The Warehouse, Snohomish, Guía del visitante y qué hacer cerca

The Warehouse at 111 Avenue C in Snohomish, Washington, was the overflow storage and office building of the Snohomish Hardware Company. It is best known for its water-powered elevator, a piece of early engineering that was built first, with the rest of the building constructed around it.

The story behind it

The Snohomish Hardware Company was run by George M. Cochran. It was established in 1898 and kept trading until 1967. Its storefront stood a block away, on the corner of First Street and Avenue B, while this building handled the behind-the-scenes work: spare stock, heavy supplies and administration.

The elevator is the real story. The platform went in first, with a water tank underneath, and the walls and floors followed. Pulling a lever opened a valve and let water into the tank, and the pressure pushed the platform and its load upward. Flipping the lever drained the water and let the platform sink back down. No motor was needed, only water and gravity.

What to look for

• Study the brick and timber of the building itself and picture it as a working store room, with crates and hardware stacked inside.
• Think about the water-powered elevator as you look at the structure, and notice how the whole building was planned around a lift that ran on water pressure.
• Look across the street for the bright blue building known as the Lincoln House, built in 1897 as a blacksmith shop with an office upstairs.
• Look up the block toward First Street and Avenue B, where the hardware company's storefront once stood, and notice how close the shop and its warehouse were.

Tips for your visit

• Allow ten to fifteen minutes here if you are just looking and reading, longer if you want to photograph the surrounding blocks.
• Daylight is best, since the details of the old commercial buildings show up clearly and you can read the street comfortably.
• The area is compact and walkable, so you can combine this stop with the other historic buildings of central Snohomish.
• Do not count on going inside. Check current opening hours and access if you hope to see the interior or the elevator.

See it on a quest

Secrets of Snohomish: An Interactive History Game passes The Warehouse as one stop on a longer walk through the historic streets. You reach it on foot, the app tells you about the place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle based on what is in front of you. It is a good way to learn the story of the hardware company and the old buildings around it without a guide or a fixed start time. One ticket covers the whole group.