Historic Seattle contracted with architects Victor Steinbrueck and Folke Nyberg in the 1970s to conduct a survey of Seattle neighborhoods. Context statements for each of these surveys appear on each of the maps created as a part of this project. These description lend a general understanding to the historic resources and design elements characterizing Seattle neighborhoods. The following is excerpted from the Ballard survey map.

Though the independent town of Ballard has been incorporated by Seattle, it retains much of its identity and many small town qualities. This is partly due to the wide range of activities and land uses stemming from its development history. Like any self sufficient town, Ballard includes residential and commercial areas, and a significant industrial area which gives this neighborhood a diverse cultural, environmental, and economic base.

Ballard is unique in having building types ranging from the late nineteenth century to the present within a relatively small commercial area. Fortunately, these are clustered in different geographic sectors of the commercial core i.e. Ballard Avenue, Market Street, and 15th Avenue. Each area has a continuity of building types representative of its development period, giving the sector identity and character.

The unassuming nature of the residential areas is partly due to the gently sloping topographic shelf that gives little contrast and variety to the typical developer houses of various growth periods. This is reinforced by the general lack of street trees and major open spaces. Above all, the anonymity of Ballard is a reflection of the needs and values of the early settlers. The building groups are of the more humble and less expensive variety with little extravagance in architectural detail.

Newer multi-family apartments which are replacing the older housing stock exemplify buildings emphasizing maintenance and building economy; however, the appearance of the general streetscape is becoming stark and somewhat forbidding in its lack of significant landscaping and open space amenities. School playfields and park facilities provide a pleasant contrast where trees are planted along the streets and vegetation generally prevails. The Gilman Playground has provided the "adventure play" opportunity, an idea which originated in Scandinavian countries, and has become a community focal point.

House types in Ballard range from the early pioneer farmhouses, to the post-war ranch houses. One can also find many examples of middle class Victorian houses, turn-of-the-century company cottages, bungalows, 1920's colonial cottages and post-war speculative builder's houses. Often houses of the same type or period are clustered in a group, giving the streetscape an architectural continuity. Although few large apartments have been built, duplexes and triplexes have intruded into the residential areas, usually near major arterials.

Ballard contains three primary commercial areas: Market Street, Ballard Avenue and 15th Avenue. Market Street forms the spine of the Ballard community, featuring many retail shops, banks, the old and new fire stations and other central neighborhood facilities. The streets immediately north of Market Street are also lined with banks, supermarkets and professional offices.

Running parallel to the waterfront just south of Market Street, Ballard Avenue is the "Heart of Old Ballard" where many of the turn-of-the-century brick buildings are being renovated to house shops, offices, restaurants, and small workshops. Portions of Ballard Avenue have been designated a Historic Review District which sets guidelines for preserving and reusing existing buildings and street elements. This ordinance has helped Ballard Avenue regain much of its unique quality as an older commercial street.

Market Street and Ballard Avenue form the core of Ballard's "downtown", which contains three of the community's most important landmarks: Fire Station #18, the Carnegie Free Library and the Stimson Mill Building. Although portions of the central area consist of anonymous parking lots, dilapidated residences and vacant properties, Ballard is fortunate to have a downtown core which can function as a focus for community activity and identity.

In addition to the central commercial area, Ballard also includes 15th Avenue, a large auto-oriented commercial strip. Lined with the usual drive-in restaurants, discount stores, supermarkets, and low-rise offices, 15th Avenue is also the primary north-south traffic arterial linking Ballard to the rest of the city.

The industrial areas along Salmon Bay have a utilitarian ambience at a scale which welcomes observation and learning from the work-a-day environment. Views of warehouses, silos, drydocks, marinas, and manufacturing buildings are available from the waterfront streets. The most accessible views occur at street ends.

Water oriented industries, i.e. fishing, boat building and repair, have always been associated with Scandinavians, and their ethnic heritage has been central in Ballard's past. In the 1970s, the commercial area became interested in generating a self-conscious image in the Scandinavian mode.

