TERRA COTTA 2 - Made In Clayton, WA, shipped to the World.
Area Terra Cotta
The Spokane City Hall, circa 1908. This vintage post card was just purchased, so upon arrival the photo and information will replace this one. This building still stands with its obsolete elevator and many other outdated features. The very top domes have been removed but it stands sturdy and stout to this day. For many years it included the downtown fire station, Fire wagons pulled by horses, which were stalled in the building as well.
A Gargoyle on the Catholic Chancellery Building adjacent to Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral in what is discribed as the center of elegance of Spokane by the Falls.
The Chancellery is but one example of what made Terra Cotta the attraction of Art Deco. When Art Deco lost favor with architecture in the 1930s Terra Cotta began its enevitable decline.
This Clayton WB&L Tile Home stands on west 16th Ave. Spokane Wa. Photo taken 9-11-2010
The Montgomery Ward Building perched on the bank of the Spokane River and overlooking the grandeur of the Spokane Falls fell victim of urban sprawl, followed suit. This majestic wonder became Spokane City Hall. Replacing the old City Hall depicted in the very first photo of this page.
While visiting the Avenue of Elegance the History with its exquisit beauty exists also within. President Franklin Deleno Roosevelt visited this theater in 1903, 1927 and later while President. This was the very first theater in Spokane and remained flooded with patrons until the Coliseum opened in the 1950s. The entire Masonic Temple breathes luxury.
The main entrance to the Masonic Temple is marble stairs and solid walnut.
The greatly heralded Sherwood Building just across town on the same street. Riddled with picturesque Clayton scupltors.
Just what breed of species is this?
The Sherwood is incredibly decorated far beyond the norm. Practically the entire front face is adorned with Terra Cotta.
The Cornices on Spokanes own Twin Towers were elaborate and distinctive but at ten or so stories were almost undisernible at that height.
The Paulsen Building in 1910 prior to the Medical Dental addition. At 11 stories it was the tallest in town at that time.
The Sherwood Building is most impressive to this day.
If only the Clayton Terra Cotta plant had survived through the years as did the Sculptures they shipped to untold destinations.
The Peyton Building, built with the proceeds from the Hercules mine near Burke, Idaho, in the Silver Valley.
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Known as the Lilac City, while on occassion the City of Trees, Spokane was a vivacious thriving little metropolous. This photo post card purchased from Cardcow.com depicts the grandeur of the era following the horse and buggy into the early automotive realm.
Decked out with Terra Cotta, the center of attraction for over a century, the Review Building was expanded to include an entirely different design. White marble laced with Clayton Terra Cotta embellishing its decore. Photos below exemplify the results.
.Courtesy of Tornado Creek Publications. Spokane Club 1920 and new cars to boot.
An overall view of the Spokesman Review Building combined with the old Spokane Daily Chronicle. The Chronicle having been put to bed permenently in the early 80s. Now only a pleasent memory marked by the WHITE GHOST you see here.
Terra Cotta from centuries gone by, unearthed and cherished as a treasure by the Chinese of today. Here is a Website address for those of you interested in a great viewing experience.( Xi'an and Emperor Qin's Terra-Cotta Army)
Tucked away at the very western edge of rhe extravagant Masonic Temple stands this, tiny by comparison, structure. The Smith Funeral home survived for decades. But in similar fashion as its patrons, stole away into oblivion.
The entry way of the Masonic Temple Center.
The incomprable Suzzallo Library at the U of W in Seattle, WA.. The epitome of Clayton's Terra Cotta capabilities. For viewing Cardcow.com post card collection, go to the previous TERRA COTTA page and click on picture # 3, 21 or 22.
The crowns of these massive buildings hold the finest of the fine molded workmanship. Often beyond a person's sight. Two choices: A 100 foot step ladder or a high power lens. The photographer chose his Kodak. (Kodak was a native of North Dakota.)
Perhaps we have stumbled upon the reason this is named the "Sherwood Building." It SHER WOOD be wonderful to know what kind of animal this is. A gargoyle is discribed by the Merriam Webster Dictionary as a " Grotesquely carved figure"
In plain view of the Sherwood Building is this vantage point of the Old National Bank Building.. Built less than ten years following the great fire that destroyed the entire Spokane Business district, there were any number of the city's tallest buildings sitting side by side including the Paulsen Building.
The Paulsen Building has massive renowned Terra Cotta.
On the South side of the Brick Yard and adjacent to the railroad siding stood a row of shipping sheds from one end of the Brick Plant to the other. Most of the sheds were for storing Bricks scheduled for immediate shipment. To a lesser degree the same held true for Terra Cotta shipments. There no room for error. Every single item was accounted for and properly identified. This was possibly the most important job in the plant. This is a photo from the collection of Vera Spaulding. We surely THANK YOU, VERA.
From the Bamonte Library. Vintage Postcards from old Spokane. Tornado Creek Publications.com
The grandeur of 1914.
Clayton, Deer Park and Loon Lake wielded far greater influence than their meager size implied. Spokane, Washington, was from the beginning a thriving city, burned to the ground and rebuilt. Spokane was suffering growing pains, and greatly in need of an adequate supply of lumber and bricks and tile, it became the life blood of the towns just 25 or 30 miles due north. So as it was with Allen’s Siding and Hazard’s Store and so it is today. It also may be said that all three communities may be considered the bedrooms of the second largest city in Washington.
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