Then and Now - North City Icon Reminds us of our Homey Roots

In 1928, North City (which had not yet acquired its moniker)  was a developing community.   As noted in a previous article, 15th Avenue NE was the main thoroughfare to well-advertised developments such as Lago Vista, Monte Vista and Jardin el Norte, along with the farthest outreaches of the Lake Forest Park development’s third addition.    The street was a fairly straight shot from the University District to the North End.   It was paved all the way to 100th, where the paved surface gave way to a graded  dirt road.   Entrepreneurs no doubt saw the opportunities to be had along the rough little road.   People who  took up residence  far from the bustle and businesses of town were in need of convenient services near their homes.   

One of the first businesses to occupy a prominent space along 15th was this service station and shop at 177th.  The man standing near the the visible gas pump gives us a good measure of  the scale of those bygone artifacts that filled the gas tanks  of local drivers’ autos.  It is not known for sure what business occupied the north end of the nearly-finished building where another entrance stood, but I’ve been told it was a beauty shop, at least for awhile.  I wish I could hide the “now” picture so you could first take a guess at the current identity of the building in the 1928 photo.   Although the roof line has changed, and a small addition was made to the south side of the structure, the doorway angled across the corner is, to me, a dead giveaway.    The North City Tavern (now Lounge) at 17554 15th Avenue NE has endured the test of time and is one of the oldest businesses in the area.   Of course, Prohibition did not end until 1933, so the building’s use as a tavern would not have occurred until after that.  It continues to be a beacon of the home-sweet-home nature of this business district.