Bulldozer crushes Seattle's historic Twin Teepees restaurant on July 31, 2001.

See Additional Media

On July 31, 2001, early in the morning, the historic Twin Teepees restaurant is bulldozed to the ground, despite its place in Seattle's history and despite the fact that it undoubtedly would have been protected under historic preservation. Landlord Rob Pierides explains that the unique building, located at 7201 Aurora Avenue N near Green Lake, was too complex and expensive to repair.

The building, designed by Delland Harris, opened on March 13, 1937. The distinctive structure featured two metal-clad conical pavilions, hence its name, intended to attract the attention of passing motorists. It became an instant, if unofficial, landmark. Such structures, now rare in Seattle, are classified as "vernacular architecture" because their idiosyncratic designs usually reflect individual quirks or promotional strategies rather than conventional standards.


Sources:

Andrea Otanez, "Another Roadside Subtraction," The Seattle Times, December 13, 2000, p. B-1.


Licensing: This essay is licensed under a Creative Commons license that encourages reproduction with attribution. Credit should be given to both HistoryLink.org and to the author, and sources must be included with any reproduction. Click the icon for more info. Please note that this Creative Commons license applies to text only, and not to images. For more information regarding individual photos or images, please contact the source noted in the image credit.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
Major Support for HistoryLink.org Provided By: The State of Washington | Patsy Bullitt Collins | Paul G. Allen Family Foundation | Museum Of History & Industry | 4Culture (King County Lodging Tax Revenue) | City of Seattle | City of Bellevue | City of Tacoma | King County | The Peach Foundation | Microsoft Corporation, Other Public and Private Sponsors and Visitors Like You