Friday, April 16, 2010

Skywatch Friday: Saint Joseph's on Capitol Hill


Saint Joseph on Capitol Hill
Photo & Text Copyright 2010 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
The art deco era bell tower of Saint Joseph's Church stood out sparkling white against the bright blue afternoon sky we enjoyed yesterday. It had rained in the morning, but the 60 F degree spring afternoon found everyone out and about enjoying the warmth. To see hundreds of Skywatch Friday views from around the globe, click here.

The brick building is the adjacent Saint Joseph's School for grades K-8. The church was founded by Jesuits in 1907 and inhabited a wood frame structure. The current church was built in 1930. The original elaborate Gothic design was changed to an art deco adaptation costing 1/3 the price to deal with the economic realities after the 1929 stock market crash. Planned items like stained glass windows and bells in the bell tower were not added for many decades, the bells waiting until the 100th anniversary celebration of 2007 for which the whole church received extensive repairs and a remodel of the dome to provide a skylight. I was shocked to learn that the 75 year accumulation of bird droppings removed from the bell tower weighed over one ton. Now that there are six bells to ring out melodies, perhaps the pigeons do a little less roosting there :-). More about this very interesting historic Capitol Hill landmark is here.

5 comments:

Powell River Books said...

Seattle has some beautiful old buildings. I'll be there this week so maybe I can explore some. - Margy

Louis la Vache said...

Well, «Louis» has heard of a ton of p**p before, but never quite so literally!

What a nice art deco tower, nicely contrasted against that fine blue sky!

A (Parisian) Seattleite back in Seattle said...

This photo brings back memories. I attended St Joseph's for 8 years.

~Cheryl said...

That is such a beautiful building! Great photo!

Linda said...

Very striking interpretation of the traditional bell tower.