PORT TOWNSEND – Two buildings holding important places in the city’s colorful history have been listed among the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2007 Most Endangered Historic Properties.
One of them, the downtown Hastings Building, stands as one of Port Townsend’s most identifiable icons of Victorian-era architecture.
The other, the Civil War-era Fowler House in the uptown district, is believed to be the earliest remaining domestic structure in the city.
But both are in urgent need of repair and are “endangered” if they don’t get attention soon, the state trust says.
While the family estate owns the 1889 Hastings Building at Taylor and Water streets near the waterfront downtown, the Anderson family owns the Fowler House at Polk and Jefferson streets.
As anyone who has visited it knows, Port Townsend’s downtown commercial center boasts one of the state’s finest collections of late 19th century commercial structures, comprising a historic district recognized as a National Historic Landmark.
The Hastings Building, named for Capt. L.B. Hastings, has architectural details and ornamentation that illustrate the flamboyance and optimism of the early 1890s, state historic preservation officials said in their announcement Tuesday.
The Jefferson County Historical Society nominated it and the Fowler House for the “endangered” listing, said society Director Bill Tennent.
The two Port Townsend buildings are among nine listed statewide for 2007 and announced in Seattle on Tuesday.
Port Townsend and Seattle are the only two cities that have two listed structures each. Others are in such diverse locations as Zillah, Mount Vernon and Diamond Lake.
“The listing is just drawing attention to the fact that it’s urgent that these buildings get renovation,” said Tennent on Tuesday.
“That’s why the Washington Trust publishes the list.”
