Only in the vaguest memories do I recall the old Leland Building that stood on the southwest corner of 7th and Market from the 1890s to 1964, one of the original four brick structures built there on dreams of steel mill riches.
Directly across the street is, of course, the Peter Kirk Building, now the .
I would have been no older than 11 when its owner, O.F. Leland, sold it to Standard Oil Co. It was demolished in December of 1964 and soon became the site of Gene Stumpf’s Chevron gas station.
It was built during the Peter Kirk boom years, such as they were, and originally called the Jackson Hotel, with the Jackson Theater. It was sold by the Jackson family in 1925 and continued as a hotel and theater.
This photo from the Kirkland Heritage Society archives is undated, but society president Loita Hawkinson figures it was taken in the late 1940s based on the style of cars on the right.
In this photo it housed Leland Motors and Gateway Hotel and Gateway Hotel. This building was the first of the four original Kirk buildings to be completed in 1890. Daniel B. Jackson, the owner, was the grandfather of Dan Evans, the former senator and governor. The building was sold in 1925, the year Dan Evans was born.
It was Kirkland's first theater, before movies. And then it became Kirkland's first movie theater, showing silent films.
There was a fire in the spring of 1963, which likely precipitated its demolition.
What a downright shame!
