Terra cotta in the Pacific Northwest
Terra cotta was popular in most of the quickly growing cities around the turn of the century and was widely used into the late 1920's.
According to the City of Seattle, December 2014, Franklin Apartments Landmark Nomination Report,
"Terra cotta is molded clay block that can be used either as cladding or as ornament. The plasticity of the clay and the manufacturing method allow it to be formed into extravagant shapes, which add variety and richness to the streetscape. Terra cotta ornament became very popular in the late 19th-early 20th centuries as the cost of cut stone grew prohibitive. This popularity coincided with Seattle’s early commercial development, and the city has a particularly rich collection of terra cotta-clad buildings. The Seattle area had several prominent terra cotta manufacturers, including the Northern Clay Company and the Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Company. Both were acquired in 1925 by a California firm, the Gladding-McBean Company ...
... Terra cotta was much lighter in weight than stone or brick. "The material was more widely used to clad or ornament smaller commercial buildings and apartment houses. In Seattle, terra cotta was typically glazed in cream or tan, sometimes with a mottled finish. However, any color was possible and some buildings featured colorful accents or terra cotta colored to look like granite (Granitex). Early 20th century terra cotta ornament typically used Classical, Gothic, Tudor or Mediterranean elements and motifs, but by the late 1920s Art Deco and Art Moderne terra cotta elements were more common. After World War II terra cotta use almost ceased, both because it was more costly than newer materials and because the modern architectural styles moved away from ornamentation of any kind. However, brightly colored terra cotta veneer was used on several Modernist buildings, including the Seattle Labor Temple and the Sailors’ Union of the Pacific hall in Belltown"
The Columbia Terra Cotta Company
Based on records kept by my Grandfather Leonard A. Martin, one of the owners, the Columbia Terra Cotta Compnay supplied terra cotta to cities as far south as Roseburg Oregon and as far north as Sedro Woolley Washington. To the east as far as Spokane in Washington and the Dallas in Oregon. To the West they shipped to Aberdeen and Astoria on the Washington and Oregon coasts. In the 5 years of its existence, (1923 - 1928), the company filled at least 100 orders for banks, hotels, apartment buildings, schools, train stations, fraternity lodges and temples as well as other industrial buildings and a few private homes. The work ranged from a single Cartouche to an entire buildings cladding of tile. Orders indicated items such as chimney caps, window sills, coping or ashers.
An article in the Vancouver Columbian, Vo.l VII, Monday October 26th, 1925 No. 316 Page 7 Headlined: "Terra Cotta Co. Gains Rapidly" Describes the company: "The plant started two years ago with one eight-foot kiln, capable of handling eight tons of terra cotta at a burning and with a payroll of eight men. It was thought that the kiln would suffice for a year but inside of six months Mr. Bryan was forced to put in an additional kiln, this time 14 feet 6 inches for its inside diameter and with a capacity of from 25 to 30 tons. A week ago he completed his first burn in his third kiln, this time a big fellow with a 17-foot inside diameter and with a capacity of 35 to 40 tons of terra cotta a burn. Today the plant has a payroll of 30 men, all technical men, some of whom have been trained right here in Vancouver. They are turning out beautiful work. For instance those beautiful bathing girls on the Jantzen building in Portland done in colored terra cotta, are the output of this plant. The beautiful work that is being done for ornamentation of brick and concrete structures is gaining a wide fame and the company is now getting orders for work in Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane, Portland, and in fact all over the Pacific Northwest."
1923 Orders 102 - 105
The Columbia Terra Cotta Company was situated in Vancouver Washington West of the railroad tracks along the Columbia River. The company incorporated March 31st 1923. The first order in L. A. Martin's order book was, (order #102), the Holland Building in Seattle for Stewart and Wheatley Architects. Columbia Terra Cotta is only on the top four floors as the bottom four floors were finished in 1918. In 1923 the building had four new floors added to its original four. The second order, (order#103), was for the Barnes Building in Longview Washington. This is the first of several building displaying Columbia Terra Cotta in the city of Longview, most along Commerce street. The third order, (order #104), listed in the book is "Chimney caps" for the Knights of Pythias Home in Vancouver WA. The last job, (order #105), in the year 1923 was the Benevolent Paternal Order of Elks Lodge #180 in Astoria, Oregon. The Architect of this building was Charles T. Diamond.
1924 Orders 106 - 129
The first order, (order #106), in 1924 was the Willard building in Longview, Wa, Architect / Builder H. B. Willard. The next three orders were: (order 107)Brick Moulds for M. Fire Clay Co., (order 108) 22 Die Blocks for Zanello Brothers, and (order 109) for E. Goldapp. No other information was written about these orders. (Order 110) is for the Glencoe School in Portland Oregon, Architect A. E. Doyle. Doyle's work is well known in the area. He was the architect for the Multnomah Falls Lodge, the Multnomah County Library, and many other buildings in the Northwest. (Order 111) was for the Lotus Building in Longview WA,. This building adjoined the Barnes Building with contiguous brick and terra cotta work. Although the Barnes building no longer dorns the original Terra Cotta the Lotus building still has some original on the second level. (Order 112) is for the Wolfgang Bulding in Portland Oregon, Builders:(Ernest Boyd McNaughton and Robert H. Strong). This building was at Sixth and Salmon in 1924. The Terra Cotta was delivered starting March 21st, 1924. (Order 114) is for the Biltmore Apartment Bulding in Seattle. At the time it was the largest apartments building in Seattle with rooms for 300 tenants. It was a large project and for the Columbia Terra Cotta Company it meant a contract to produce 70 to 75 tons of Terra Cotta for the sum of 550,000 doallars. The builder Stephen Berg had been building many homes in the Seattle area and went on to build three even larger hotels in Seattle soon after this: The first was the Claremont (now Andra) completed in January of 1926 then the Continental (now called the Seattle) completed in December of 1926 which also dorns Columbia Terra Cotta (order# 170). Then the Bergonian completed in July of 1927 now known as the Mayflower Park Hotel. Across from the street in front of the Biltmore Hotel Berg also built an Annex for the hotel to house a grocery store and a large kitchen for event catering.
1925 Orders 130 - 155
1926 Orders 156 - 105
1927 Buildings listed in the order book