its depositors for reorganization.
Citing the depressed economic and industrial conditions of the time
and a group of loans, "Good when made, but now, as the result of
changed conditions, of limited value.” To save the bank, the
directors proposed a holding company into which the banks assets
would be placed, and asked the depositors to release 50 percent of
their deposits into the holding company, the other 50 percent made
available immediately to the depositors. The result was the
depositors became the stockholders of the holding company, which in
turn owned the bank. Because the reorganization plan required a
unanimous agreement of approximately 2,000 depositors, the bank
remained closed the entire three months allowed by law for the
reorganization process. Although it opened its doors again, they
were closed numerous times throughout the subsequent years until
1940, when the United Bank of Hillyard was acquired by the Seattle
First National Bank. 
Collectibles
dealers in the near future. We have applied for a building permit
with the City of Spokane, (still in review) and are looking to
replace all six 2nd floor windows and have a photo from 1930’s
showing the style to work off of. We’ve already installed new
door’s, awnings and rebuilt the marquee above the entrance (look
up), while working with the City of Spokane and the Historic
Preservation Office. | Volume 3, Issue 9 |
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Sept 2006 |