The setting along Salmon Bay has not fully developed as an urban design resource. Although the waterfront activities are of interest, few physical opportunities exist which allow the casual observer to fully comprehend the relationship between the land and the water.

Located at the west of the industrial waterfront, the U.S. Government Locks are the best known urban resource in Ballard. The buildings and locks are excellent examples of concrete design. The administrative and service buildings epitomize the qualities of formal site planning. The gardens and open space are also significant and offer a collection of native and exotic plants that are of educational value. The nearly completed fish ladder and its accompanying public information facility will further enhance the importance of this enclave of design excellence.

The relative scarcity of designed public spaces (such as the Government Locks) is very likely an integral part of Ballard's image as a matter-of-fact, everyday neighborhood. Ironically, this anonymity helps give Ballard its identity and general significance to Seattle at large.

History

The town of Ballard began in 1887. In that year, Captain William Ballard, with his partners Thomas Burke, John Leary and Boyd Tallman, platted 720 acres on the north shore of Salmon Bay. The 10 acre sites sold for $50 through the West Coast Improvement Company. The location was perfect for residential and commercial development, and Farmdale Homestead (Ballard's original name) grew rapidly. Captain Ballard persuaded the Stimson Mill to relocate from the Midwest to the shoreline of Salmon Bay. Stimson had set his sights on the Northwest because of its abundance of wood available for millwork. He could not pass up the Ballard offer. The mill's introduction was a boon to the real estate sales for Captain Ballard who was able to offer employment with property sales.

Other mills located near Stimson created an even higher rate of employment. When downtown Seattle was partially leveled by fire in 1889, most buildings were rebuilt in permanent materials such as brick and stone. However, wooden window framings, paneling and other wooden products were supplied by the Farmdale mills. Farmdale's population was again increased by the influx of Seattleites seeking work in the lumber mills. Thus, the mill town was well on its way to becoming the "Shingle Capital of the World"; a title Ballard later claimed.

In 1890, the West Coast and North End Railway Company connected the newly named and incorporated town of Ballard with Seattle. By 1902 Ballard had a population of 10,000, which made it the seventh largest town in Washington by 1907. The town was unable to keep up with its growth. It faced all the problems connected with rapid growth, including an inadequate water supply which eventually became the turning point in Ballard's fight to remain independent from Seattle. After finding a dead horse in their reservoir, Ballardites voted to annex to Seattle in 1907. Today, Ballard still has much of the feeling of an independent community.

Thomas Mercer, the first settler of Queen Anne Hill, had an idea in the late 1880's that Lake Union should be connected to Puget Sound. By 1909, Seattlites were anxiously awaiting the Federal Government's decision regarding funding the construction of the Lake Washington Ship Canal and the Government Locks which would complete Mercer's dream. The Government decided affirmatively, and on July 4, 1917, the flagship "Roosevelt" of Admiral Peary's expedition to the North Pole led a marine parade through the new locks for the official opening ceremonies. The locks greatly increased Ballard's industrial and recreational opportunities. They also helped promote the new recreational industry of pleasure boating. Seattle has long been called the "Boating Capital of the World" and Ballard has played a large part in this achievement. In 1968, the Shilshole Bay breakwater was constructed providing a protected harbor for the city's largest marina.

Ballard has never forgotten its humble beginnings as a fishing village. When the locks were completed, the backwater of Salmon Bay became a perfect freshwater home for the fishing fleet which moors at Fisherman's Terminal.

The Chittenden Locks were named after Hiram Chittenden, general in charge of the Army Corps of Engineers responsible for the construction of the locks. From the point of their completion to the present, the park surrounding the locks has been developed into a gem of an arboretum through the efforts of Mr. Carl English. The gardens, now called the Carl English Memorial Gardens, take full advantage of the moderate micro-climate available for growing subtropical plant material. Golden Gardens, one of Seattle's largest water oriented parks, is also located in Ballard on Puget Sound. Besides its long beach, this park also offers opportunities for scenic drives through forest like areas.

