Project Background
With a Small and Simple grant from Seattle’s Department of
Neighborhoods, the Ballard Historical Society and its 100 volunteers mapped the
streets of Ballard in 2016 to document what is ‘still historic’ in its
structures. They were looking for structures over 60 years-old with minimal changes
or architectural integrity since their construction.
The impetus for the project was to document Ballard’s architectural
history amid the rapid and widespread changes to building stock now occurring
through remodels and new development. Without this documentation, valuable
history in the form of built structures is being lost as Ballard evolves in the
21st century.
With the launch of this on-line site the Mapping Historic
Ballard (MHB) project is now available in more forms than previously, and with
more content being added regularly. The interactive maps have been loaded with
specific “One Page Reports” on 160 of
the structures.
Creating the Survey
The term “small & simple” doesn’t do justice to the
efforts and products of this project. The project team, led by architect
Davidya Kasperzyk, worked with consultants and the volunteers to conduct a
survey of existing pre-1960 buildings north of 58th NW from the water’s edge on
the west to 8th Avenue NW on the east, and up to NW 85th (north
edge). Parcel by parcel, volunteers used mobile data collection to document and
evaluate each structure, photographing each building, noting exceptional trees
and completing information on its architecture and building materials. They also made note if was part of a cluster
of other historic structures.
All volunteers received training in historic preservation
and research prior to deploying with the mobile survey app. Even before
volunteers began the street survey, existing historical information was loaded
into the Geographic Information System (GIS) app, using King County property
data. Historical maps have been loaded onto this website so that in addition to
looking at what is standing now, the viewer can “rollover” to see what the site
looked like in an earlier map and two earlier surveys (1904, 1937, 1996).
After the street survey was completed, all of the data was
analyzed and sorted by decade, and architectural style and integrity. The GIS
consultant created interactive maps and the project moved onto its next stage,
selecting representative structures within the architectural styles common in
the history of Ballard. Out of 7300+ structures mapped, some 650+ were
identified as “vintage,” or high quality. Out of the 650+, some 160 structures
were found to have the most historical significance and/or architectural
integrity. Researchers then wrote detailed historical summaries and
architectural descriptions for each of the ‘select’ properties. In June 2016 in
a presentation at the Sunset Hill Community Center, the public was invited to
see the first products, in a slideshow and with individual property summaries.
Since that time the data has been further refined, and every effort has been
made to upgrade photographs and information as it has become available. The
work goes on!
Want even more background?
Mapping Historic Ballard is an ongoing community effort to
document the rich history of Ballard architecture and provide guidance for
preservation of that architectural heritage. The Historic Resource Inventory
and related static and web based GIS maps with historic and contemporary data
describing homes and other buildings from the many eras of Ballard development
is just part of this website..
