Ann Wendell - Frederick & Nelson

Prompted by news of the Great Northern Railroad choosing Seattle for its western terminus, the population of Seattle exploded, as did its economy. Frederick & Nelson followed suit. D. E. Frederick and Nels Nelson, pictured here at far left (from left to right), moved their store several times in the early days, but by 1892, it was settled into this space at 208210 Pike Street.

With the 1891 acquisition of the Queen City Furniture Company, Frederick & Nelson added the sale of new furniture. This was prompted in part by the increase in competition, which had made secondhand furniture scarce but still in high demand. One night, when Nelson returned to the room he shared with Frederick (pictured center above), he found the bed missingsold to one of their customers.

On a snowy Christmas Eve in 1890, a customer wanted to purchase a secondhand rocker for his wife for Christmas but only if it could be delivered that night. The partners climbed to the top of Denny Hill, trading off carrying the heavy chair on their backs. This was the first delivery in the history of F&N.

Frederick & Nelson purchased the assets of the Pacific Carpet Company in 1897 and then consolidated with Silas Munros New England Furniture Store. At this point, the name changed again, to Frederick, Nelson, and Munro. Munro, however, was apprehensive of expanding too rapidly and soon parted company with Frederick & Nelson.

Their second move in 1897 took the store to the Rialto Building on Second Avenue and Madison Street, where they leased two floors. They installed an elevator, which was one of the first in the city and became an attraction for both locals and out-of-towners. With their expanded line of merchandise, the store was rapidly becoming a department store.

Construction on the new store on Pine Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues began in 1916. It took two years to complete due to the shortage of materials caused by World War I. Thirty thousand square feet of pink marble covered the first floor, and the building itself was built of reinforced concrete finished with terra-cotta.

Frederick & Nelson employees pitched in to complete the work needed on the new building by laying carpets, building furnishings, and decorating. On Labor Day weekend in 1918, F&Ns 1,230 employees moved every piece of merchandise into the new building, with each department manager riding in the truck that carried his stock. This photograph commemorates this Herculean task.

Erecting the new store on Pine Street was referred to by many as Fredericks Folly because the location was considered out of town. In this 1918 photograph, the neighborhood is still residential, but this did not last for long. After Frederick & Nelsons moved to Pine Street, the rest of Seattles department stores soon made the move to that area of town as well, which remains the heart of Seattles retail district.