This history of Lawton School is taken from the second edition of Building for Learning: Seattle Public School Histories, which includes histories of every school building used by the district since its formation around 1862. The original essay was written for the 2002 first edition by Nile Thompson and Carolyn J. Marr, and updated for the 2024 edition by HistoryLink contributor Rita Cipalla.
Tideflats
Before the landscape was altered with fill, the area now called Interbay was a low gully where the tide flats of Smith’s Cove to the south almost met the water of Salmon Bay to the north. In the early 1880s, five families residing in the area got together and rented a spare room to use as a classroom in a log house owned by the Lindquist family. The Lindquist house is said to have been near Salmon Bay, where the railroad bridge now stands. In 1885, when the spare room was no longer available, the Salmon Bay School was constructed.
After the area was annexed into the City of Seattle and the Salmon Bay school was incorporated into the Seattle School District in 1891, it served 32-36 students in grades 1-4 for a couple of years. It expanded to grades 1-8, still with only 32 students all in one classroom. By the 1902-1903 school year, the student population exploded. Despite a new temporary school called Interbay, opened just to the east in December 1902, Salmon Bay was packed with 161 students.
Military Hero
In 1908, a two-story brick building was constructed and the 1904 structure sold and moved a short distance south, to 4064 Burton Place. The new school was called Lawton as was the nearby Army post, after General Henry Ware Lawton, a military hero who served during the Spanish-American War in Cuba and the Philippines. In 1913, the school was closed for construction of the Great Northern Railroad cut. The railroad purchased a new site adjacent to the old one and deeded it to the school district, together with payment for the property taken. The new building, a twin of Alki, was erected at the south end of the property.
Lawton maintained a steady enrollment of about 300 students until the 1930s, when it dropped to fewer than 200. In 1939, Interbay School closed and most of its students transferred to Lawton, increasing enrollment again to more than 300. Enrollment grew to more than 500 in the 1940s, and three portables were moved onto the grounds in 1948. The school became so crowded that one kinder- garten class had to be sent to Magnolia one year and then to Briarcliff for part of the next. In 1950, a large addition provided nine new classrooms, kindergarten, gym, and auditorium/lunchroom. According to former principal W. E. Neutzmann, when he started there in 1946, Lawton was somewhat isolated and hidden in the woods. “Substitute teachers frequently had difficulty finding the school. Many children walked to and from school on trails through the woods.” For many years, enrollment at Lawton School was affected by the population of military families housed at Fort Lawton. Children from the base were brought to the school on a bus provided by the Army.
Park Setting
During the early 1950s, the Lawton community developed a plan in cooperation with the Seattle Parks Department to provide addi- tional playground space for the children. The city purchased 10 acres south of the school and the district acquired seven more acres across from the school, creating Lawton Neighborhood Park.
In 1952-1953, Lawton became a K-6 school. Enrollment reached an all-time high of 744 in 1958-1959. A new learning resources center opened in fall 1973 and two tennis courts were installed on the lower playfield as a memorial to a former student.
As part of the district’s 1978 desegregation plan, Magnolia and Briarcliff were paired with Dearborn Park. In 1984, Magnolia and Briarcliff closed, and Lawton was then paired with Dearborn Park, with K-3 students from Briarcliff and Magnolia coming to Lawton.
Plans for a new Lawton building began in the mid-1980s. During the 1987-1988 school year, Lawton students and staff were housed at Briarcliff. They remained there for an extra year after construction was delayed because of an appeal. The 1913 building, judged to be seismologically unsound, was demolished along with the 1950 south wing. The lunchroom/auditorium and gymnasium were retained and modernized. The new two-story brick structure, with classrooms, learning resources center, and administration/staff areas, was built to the north of the gym and auditorium, on the former asphalt play area. Its red brick exterior is similar to the 1913 building and has a bright blue metal roof. With a new orientation, the address was changed to 4000 27th Avenue W.
In a 1994 student election, Dolphins narrowly edged out Cheetahs as the school’s nickname. A secret garden was created on school grounds to foster outdoor education.
History
Salmon Bay School
Location: 26th Avenue W and W Prospect
Building: 1-room wood
Architect: n.a.
Site: 0.5 acre
1885: Opened
1891: Annexed into Seattle School District on June 1
1903: Renamed Beecher on March 7; name changed back to Salmon Bay on September 1
1905: Site expanded
1907: Referred to as South Salmon Bay School
1908: Closed; building sold and moved
Present: Old schoolhouse is private residence
Lawton School
Location: 25th Avenue W, just north of Elmore
Building: 8-room, 2-story brick
Architect: James Stephen
Site: n.a.
1908: Named; opened
1913: Closed and demolished
Lawton School
Location: 4017 26th Avenue W
Building: 9-room brick
Architect: Edgar Blair
Site: 3.2 acres
1913: Opened
1950: Addition (Young & Richardson)
1952-55: Site expanded to 5.09 acres
1987: Closed in June for construction; 1913 structure and part of 1950 structure demolished; Students relocated to Briarcliff as interim site
1990: Reopened in September with new addition (Cummings Associates Architects)
Lawton Elementary in 2023
Enrollment: 352
Address: 4000 27th Avenue W
Nickname: Dolphins
Configuration: K-5
Colors: Navy blue and white