Many of the early settlers of Ballard were Scandinavians and this group has continued to give Ballard a unique flavor different from other areas.

Urban Design Elements

Ballard still possesses many of the qualities of its small town past. It has industrial, commercial, and residential districts. Although there is some overlap, these areas are fairly distinct and separate with their own representative spatial and architectural qualities.

Industry is clustered on the sites of the early mills along the shoreline of Salmon Bay; a collage of manufacturing, warehouses, and silos, drydocks, marinas and other water-related industries. North-South oriented streets form occasional view corridors to the waterfront and provide access to the ambience of the industrial docks. Though examples of public art are few in Ballard, there are many sculptural forms of a utilitarian nature in the industrial and waterfront areas, for example, the Great Northern Railroad Bridge, which frames the view to the Sound at the end of the canal. At the west end of this waterfront are the U.S. Government Locks and the Carl English Gardens which will soon be complimented by a fish ladder and its accompanying public information facility.

N.W. Market Street and Ballard N.W. are the major commercial streets. The latter is somewhat dormant with many of the buildings vacant or only partially used and others in the process of being restored. Ballard Avenue has a mellow, used feeling brought about by the aging brick, the fading signs, the detailed cornices and pediments. Where old buildings have been removed and not replaced, nature has reseeded trees, grass and blackberries.

The pattern of the diagonal streets adds to the spatial experience and has resulted in flatiron buildings responding to the street configuration. Market Street is more auto-oriented and contemporary, featuring neon signs, and colorfully painted building groups. The commercial development along 15th Avenue has the characteristics of typical auto-oriented areas in its emphasis on signs and billboard architecture, with the buildings set back from the street and surrounded by generous parking areas. However, the vitality of 15th Avenue, with its flamboyance of signs and buildings is a significant aspect of Ballard's identity.

A rigid grid layout and homogenous, unpretentious group of dwellings are the principal characteristics of Ballard's residential district with playfields and school facilities offering the major visual relief to the frequently monotonous streetscapes.

Common Building Types

The characteristics of Ballard's common building types reflect its identity as an every-day, working community, that supports its substantial residential base.

Many industrial mill-type buildings, warehouse, boat repair shops and factories are located in the waterfront industrial belt. Improvised additions, layers of signs, and the aging process itself has given many of these older industrial buildings a comfortable, and often picturesque character, while the newer buildings express a direct, functionally efficient esthetic.

Ballard's typical commercial buildings service the residents' day-to-day needs and are mainly concentrated along the primary traffic routes. Many intimate neighborhood taverns and cafes dot the community's residential, commercial, and industrial areas. Drive-in restaurants, and other auto oriented stores line the commercial strips, while older store front buildings house established community businesses in the central area. Flat-iron buildings often occur on wedge shaped lots where diagonal business streets intersect north-south streets; a clear illustration of the way street layout can effect architectural characteristics to create a unique urban environment.

New chain stores and bank buildings have recently sprung up in the area just north of Market Street. Because of their usually pseudo-eclectic facades midst an overwhelming abundance of parking lots these new structures appear to have a disruptive impact on the quality of the district.

Ballard also contains an unusual plentitude of middle and lower income residential types ranging from the early pioneer period to the present day. Examples of pioneer farmhouses, company cottages, bungalows, post-war ranch company cottages, bungalows, post war ranch houses and small contemporary apartments occurs throughout the residential areas. Houses in Ballard are generally characterized by simplicity, uniformity, and a high level of maintenance rather than stylistic variety or refinement. There are few architect-designed large homes. Many older houses have been remodeled with varying degrees of success. Although small apartments have recently replaced old houses in some area, much of the original housing stock has been maintained in good condition, another reflection of Ballard's stability and identity as a community.

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