Lyon Building
- Architect
- John Graham & Company
- Style
- Chicago School
- City
- Seattle, WA
The Lyon Building was built in 1910 for the Yukon Investment Company, whose owners named it after the French city of Lyon in a nod to their own heritage. Designed in the Chicago School style and completed in 1911, it quickly became one of Seattle's most sought-after office addresses for lawyers and judges, thanks to its location near the public safety complex and the King County Courthouse.
the building
A bombing before completion. Built by the Stone & Webster engineering firm using non-union labor, the still-unfinished Lyon Building was bombed by union activist James B. McNamara — who, only a month later, carried out the deadly Los Angeles Times bombing. The building's substantial construction meant it survived largely intact and was completed on schedule in 1911.
A civic and legal address. Beyond its legal tenants, the Lyon Building was the founding location for a number of foreign consuls and social and political clubs, as well as the City University of Seattle.
Basement to the transit tunnel. The building's basement now serves as an entrance to the Pioneer Square station of the Seattle Transit Tunnel, tying the century-old office building into the city's modern transit system.
the style
Designed in the Chicago School style, the Lyon Building reflects the grid-like massing and expressed structural bays associated with that Chicago-born commercial vocabulary.
More on Chicago Schoolthe architect
The Lyon Building was designed by the firm of Graham & Myers, working in the Chicago School idiom.
significance
The Lyon Building is an individually designated Seattle City Landmark (#203) and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
nearby
- Rector Hotel
- L. C. Smith Building (Smith Tower)
- Arctic Building
- Pioneer Building
- Interurban Building
- Rainier Club